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PRINCETON  •  NEW  JERSEY 


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P  R  0  C  E  E  D I N  G  S  ^.^SroniS^ 

JAr'17   1947 


OP  THE 


(Ecumenical  Methodist 
Conference, 


HELD  IN 


CITY  ROAD  CHAPEL,  LONDON, 


SEPTEMBER,  1881. 


INTRODUCTION  BY 

EEY.  WILLIAM  ARTHUE,  M.  A. 


CINCINNATI: 

WALDEX   AND   STOWE. 

NEW  YORK : 

PHILLIPS  &  HUNT. 

18S2. 


/ 


Copyright  by 

"WALDEN  AND  STO"WE, 

1881. 


NOTE  BY  THE  EDITORS. 


-:o: 


^pHE  undersigned  were  appointed  to  prepare  for  publication 
the  proceedings  of  the  CEcumenical  Methodist  Conference. 
We  were  instructed  to  print  the  Essays,  Invited  Addresses,  and 
Kemarks  as  they  appeared  in  the  Methodist  Recorder  [Daily], 
with  corrections  made  by  the  writers  and  speakers  themselves. 
The  Editors  have  faithfully  adhered  to  their  instructions,  and 
have  made  no  alterations  not  indicated  by  the  authors ;  each 
of  whom,  in  pursuance  of  the  action  of  the  Conference,  was 
expected  to  furnish  corrected  copy.  This  not  having  been 
done  in  every  case,  it  is  likely  that  errors  may  appear ;  but 
we  have  used  due  diligence  to  give  a  fair  and  literal  report 
of  the  proceedings. 

The  Eev.  G.  Stringer  Eowe  (Wesley an)  was  appointed  with 
us ;  he  having  been  seriously  ill,  we  have  been  deprived  of  his 
valuable  assistance. 

This  Book,  being  the  record  of  a  Conference  which  must 
oe  historic,  as  it  marks  a  memorable  epoch  in  the  progress  of 
our  Churches,  is  commended  to  the  great  Methodist  Family 
in  the  belief  that  its  perusal  will  advance  the  cause  of  the 
Eedeemer,  by  inspiring  the  followers  of  Christ  with  greater 
zeal  in  working  for  the  conversion  of  the  world. 

C.  D.  WAED,       J.  M.  WALDEN, 
R.  W.  TEEKS,      J.  B.  McFEEEIN. 

London,  October,  1881. 


Digitized  by  tine  Internet  Arciiive 

in  2009  witii  funding  from 

Princeton  Tlieological  Seminary  Library 


littp://www.arcliive.org/details/proceedingsofoec1882ecum 


PREFATOEY   STATEMENT. 


-o- 


^HE  preliminary  steps  which  led  to  the  assembling  of  the  first 
(Ecumenical  Methodist  Conference,  were  the  following  : — 

On  the  31st  day  of  May,  1876,  the  General  Conference  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  of  the  United  States,  then  sitting  in 
the  City  of  Baltimore,  adopted  a  preamble  and  resolutions  setting 
forth  grounds  on  which  it  appeared  desirable  that  a  Conference 
should  be  called  together,  representing  all  the  diversified  bodies 
of  Methodists  which  had  sprung  up  throughout  the  world.  The 
Bishops  were,  by  the  resolutions,  empoAvered  to  appoint  a  Com- 
mittee to  correspond  with  the  recognised  authorities  of  the  bodies 
existing  in  America  and  in  every  other  country,  and  also  to  take 
initiatory  steps  towards  the  assembling  of  the  proposed  Conference. 
The  Members  of  this  Committee  were  named  by  the  Bishops  when 
assembled  in  the  City  of  New  York  in  the  ensuing  November. 

The  Committee,  through  its  Secretary,  the  Rev.  Dr.  A.  C.  George, 
forthAvith  entered  into  correspondence  with  the  difi'erent  Methodist 
Churches  in  America.  By  this  correspondence  matters  were 
advanced  so  far  that,  in  the  month  of  May,  1878,  a  letter,  dated 
from  Philadelphia,  and  signed  by  all  the  nine  members  of  the 
Committee,  was  addressed  to  the  British  Conference  of  the 
Wesleyan  ]\lethodists.  This  letter  contained  the  original  preamble 
and  resolutions,  and  in  addition  made  suggestions  both  as  to  topics, 
and  as  to  the  bodies  which  ought  to  be  represented  at  the  proposed 
Assembly.  It  invited  the  concurrence  of  the  British  Conference  in 
the  proposal,  and  Chancellor  E.  0.  Haven,  already  appointed  as 
a  delegate  to  England  from  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  was 
charged  with  this  important  communication.  By  him  it  was 
presented  to  the  Conference  when  assembled  in  Bradford,  under 
the  presidency  of  the  Eev.  Dr.  Rigg.  Chancellor  Haven  suggested 
that  the  place  for  the  assembling  of  the  projected  CEcumenical 
gathering  should  be  in  City  Road  Chapel,  London. 


VI  PREFATORY  STATEMENT. 

In  response,  the  British  Conference  appointed  a  Committee  to 
consider  the  proposal  and  report  to  it  at  its  next  annual  meetin'g. 
That  Committee  was  first  convened  at  the  Centenary  Hall,  in 
January,  1879,  and  held  a  second  meeting  in  the  ensuing  February. 
It  adopted  resolutions  to  the  effect  that  the  proposed  Ecumenical 
Conference  might  be  held  with  great  advantage,  if  beforehand 
a  distinct  understanding  could  be  arrived  at  as  to  the  subjects  and 
limits  of  discussion.  It  directt  d  its  Secretary,  the  Rev.  John  Bond, 
to  open  a  correspondence  with  the  authorities  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  with  a  view  to  determine  those  subjects  and 
limits.  In  accordance  with  this  decision  a  letter  was  addressed  to 
the  American  Committee,  through  Bishop  Simpson,  explaining,  on 
the  part  of  the  British  Committee,  certain  difficulties  that  would 
arise  in  case  of  fundamental  points,  whether  of  doctrine  or  polity, 
being  thrown  open  for  discussion.  The  reply  of  Bishop  Simpson  to 
this  communication  bore  date  May,  1879.  It  explained  that  he  had 
not  the  means  of  convening  the  Committee,  but  expressed  for 
himself  personally  his  concurrence  in  the  views  of  the  British 
Committee  as  to  the  subjects  and  limits  of  discussion. 

This  communication  proving  satisfactory,  the  Committee  recom- 
mended to  the  British  Conference  at  its  meeting  in  Birmingham, 
in  August,  1879,  the  adoption  of  the  proposal  of  the  American 
brethren,  on  the  understanding  that  the  limitations  named  in  the 
lettei'^  from  London,  and  approved  by  Bishop  Simpson,  should  be 
adhered  to.  This  report  was  adopted  and  the  Committee  was 
reappointed,  with  power  to  add  to  its  number. 

In  April,  1880,  this  Committee  ag^iin  met  at  the  Centenary  Hall, 
and  explained  its  views  to  the  Rev.  William  Arthur,  then  on  the 
point  of  proceeding  as  a  representative  to  the  General  Conference 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  about  to  meet  in  Cincinnati. 
The  British  Committee  proposed  that  the  CEcumenical  Conference 
should  be  held  in  the  year  1882,  in  London,  and  by  adjournment 
in  one  or  more  of  the  northern  towns  ;  that  the  number  of  its 
members  should  be  650,  giving  250  members  to  the  British 
Wesleyan  Methodists,  100  to  the  other  English  branches  of 
Methodism,  250  to  the  United  States,  30  to  Canada,  and  20  to 
Australia.  It  also  proposed  that,  for  delegates  from  abroad, 
hospitality  should  be  provided,  but  that  they  should  bear  their 
own  travelling  expenses  ;  and  further,  that  in  order  to  meet  the 
local  expenses,  a  guarantee  fund  should  be  raised,  one  thousand 
pounds  being  then  named  as  the  amount  which  would  suffice. 


PREFATORY   STATEMENT.  VU 

In  the  meantime,  the  rejiresentative  bodies  of  the  various 
branches  of  Methodism  in  the  United  States  and  Canada  had 
considered  the  proposal,  and  taken  steps  in  furtherance  of  it. 
A  Committee  had  been  appointed,  or  provision  for  the  appointment 
of  one  had  been  made  by  neaily  all,  if  not  all,  the  existing 
denominations  of  Methodists  in  the  United  States  and  Canada. 
The  original  Committee  now  felt  itself  warranted  in  issuing  an 
invitation,  which  it  did  on  the  6th  of  November  1879,  requesting 
all  those  several  Committees  to  assemble  together  in  full  numbers, 
or  at  least  to  send  their  Chairmen  to  a  combined  meeting  at 
Cincinnati  in  the  following  month  of  May,  that  being  the  time  and 
place  where  would  next  meet  the  General  Conference  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  The  invitation  indeed  was  not 
confined  to  the  bodies  which  had  already  appointed  delegates,  but 
was  so  extended  as  to  include  "  authorised  representatives  of  all 
other  Methodist  organisations  in  other  parts  of  the  Avorld."  This 
invitation,  however,  did  not  bear  the  whole  of  the  original  nine 
names. 

Already  had  two  of  their  number,  Bishop  Ames  and  Dr.  Barrows, 
exchanged  the  communion  of  the  Church  militant  for  the  eternal 
fellowship  of  saints  in  light. 

In  response  to  this  invitation  there  assembled  on  May  6th,  1880, 
in  Cincinnati,  such  a  combined  committee  of  Methodist  Churches  as 
had  never  before  come  together.  The  representatives  of  the  two  old 
bodies  which  had  been  wont  to  assemble  under  the  presidency  of 
John  Wesley  himself  (the  British  and  Irish  Conferences)  met  with 
those  of  bodies  of  very  recent  origin  ;  the  representatives  of  Episcopal 
Churches  with  those  of  non-Episcopal ;  the  representatives  of  the 
African  race  with  those  of  whites ;  the  representatives  of  Canadian 
Churches  with  those  of  Churches  in  the  United  States.  For  the 
first  time  since  1844,  when  the  American  Church  was  divided,  did 
Bishops  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  meet  at  the  same 
board  with  Bishops  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

The  proceedings  of  this  Committee  were  animated  by  a  spirit  of 
perfect  harmony.  All  hailed  with  devout  joy  the  prospect  of  a 
fraternal  gathering  in  which  every  branch  of  the  common  Methodist 
family  should  meet  together  with  every  other  branch.  As  to  the 
place  of  meeting  no  second  opinion  was  heard,  all  feeling  that  for 
the  first  general  assembly  of  the  bands  into  which  the  United 
Societies  of  John  Wesley  had  spread,  no  other  spot  could  offer  a  scene 
so  fitting  as  that  City  Koad  Chapel  which  had  formed  the  principal 


vill  PREFATORY   STATEMENT. 

centre   of   his  labours,  and   close  to  which  he  had    finished   his 
course. 

It  appeared,  however,  that  owing  to  1882  being  the  year  for  holding 
some  General  Conferences  both  in  the  United  States  and  Canada, 
it  was  impossible  to  adopt  the  recommendation  made  from  England 
in  favour  of  that  year.  Consequently  1881  was  chosen.  As  to  the 
number  of  delegates  who  should  compose  the  (Ecumenical  Con- 
ference, it  was  deemed  well  to  reduce  the  650  suggested  to  400. 
Of  this  number  one-half  was  to  be  chosen  by  Churches  in  Europe 
with  their  missions,  and  one-half  by  Churches  in  America  with  their 
missions.  The  first  of  these  two  portions  was  to  be  called  the 
Eastern  Section,  the  second  the  Western  Section.  Of  the  Eastern 
Section  the  President  of  the  Wesleyan  Methodist  Conference  was 
appointed  chairman,  as  was  Bishop  Simpson  of  the  Western  Section. 
A  formal  "  call "  to  attend  the  (Ecumenical  Conference  was  drawn 
up,  and  the  members  of  the  Committee  having  as  their  last  act 
approved  and  signed  it,  separated  from  one  another  to  commend  the 
project  to  their  respective  Churches.  One  whose  name  stands 
attached  to  the  call,  and  who  seemed  to  anticipate  meeting  brethren 
from  all  the  ends  of  the  earth  in  a  spirit  of  lively  affection,  was 
Bishop  Doggett,  of  the  Southern  Church  ;  but  before  the  time  for 
the  Conference  arrived  he  was  called  to  join  the  general  assembly 
and  Church  of  the  first-born. 

On  the  12th  of  May  the  report  of  the  Committee  was  accepted  by 
the  General  Conference  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  At  its 
ensuing  meeting  in  the  month  of  August,  the  British  Wesleyan 
Conference  directed  that  arrangements  should  be  made  for  holding 
the  (Ecumenical  Assembly  in  City  Road  Chapel  in  September,  1881, 
and  appointed  a  large  Committee  to  carry  such  arrangements  into 
effect.  Shortly  afterwards  invitations  to  co-operate  were  addressed 
to  the  different  Methodist  bodies  in  Great  Britain,  and  from  every 
one  of  them  was  received  a  cordial  reply  in  the  affirmative. 

On  the  4th  of  November,  1880,  at  the  Centenary  Hall,  assembled 
a  combined  meeting  composed  of  authorised  Delegates  froni  all  the 
Methodist  bodies  in  Great  Britain  and  Ireland.  That  day  was  carried 
to  the  grave  the  gentleman  who  had  been  first  chosen  on  behalf  of 
the  Wesleyan  Methodist  Church  as  its  lay  representative  on  the 
Executive  Committee — namely,  Sir  Francis  Lycett.  The  combined 
Committee  Avas  not  less  unanimous  than  had  been  the  one  similar 
to  it  in  Cincinnati.  It  adopted  the  basis  for  the  (Ecumenical  Con- 
ference contained  in  the  "'  call "  issued  in  America,  constituted  the 


PREFATORY   STATEMENT.  Ix 

Executive  Committee,  and  resolved  that  the  guarantee  fund  should 
be  raised  from  £1,000  to  £2,500. 

Both  the  Western  and  Eastern  Sections  being  now  fully  organised, 
such  preliminary  arrangements  as  still  remained  to  be  carried  out 
were  prosecuted  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic  Avith  unremitting 
diligence.  Friday,  the  5th  of  August,  1881,  was  observed  as  a 
day  of  special  prayer  on  behalf  of  the  approaching  Conference.  By 
the  time  appointed  all  was  in  readiness,  and  the  elected  members 
of  the  body  about  to  be  constituted  had  safely  arrived  from  their 
widely-scattered  homes.  .  But  E.  Otis  Haven,  who  had  at  Bradford 
presented  to  British  Methodists  the  invitation  from  their  American 
brethren  to  convoke  the  assembly,  was  not  '  of  the  number. 
In  1880  he  had  been  chosen  a  bishop  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  and  a  few  Aveeks  before  the  Conference  met  in  London  he, 
from  a  distance  of  thousands  of  miles  away,  on  the  slope  of  the 
Pacific,  was  called  up  to  the  Church  of  perfect  union. 

On  Wednesday,  the  7th  of  September,  1881,  the  delegated  brethren 
assembled  in  tlie  appointed  place.  They  represented  twenty-eight 
different  denominations.  They  came  from  England,  Ireland,  Scotland; 
France,  Germany,  Italy,  Norway,  Sweden,  Switzerland,  Africa,  India, 
China,  Japan,  Australia,  New  Zealand,  Polynesia,  and  from  all  sections 
of  the  United  States,  from  Canada,  Nova  Scotia,  New  Brunswick, 
South  America,  and  the  West  Indies.  They  belonged,  for  the  most 
part,  to  the  Teutonic  and  African  races.  Of  the  Teutonic  race  the 
three  great  divisions  were  represented — the  main  German  stock,  with 
the  An^lo-Saxon  and  Scandinavian  branches.  Of  the  African  race 
it  would  be  impossible  to  say  how  many  branches  were  represented, 
but  they  were  not  a  few.  Those  loosely  called  the  Latin  races  were 
not  unrepresented,  but  their  numbers  were  small.  There  was,  how- 
ever, in  attendance  no  African  born  and  residing  in  Africa,  nor  any 
native  Asiatic,  American  Indian,  or  Polynesian.  The  portion  of  the 
existing  Methodist  family  actually  present  was,  therefore,  broadly 
speaking,  only  so  much  of  it  as  could  send  delegates  capable  of  taking 
part  in  proceedings  conducted  in  the  English  tongue.  Numerous 
firstfruits  of  various  races  to  Avhom  that?  tongue  is  strange  were 
praying  for  the  Conference  in  thirty  or  forty  languages,  and  the 
hearts  of  missionaries  in  the  assembly  were  often  turned  towards 
those  absent  brethren  in  hope  that  future  (Ecumenical  Conferences 
would  witness  the  presence  of  many  a  nation  and  race  not  now 
represented. 

City  Road  Chapel,  which  had  lately  been  restored  after  a  fire  that 


X  PREFATORY   STATEMENT. 

had  well-nigh  burnerl  it  down,  was,  at  the  hour  appointed  for  the 
opening,  crowded  in  every  part. 

The  morning  service  was  read  by  the  President  of  the  Wesleyan 
Methodist  Conference,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Osborn.  The  sermon  was 
preached  by  the  Senior  Bishop  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
Dr.  Matthew  Simpson.  At  the  close  of  the  sermon  the  sacrament  of 
the  Lord's  Supper  was  administered  to  the  assembled  delegates. 

It  ought  not  to  be  omitted  to  mention  that  on  the  morning 
preceding  the  opening  of  the  Conference  a  very  large  number  of  the 
delegates  were  entertained  by  the  Eeligious  Tract  Society  at  a 
breakfast  in  Exeter  Hall,  and  on  the  evening  of  the  day  of  opening 
the  whole  of  their  number,  with  many  other  friends,  were  cordially 
welcomed  at  a  public  reception  in  the  Mansion  House  by  the  Lord 
Mayor  of  London,  the  Right  Hon.  William  McArthur,  M.P. 

The  reports  of  the  proceedings  thus  inaugurated  are  contained  in 
the  following  pages.  It  is  to  be  noted  that  the  Conference  is  not 
responsible  for  the  opinions  of  any  individual,  whether  expressed  in 
the  papers  read,  or  in  the  speeches. 

•  In  what  measure  the  proceedings  reported  in  this  rolume  have 
been  attended  and  will  be  followed  by  that  blessing  from  God 
whereby,  in  time  past,  various  endeavours  of  the  Methodist  branch 
of  the  Catholic  Church  to  spread  Scriptural  holiness  were  rendered 
fruitful,  V,  ill  appear  in  volumes  to  be  published  by  future  (Ecumenical 
Conferences  more  clearly  than  it  could  be  indicated  here.  May 
it  in  the  light  of  future  days  be  seen  that  a  Divine  blessing  did 
attend  them  in  a  measure  so  effectual  as  greatly  to  swell  the  song 
of  "Glory  to  God  in  the  highest,  on  earth  peace,  good  will  towards 
men  ! " 

London,  Se]jtemher  21st,  1881. 


[N.B. — This  prefatory  statement  was,  at  the  request  of  the  Publication 
Committee,  diawu  up  by  Bev.  William  Arthur,  M.  A.] 


OFFICIAL   PAPERS,  &a, 

RELATING    TO    THE    CALL    OF    THE     CECUMENICAL 
METHODIST    CONFERENCE. 


-^ 


I.- INITIAL    ACTION    BY    THE    METHODIST 
EPISCOPAL   CHURCH. 

The  first  step  toward  the  (Ecuinenioal  Conference  was  taken  by  the 
General  Conference  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  1876,  and  is 
stated  in  the  following,  the  fii'st  official,  communication  : — 

PhUadeJpliia,  May,  1878. 
TO  THE  BRITISH  WESLEYAN  CONFERENCE. 
Dear  Fathers  and  Brethren. 

The  General  Conference  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  the  United 
States,  in  session  in  the  City  of  Baltimore,  adopted  May  31,  181G,  the 
following  preamble  and  resolutions  : 

W'herras.  There  are  a  number  of  distinct  bodies  of  Methodists  in  the 
United  States,  in  the  Dominion  of  Canada,  in  Great  Britain,  and  in  other 
countries  :   and 

WluTcax,  These  different  Methodist  organisations  accept  the  Arminian 
theology,  and  maintain  usages  which  disliuguish  them  to  some  extent  from 
every  other  denomination  of  Christians.;  and 

Whereas,  There  are  in  these  Methodist  Churches  nearly  thirty  thousand 
itinerant  ministers,  twice  that  number  of  local  preachers,  and  more  than 
four  millions  of  lay  members  ;  and 

Whereas,  These  several  Methodist  bodies  have  many  interests  in  common, 
and  are  engaged  in  a  common  work,  and  are  seeking  a  common  object ;  and 

Whereas,  An  Ecumenical  Conference  of  Methodism  would  tend  in  many 
ways  to  a  closer  alliance,  a  warmer  fraternity,  and  a  fuller  co-operation 
among  these  various  Methodist  organisations  for  the  advancement  of  the 
Redeemer's  kingdom  in  all  parts  of  the  earth  ;  and 

Whereas.   It  is  eminently  proper  that   this  General  Conference  of  the 

Methodist  Episcopal  Church — a  Conference  and  a  Church  representing  and 

including  eleven  thousand  itinerant  ministers,  and  sixteen  hundred  thousand 

members — should  initiaie  and  propose  such  a  measure  ;  therefore, 

Jiesulved,  1.  That  the  bishops  be  requested  to  appoint  a  Committee  of 

Correspondence,  consisting  of  nine  persons — two  of  their  own  number, 

four  other  ministers,  and  three  laymen— who  shall  take  this  whole 

Bubject  into  consideration,  coriespond  with  different  Methodist  bodies 

in  this  country  and  in  every  other  country,  and  endeavour  to  arrange 

for  said  (Ecumeniftd  Conference  of  Methodism,  at  such  time  and 

place  as  may  be  judged  most  advisable,  to  consider  topics  relating  to 

the  position,  work,  and  responsibility  of  Methodism  for  the  world's 

evangelisaliou. 


Xll  OFFICIAL   PAPERS. 

Resolved,  2.  That  such  committee  is  hereby  empowered  to  represent,  and 
speal<  for  and  in  the  name  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  the 
United  States  in  respect  to  said  Oecumenical  Conference,  and  is 
directed  to  make  a  full  report  of  its  proceedings  to  the  General 
Conference  of  1 880. 

Resolved,  3.  That  the  necessary  expenses  of  such  Committee  of  Corre- 
spondence be  met  in  the  same  mauner  as  expenses  of  fraternal  dele- 
gates to  other  religious  bodies  are  met. — {Journal,  p.  367.) 

In  pursuance  of  this  action,  the  Bishops,  at  a  meeting  held  in  New  York 
City,  November,  1876,  appointed  said  Committee  of  Correspondence,  as 
follows : — 

Bishops— T\\&  Rev.  Matthew  Simpson,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  of  Philadelphia, 
Pennsylvania,  and  the  Rev.  Edward  R.  Ames,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  of 
Baltimore,  Maryland. 

Other  Ministers — The  Rev.  Augustus  C,  George,  D.D.,  of  Central  New 
York  Conference  ;  the  Rev.  Lorenzo  D.  Barrows,  D.D..  of  New 
Hampshire  Conference ;  the  Rev.  Park  S.  Donei.son,  D.D.,  of 
Central  Ohio  Conference ;  and  the  Rev.  Isaac  N.  Baird,  D.D.,  of 
Pittsburgh  Conference. 

Laymen— The  Hon.  J.  W.  Marshall,,  of  Washington.  District  of  Co- 
lumbia ;  the  Hon.  James  Harlan,  of  Mount  Pleasant,  Iowa  ;  and 
Francis  H.  Root,  Esq.,  of  Buffalo,  N.  Y. 

The  committee,  as  instructed  by  the  General  Conference,  has  taken  this 
whole  subject  into  consideration,  made  arrangements  for  correspondence 
with  ditferent  Methodist  bodies  in  this  country  and  in  other  countries,  and 
is  read}'  to  do  whatever  is  needful  and  proper  to  secure  an  Ecumenical 
Conference  of  Methodism  for  tlie  purpose  of  considering  the  jtosition  and 
work  of  the  people  so  called,  and  the  extent  of  their  responsibility  for  the 
world's  evangelisation. 

The  committee.  "  empowered  to  represent  and  speak  for  and  in  the  name 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  the  United  States."  would  respectfully 
represent  that  such  an  (Ecumenical  Conference,  as  is  proposed,  might  properly 
consider  such  topics  as  the  following  : — 

The  doctrinal  basis  of  Methodism  ; 

The  itinerant  ministry,  and  other  means  of  evangelisation  ; 
Home  missions,  including  Sunday-School  Unions,  and  all  associations  for 
Church  extension,  and   for  the  culture   and  conversion  of  special 
classes ; 
Education  in  Church  and  State,  and  especially  theological  seminaries  and 

training  schools  for  Christian  workers  ; 
Intemperance,   pauperism,  licentiousness,  and,    generally,   the  evils  and 

crimes  of  modern  civilisation  ; 
Publishing  houses,  periodicals,  and  the  use  of  the  press  for  the  world's 

convei-sion ; 
Foreign  missions ; 
Perils  from  the  Papacy,  from  infidelity,  and  from  the  desecration  of  the 

Sabbath ; 
The  resources  of  the  Methodist  body,  in  numbers,  wealth,  culture,  and 
spiritual  life,  for  doing  the  work  of  Christ,  and  the  eorre^sponding 
accountability ;  and  many  other  themes  of  a  kindred  character. 
That  such  an  Ecumenical  Conference  would  be  a  great  blessing  to  the 
Church  and  the  world  can  hardly  be  questioned.     It  would  tend  to  har- 
monise and  unify  the  different  Methodist  organisations,  to  break  down  caste 
and  local  prejudices,  and  to  bind  together  in  closest  fellowships  a  people 
essentially  one  in  doctrine,  spirit,  and  purpose.     It  would  lead  to  sucli  adjust- 
ments of  the  missionary  work  as  to  prevent  friction  and  waste.     It  could  not 
but  be  extremely  suggestive  in  regard  to  modes  and  agencies  for  the  most 
successful  performance  of  the  Churches'  work  of  evangelisation. 

It  would,  doubtless,  give  a  great  impulse  to  the  cause  of  temperance  and 
of  Sabbath  observance,  to  Sunday-schools,  and  to  all  the  beneficent  activities 


OFFICIAL   PAPERS.  xiii 

of  the  Church.  The  relation  of  jMethodism,  as  a  whole,  to  education,  to 
civil  government,  to  other  Christian  bodies,  and  to  the  world-wide  mission 
work,  would  certainly  come  to  be  better  understood.  In  a  word,  an  increase 
of  Chiistian  intelligence,  of  conscious  spiritual  power,  and  of  faith  in  the 
redemption  of  the  race  from  the  bondage  and  degradation  of  vice  and 
immorality,  would,  without  question,  be  realised.  A  more  earnest  consecra- 
tion, an  iutenser  glow  of  enthusiasm,  a  more  daring  purpose  of  evangelism, 
and, cons<qnently,  more  powerful  revivals,  and  larger  beneficences  in  every 
department  of  Christian  endeavour,  would  mark  the  future  progress  of  the 
Church.  Such  an  fficuraenical  Conference  of  Metiiodists  would,  moreover, 
attract  the  attention  of  scliolars,  thinkers,  and  reformers,  and  would  lead  to 
a  discussion  of  the  movement,  and  of  the  whole  Methodist  histoiy,  work, 
and  mis-ion.  in  eveiy  leading  newspaper  and  periodical  in  Christendom. 
Methodism  has  everything  to  gain  and  nothing  to  lose  by  this  discussion. 

Such  an  Oecumenical  Conference  ought,  in  our  own  judgment,  to  include 
representatives  from  the  following  organisations  : — 

United  Sfafex. — Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
South.  ]\Iethodist  Protestant  Church.  Methodist  Church,  American  Wesleyan 
Church,  Free  Methodist  Church,  African  jMethodist  Episcopal  Church,  African 
Methodist  Episcopal  Zion  Church,  Colom-ed  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
of  America,  the  Evangelical  Association,  and  the  Church  of  the  United 
Brethren 

Dominion  of  Canada. — The  Methodist  Church  of  Canada,  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church  of  Canada,  Primitive  Methodist  Church,  and  British  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church. 

Great  Britain. — British  Wesleyan  Methodists,  Irish  Wesleyan  Methodists, 
Methodist  New  Connexion,  Primitive  Methodist  Church,  United  Methodi-st 
Free  Churches,  the  Bible  Christian  Cliurch,  and  the  Wesleyan  Reform  Uniou. 

OtJier  Countries. — The  French  Wesleyan  Methodists,  aud  the  Australian 
Wesleyan  Methodists. 

It  would  doubtless  be  wise  to  secure  a  special  representation  of  the  Foreign 
Mission  work  of  the  different  bodies  taking  part  in  the  Conference. 

We  respectfully  suggest  that  the  Conference  be  composed  of  clerical  and 
lay  members,  in  as  nearly  equal  numbers  as  may  be  convenient,  and  that  the 
basis  of  representation,  and  the  time  and  place  of  meeting,  be  determined  by 
the  joint  action,  tlirough  correspondence  or  otherwise,  of  the  several  com- 
mittees appointed  by  the  dilferent  ecclesiastical  bodies  to  be  therein 
represented. 

It  would  seem  to  be  desirable  to  have  the  members  of  the  Conference 
selected  by  the  highest  executive  authority  available  for  that  jDurpose  in  the 
respective  Methodist  bodies,  and  that  a  sufficient  number  of  alternate 
delegates  be  provided. 

In  conclusion.  Dear  Brethren,  we  submit  this  whole  subject  to  your  wise 
and  godly  judgment  for  such  action  as  may  appear  to  you  promotive  of  the 
Eedecmer's  kingdom  and  the  wider  usefulness  of  that  common  Methodism 
\^hich  is  so  dear  to  all  our  hearts. 

In  the  bunds  of  a  fraternal  Gospel,  we  ai"e,  truly  yours, 

M.  Simpson,  J.  N.  Bahid, 

E.  H.  Ames,  J.  W.  Marshall, 

A.  C.  George,  James  Harlan, 

L.  D.  Barrows,  Francis  H.  Root, 

P.   S.   DONELSON, 

Commitlee  of  the  General  Conference  of  the  IMethodist 
Episcopal  Church  in  the  United  States. 


XIV  OFFICIAL  PAPERS. 

II.— BEPLY    OF    THE    BRITISH    WESLEY  AN 
CONFERENCE. 

TO  THE  COMMITTEE  OF  CORRESPONDENCE  APPOINTED  BY 
THE  BISHOPS  OF  THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH 
IN  RELATION  TO  A  PROPOSED  (ECUMENICAL  METHODIST 
CONFERENCE. 

Deak  Brktitren, 

Your  communication,  dated  Philadelphia,  May,  1878,  and  presented  to  the 
British  Conference  of  the  same  year  by  Chancellor  Haven,  was  remitted,  by 
resolution  of  the  Conference,  to  a  "  Committee  to  meet  during  the  year  to 
consider  the  proposal,  and  to  report  to  our  next  Conference." 

The  Committee  cannot  be  insensible  to  the  considerations  by  which  your 
proposal  is  recommended  to  their  favoiu-able  regard.  There  is  much  that  is 
attractive  and  delightful,  much,  also,  that  is  helpful  to  the  common  cause  of 
Evangelical  Christianity,  in  the  assemblies  and  in  the  mutual  fellowship  and 
counsels  of  the  Evangelical  Alliance.  In  a  great  gathering  of  Christians 
bearing  the  general  designation  of  Methodists  there  might  be  expected  to  be 
a  closer  approximation  and  a  fuller  fellowship.  The  sense  of  a  common 
spiritual  ancestrj' ;  the  possession  in  common  of  a  theology  which,  with  some 
not  unimportant  variations  among  the  different  bodies  represented,  possesses, 
nevertheless,  as  its  cardinal  characteristics,  that  it  is  Arminian,  evangelical, 
and  experimental;  and  the  fact  that  all  the  different  bodies  united  in  such  a 
gathering  would  be  agreed  in  setting  a  high  value,  though  here  again  not 
without  some  material  variations  of  view,  on  such  intimate  and  personal 
Christian  fellowship  as  that  of  which  the  Methodist  Class-meeting  stands  as 
the  type  and  representative; — constitute  collectively  bonds  of  community 
which  should  lend  especial  interest  and  value  to  such  a  gathering ;  and  from 
experience  and  counsels  brought  together  from  so  widespread  and  various  an 
aggregate  of  territories,  acquired  or  suggested  under  conditions  of  population 
and  society  so  manifold  in  their  diversities,  and  collected  and  contributed  by 
means  of  agencies  not  less  diversified  than  tlie  conditions  to  which  they  are 
respectively  adapted,  it  might  be  hoped  that  information  and  ideas  of  the 
greatest  practical  value  as  to  the  spread  of  true  religion  throughout  the  world 
might  be  elicited  and  diffused,  and  be  made  the  common  property  thence- 
forward, not  only  of  the  vaiious  branches  of  Methodists,  but  of  our  common 
evangelical  Christianity. 

Nevertheless,  a  close  consideration  of  all  that  would  be  involved  in  such 
an  assembly  seems  to  disclose  to  us  such  practical  difficulties  as  to  render 
necessary  some  modifications  in  the  outline  of  the  plan  which  you  have 
submitted. 

That  plan  assumes  that  there  is  such  a  substantial  community  among  the 
various  bodies  descended  from  the  English  Methodism  of  John  Wesley,  that 
all  may  be  regarded  as  virtually  "one  people,"  distinguished  into  sections, 
wliich  only  vajy  from  each  other  in  matters  quite  subordinate  and  almost 
insignificant.  We  are  bound  to  say  that  to  us  there  appears  to  be  a  certain 
unreality  about  this  view.  The  Presbyterians  who  lately  met  in  Scotland  all 
hold  in  common  to  the  Westminster  Confession,  and,  further,  maintain  the 
essential  and  distinctive  principles  of  Presbyterian  as  distinguished,  on  the 
one  hand,  from  Episcopalian  and,  on  the  other,  from  Congregationalist 
principles.  So  also  the  Pan-Anglican  Conferences  which  have  been  held  at 
Lambeth  are  based  upon  an  identical  standard  of  doctrine,  a  liturgy  virtually 
identical,  and  the  same  distinctive  principles  of  Episcopalian  Chirrch  govern- 
ment. No  such  virtual  identity  is  found  among  the  ditferent  ecclesiastical 
bodies  enumerated  in  your  communication.  They  do  not  acknowledge  the 
same  standard  of  doctrine,  and  characteristic  differences  are  found  in  their 
exposition  even  of  doctrines  which  are  nominally  held  in  common.    The 


OFFICIAL   PAPERS.  XV 

views  lield  as  to  the  Class-meeting  and  the  conditions  of  Church  membership 
are  very  various  in  the  different  bodies.  And  as  regards  Church  government, 
the  range  of  differences  varies  on  tlie  one  side  from  principles  virtually 
identical  with  those  of  Congregationalism,  to  a  form  of  Presbyterian 
episcopacy  on  the  other  side  which  inclines  towards  the  theory  of  Anglican 
episcopacy. 

Such  being  the  case,  it  appears  to  us  that  any  general  Conference  of 
Methodist  bodies  could  only  be  safely  and  profitabl}'  conducted  with  a 
reservation  similar  to  that  which  has  from  the  beginning  been  found 
necessary  in  all  gatherings  of  the  Evangelical  Alliance  ;  viz.,  that  no  subjects 
of  fundamental  importance,  distinctive  of  the  several  bodies  respectively, 
should  be  allowed  to  come  under  discussion.  We  regard  our  own  Methodism 
as  defined  essentially  by  our  doctrine,  our  spiritual  lellowsliip,  and  our 
Church  government.  Mere  Arminianism  in  theology  does  not  sufhce, — nor 
even  evangelical  and  experimental  Arminianism, — to  define  a  ]\Iethodist 
Church.  Close  personal  and  spiritual  fellowship,  after  the  t3^pe  of  tliat  of 
which  we  read  in  the  early  chapters  of  the  Acts,  is,  according  to  our  view,  no 
less  essential.  Nor  can  we  regard  the  principles  of  Congregational  In- 
dependency as  at  all  capable  of  being  combined  or  blended  with  that 
Connexional  form  of  Church  government,  essentially  Presbyterian  in  its 
genius  and  principles,  which  we  have  received  from  our  founder,  and  which 
we  regard  as  essential  to  the  integrity  of  that  system  of  aggressive  evangelism 
which  he  bequeathed  to  us. 

For  the  reasons  which  have  thus  been  indicated  it  appeal's  to  us  that  it 
would  be  wis-e  and  needful,  in  making  overtures  or  arrangements  for  a 
Conference  of  the  representatives  of  such  bodies  of  Christians  as  profess  to 
receive  in  general  the  theology  of  John  Wesley,  and  more  or  less  to  adhere 
to  his  discipline,  first  fi-ankly  to  recognise  that  such  differences  as  we  have 
indicated  exist  among  these  bodies,  and  to  provide  accordingly  for  the 
exclusion  from  discussion  at  any  such  gathering  of  all  points  of  doctrine, 
discipline,  or  Chm-ch  government  regarded  as  tundamental  by  any  of  the 
bodies  that  are  to  come  together,  and  as  to  which  any  one  of  such  bodies 
differs  from  any  of  the  others. 

If  this  principle  were  adopted,  it  would  preclude  the  discussion  of  the  first 
matter  laamed  in  yoiu"  proposal  as  proper  to  be  considered  ;  viz.,  "  the 
doctrinal  basis  "  of  the  different  Methodist  bodies. 

There  are  other  subjects,  also,  which  w^ould  be  precluded,  as  will  be  seen 
on  consideration,  but  whicli  it  is  not  needful  specifically  to  mention. 

The  general  restriction  we  have  indicated  would  not  be  difficult  of  appli- 
cation, and  would  serve  to  define  the  range  of  subjects  which  might  properly 
and  advantageously  be  matter  of  consideration. 

The  great  practical  questions  of  evangelistic  labour  and  enterprise  which 
you  have  named  would  remain,  and  would  provide  an  ample  field  for  the 
godly  iuqiuries  of  the  Confer^  nee,  viz.  : — 

Evangelistic  agencies  in  general ; 

Home  IMissious  and  all  associations  for  Church  extension  and  for  the 
culture  and  conversion  of  special  classes  ; 

Education,  including  Sunday-School  Unions,  and  especially  Theological 
Seminaries  and  Training  Schools  for  Christian  workers  ; 

Intemperance,  pauperism,  licentiousness,  and,  generally,  the  evils  and 
crimes  of  modem  civilisation ; 

Pubhshing  houses,  periodicals,  and  the  use  of  the  press  for  the  world  s 
conversion ; 

Foreign  missions ; 

Perils  from  the  Papacy,  from  infidelity,  and  from  the  desecration  of  the 
Sabbath ; 

The  resources  of  the  Methodist  bodies  in  numbers,  wealth,  culture,  and 
spuitual  life,  for  doing  the  work  of  Christ,  and  their  corresponding- 
accountability  ;  and  many  kindred  subjects. 

As  to  the  organisations  from  which  representatives  should  be  invited,  we 
agr»re  with  yom-  c  numeration  in  general ;  and  though  of  some  of  those  bodies 


XVI  OFFICIAL   PAPERS. 

•vvhicti  you  have  named  as  existing  in  the  United  States  we  have  little 
knowledge,  we  should  be  prepsu-ed  to  concur  in  any  selection  you  might  make. 

With  you  we  think  that  the  Conference  should  be  composed  of  cJerical  and 
lay  members  in  as  nearly  equal  numbers  as  may  be  convenient ;  tliat  they 
should  be  selected  bj'  the  highest  executive  authorities  in  the  respective 
Methodist  oiganisations  ;  and  that  a  sufficient  number  of  alternative  re- 
presentatives should  be  provided. 

We  think,  also,  the  "  basis  of  representation,"  and  the  time  and  place  of 
meetings,  should  be  determined  as  you  propose.  We  do  not  find  any  allusion 
to  the  subject  in  your  written  communication,  but  we  undeistand  from  the 
address  of  Chancellor  Haven  that,  in  your  oiiinion,  London  should  be  the 
place  of  meeting.  If  such  should  be  the  pleasure  of  those  bodies  taking  part 
in  the  Conference,  w^e  should  heartily  welcome  their  representatives  to  this 
city;  but  we  think  that  additional  interest  might  be  created  if  some  of  its 
sessions  were  held  not  in  London,  but  in  some  one  of  those  provincial  centres 
of  population  and  of  influence  where  British  Methodism  has  won  its  greatest 
successes  and  is  seen  in  its  most  effective  development. 

We  beg  to  add  a  further  suggestion  that,  for  the  preservation  of  order  and 
to  save  valuable  time,  it  is  desirable  that  some  previous  understanding  be 
attained  as  to  the  method  of  proceedings,  the  laws  that  should  regulate 
discussion,  and  the  appointment  of  a  president  or  presidents,  and,  it  may  be, 
of  vice-presidents.  We  think  that  the  Conference  might  sometimes  ad- 
vantageously meet  in  sections  for  the  consideration  of  definite  and  specified 
subjects,  and  that  on  these  occasions,  at  least,  the  appointment  of  two 
chairmen  or  vice-presidents,  representing  respectively  British  and  American 
Methodism,  might  be  desirable. 

If  an  Oecumenical  IMethodist  Conference  should  be  held  under  the  con- 
ditions we  have  named,  we  think  it  would  exert  a  most  blessed  influence 
in  promoting  the  Christian  fellowship  and  practical  co-operation  of  the 
numerous  and  wide-spread  Methodist  Churches,  in  securing  the  continuance 
of  happy  and  peaceful  relations  between  all  the  communities  represented,  and 
especially  in  cementing  that  friendship  between  the  British  Empire  and  the 
United  States,  with  which  are  bountl  up  the  interests  of  freedom  and 
evangelical  religiim  throughout  the  world.  With  these  objects  we  heartily 
reciprocate  the  oveitm-es  with  which  you  have  honoured  us,  and  shall  be  glad 
to  do  all  in  our  power  to  bring  to  a  successful  issue  the  proposed  Conference. 
In  that  case  we  should  be  prepared  to  recommend  our  Conference  heartily  to 
further  it. 

111.— ACTION    OF    THE    3IETE0DIST   EPISCOPAL 

CHURCH,  SOUTH. 

The  General  Conference  of  this  Church  at  its  Session  in  Atalauta,  Georgia, 
May,  1878,  adopted  the  following  resolutions  :— 

Besolved, — That  the  C-^neral  Conference  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  South,  heartily  approve  of  the  proposed  CEcumenical  Conference 
of  Methodist  Churches.  \ 

Mesolred, — That  the  bishops  of  our  Church  be  and  are  hereby  authorised 
and  directed  to  appoint  a  committee  of  seven,  consisting  of  two  bishops, 
three  other  ministers,  and  two  laymen,  who  shall  be  fully  empowered  to 
arrange  for  such  Conference,  and  to  represent  our  Church  in  the  corre- 
spondence necessary  thereto,  and  to  appoint  delegates  to  represent  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Chmch,  South,  in  the  (Ecumenical  Conference  whenever 
it  may  assemble. 

IN.— THE  GALL  BY  THE  JOINT  COMMITTEE. 

The  undersigned,  in  the  name  and  by  the  authority  of  the  different 
Methodist  bodies  with  which  we  are  connected,  and  which  we  have  been 


OFFICIAL   PAPERS.  XVU 

appointed  to  represent,  recommend  the  holding  of  an  CEcumenical  Con- 
ference of  Methodism  in  Cit}^  Road  Chapel,  London,  the  middle  of  August, 
1881,  or  as  near  thereto  as  our  English  brethren  can  arrange  ;  nevertheless, 
if  it  should  be  found  impracticable  to  hold  said  Conference  at  the  time 
indicated,  the  General  Executive  Committee  may  determine  the  date. 

In  respect  to  such  CEcumenical  Conference  we  make  the  following  state- 
ments and  suggestions  : — 

1.  The  Conference  is  not  for  legislative  purposes,  for  it  will  have  no 
authority  to  legislate.  It  is  not  for  doctrinal  controversies,  for  Methodism 
has  no  doctiinal  differences.  It  is  not  for  an  attempt  to  harmonise  the 
various  politics  and  usages  of  the  several  branches  of  the  one  great  Methodist 
family,  for  Methodism  has  always  striven  for  unity  rather  than  uniformity. 
It  is  not,  in  a  word,  for  consolidation,  but  for  co-operation.  It  is  to  devise 
such  means  for  prosecuting  our  home  and  foreign  work  as  will  result  in  the 
greatest  economy  and  efficiency,  to  promote  fraternity,  to  increase  the  moral 
and  evangelical  power  of  a  common  Methodism,  and  to  secure  the  more 
speedy  conversion  of  the  world. 

2.  A  Methodist  Ecumenical  Conference  might  properly  consider  such 
topics  as  these  :  the  duty  of  Methodism  in  respect  to  Popery,  paganism, 
pauperism,  scepticism,  intemperance,  and  kindred  vices;  the  relation  of 
Methodism  to  education,  the  means  of  evangelisation,  such  as  an  itinerant 
ministry,  training  schools  for  Christian  workers,  both  at  home  and  abroad, 
Sunday-schools,  and  special  efforts  for  special  classes ;  Methodism  as  a 
missionary  movement,  the  relation  of  the  home  to  the  foreign  work,  and  the 
best  mode  of  avoiding  waste  and  rivalries,  and  of  securing  instead  thereof 
sympatic  and  co-operation  between  different  Methodist  bodies  occupying 
the  same" or  contiguous  mission-fields  ;  the  use  of  the  press  for  the  increase 
of  Christian  knowledge  and  sanctifying  power  ;  the  resources  of  Methodism, 
in  numbers,  wealth,  culture,  spiritual  life,  and  revival  agencies,  and  the 
corresponding  responsibility ;  the  .spiritual  unity  of  Methodism,  and  the  best 
way  to  secure  its  maintenance  and  increase,  and  to  manfest  it  to  the  world  ; 
and  other  kindred  topics. 

3.  The  (Ecumenical  Conference  shall  be  composed  of  four  hundred 
members,  of  which  two  hundred  are  assigned  to  British  and  Continental 
Methodism,  and  to  their  affiliated  Conferences  and  missi(m-fiel(ls,  and  two 
hundred  to  the  Conferences  and  Churches  in  the  United  States  and  in  Canada, 
and  in  their  foreign  work.  The  Conference  shall  be  composed,  as  nearly 
as  possible,  of  an  equal  number  of  clerical  and  lay  delegates.  The  delegates 
from  Briti-sh  and  Continental  Methodism  shall  be  distributed  among  the 
various  Methodist  bodies  of  that  section,  as  the  British  ]\Iethodists,  on  coh- 
sultation  and  correspondence,  may  agree.  The  delegates  assigned  to  the 
Chmches  in  the  United  States  and  Canada  shall  be  distributed  as  follows : 
The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  eiglity;  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
South,  thirty-eight ;  the  African  iMelhodist  Episcopal  Church,  twelve ;  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Zion  Church,  ten  ;  the  Coloured  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  of  America,  si.x ;  the  Evangelical  Association,  six ;  the  Union 
American  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  two  ;  the  Union  American  Protestant 
Church,  two ;  the  Methodist  Protestant  Church,  six ;  the  American  Wes- 
leyan  Church,  four;  the  Free  Methodist  Church,  two;  the  Independent 
Methodist  Church,  two;  the  Congregational  Methodist  Church,  two;  the 
Methodist  Church  of  Canada,  twelve  ;  the  IMethodist  Episcopal  Church  of 
Canada,  four ;  the  Primitive  Methodist  Church  in  the  United  States  and 
Canada,  two  ;  The  Bible  Christian  Church,  two ;  and  the  British  ]\Iethodist 
Episcopal  Church,  two.  The  remaining  six  members  are  left  to  be  dis- 
tributed by  the  Western  Section  of  the  General  Executive  Committee. 

4.  There  shall  be  a  General  Executive  Committee,  consisting  of  one 
clerical  and  one  lay  meml)er  from  each  Methodist  body,  to  be  appointed  by 
the  General  Conference.  Board  of  Bishops,  Conference  I'resident,  or  by  any 
other  available  authority  which  can  act  during  the  year  IJSSo,  or  as  soon 
thereafter  as  may  be  prjicticable.  The  General  Executive  Committee  shall 
be  divided  into  two  secticAis,  which  may  meet  sei)arately.   The  Eastern  Section 

B 


XVni  OI'TICIAL   PAPERS. 

shall  include  British  and  Continental  Methodism  and  its  affiliated  Conferences, 
and  the  Western  Section  shall  include  the  Me'hodism  of  the  United  States  and 
Canada,  and  of  its  mission-fields.  The  President  of  the  British  Wesleyan 
Conference  shall  be  an  additional  member  of  the  committee,  and  shall  be 
chairman  of  the  Eastern  Section,  and  is  specially  charged  with  the  duty  of 
opening  the  proceedings  and  of  effecting  the  organisation  of  the  (Ecumenical 
Conference.  The  Rev.  Bishop  M.  Simpson  shall  be  an  additional  meml)er  of 
the  committee,  and  shall  be  cliairman  of  the  Western  Section.  The  Rev. 
Bishop  H.  N.  M'Tj^eire  shall  also  be  an  additional  member  of  the  committee, 
and  shall  be  vice-chairman  of  the  Western  Section.  In  case  the  two  sections 
meet  together,  the  chairmen  may  preside  alternately. 

When  three  Methodist  bodies  beyond  the  borders  of  the  United  States 
and  of  Canada  shall  have  clioseu  members  of  the  General  Executive  Com- 
mittee, the  Eastern  Section  maybe  organised;  and  when  five  Methodist  bodies 
in  the  United  States  and  Canada  shall  have  chosen  members  of  the  General 
Executive  Committee  the  Western  Section  may  be  organised.  It  shall  require 
a  majority  of  both  sections  to  make  any  general  action  valid,  but  each  section 
may  act  independently  on  all  local  matters. 

The  General  Executive  Committee  shall  prepare  and  publish  a  scheme  of 
business,  or  programme  of  exercises  for  said  OEcumenical  Conference,  and 
shall  make  all  other  necessary  arrangements. 

5.  The  several  Methodist  botlies  are  requested  to  arrange  during  the 
present  calendar  year  for  the  appointment  of  delegates  to  the  proposed 
Ecumenical  Conference  on  the  basis  previously  stated,  and  by  the  highest 
available  authority. 

G.  Each  JMethodist  body  shall  provide,  as  it  may  see  fit,  for  the  travelling 
expenses  of  its  representatives  in  the  General  Executive  Committee,  and  of 
its  delegates  to  the  fficumenical  Conference. 

In  conclusion,  we  desire  to  express  our  devout  thanksgiving  to  the  God 
and  Father  of  all  our  mercies  for  the  favour  which  He  has  been  pleased  thus 
far  to  show  to  tiiis  truly  catholic  movement,  and  especially  for  the  spirit  of 
forbeai'ance,  charity,  and  brotherly  love  which  has  prevailed  in  all  oui* 
counsels.  We  fervently  pray  tliat  the  blessing  of  Almighty  God  may  rest 
upon  our  work  and  upon  His  people,  and  eminently  up(m  every  branch 
of  the  great  Methodist  family;  and  that  this  proposed  Methodist  OEcumenical 
Conference  may  be  brought  to  a  glorious  consummation,  and  may  be  made 
fruitful  of  blessings  to  all  mankind. 

William  Arthur,  F,  W.  !Macdonald,  British  Wesleyan 

Conference. 
Wallace  MMullen,  Irish  Methodist  Conference. 
S.  D.  Rice,  E.  H.  Dewart,  E.  B.  Ryckman,  Methodist 

Church  of  Canada. 
Bidwell  Lane,  Isaac  B.  Aylsworth,  S.  G.  Stone, 

Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  Canada. 
M.  Simpson,  Jesse  T.  Peck,  Augustus  C.  George,  P. 

S.   Donelson,  James  Pike,   I.  N.  Baird,  J.  W. 

Marshall,  Francis  H.  Root,  Methodist  Episcopal 

Church  in  the  United  States. 
David  S  Doggett,  H.  N.  MTyeire,  J. B.M'Ferrin,  A. 

G  Haygood,  C.  W.  Miller,  E.  R.  Hendrix.  J.  H. 

Carlisle,  Methodist  Episcopal  Churcli,  South. 
B.  F.  Lee,  R.  A.  Johnson,  J.  J.  Mitchell,  African 

Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 
E.  J.  Drinkhouse,  William  J.  C.  Dulany,  Methodist 

Protestant  Church. 
B.  T.  Roberts,  Free  Methodist  Church. 
N.  Wardner,  E.  G.  Paine,  American  Wesleyan  Church. 
Charles  M.  Griffin,  Charles  J.  Baker,  Independent 

Methodist  Church. 

Done  in  the  City  of  Cincinnati,  May  10th,  1880. 


OFFICIAL  PAPERS. 


XIX 


Y.— ACTION  OF  BRITISH  METHODISTS. 

On  Thursday,  November  4th,  18S0,  a  Conference  of  representatives  of  the 
various  brandies  of  Jklethodism  in  Great  Britain  and  Ireland  was  held  at  the 
Wesleyan  Mission  House  iu  London.  At  this  meeting  a  unanimous  con- 
currence with  the  plan  of  the  (Ecumenical  Conference  given  above  was 
voted. 

It  was  agreed  that  the  Conference  should  be  held  about  the  first  week  in 
September,  1S81,  in  City  Road  Chapel.  It  was  further  resolved  that  all-day 
meetings  should  be  held  in  various  English  centres,  to  be  attended  by  depu- 
tations from  the  Conference. 

It  was  decided  not  to  allocate  the  two  hundred  members  of  the  Conference 
to  the  various  Methodist  bodies  on  the  exclusive  principle  of  numerical 
representation  ;  so  the  two  largest  bodies  get  less  and  the  smaller  ones  more 
than  they  would  otherwise  have  had.  The  following  is  the  distribution : 
The  Wesleyan  Conference,  eighty-eight;  Primitive  Methodists,  tiiirty-six; 
Methodist  Free  Churches,  tweniy-two ;  Methodist  New  Connexion,  twelve  ; 
Bible  Christians,  ten;  Reform  Union,  four  ;  Irish  Conference,  ten;  French, 
two;  Australasian  Conference,  sixteen.  The  different  Methodist  bodies  will 
elect  their  own  members,  and  tiiey  will  consist  of  ministers  and  laymen  in 
equal  numbers  as  far  as  practicable. 

It  was  resolved  to  have  a  social  gathering  of  the  members  in  London  on 
the  day  preceding  the  opening  of  the  Conference,  and  that  the  first  act  of 
the  Conference  shall  be  a  reUgious  exercise.  There  will  also  be  a  farewell 
service  in  Liverpool  for  those  who  are  returning  home  to  the  United  States. 


Yl.— OFFICIAL  LIST  OF  DELEGATES. 

The  Conferences  of  the  several  JMethodist  bodies  adopted  different  methods 
in  appointing  their  respective  delegates,  a  list  of  wliich  follows : — 

EASTERN   SECTION. 

[Those  marked  thus  *  were  not  in  attendance  at  the  Conference.] 

WESLEYAN  METHODIST  REPRESENTATIVES. 


Rev.  Geo.  Osborn,  D.D.  . 
Eev.  R.  N.  Young     .     . 
Rev.  E.  E.  Jenkins,  M.A 
Rev.  John  Farrar   .    . 
Rev.  Wm.  Arthur,  M.A. 
*  Rev.  J.  H.  James,  D.D. 
Rev,  Gervasb  Smith,  D.D 
Rev.  Alexander  McAulay 
Rev.  W.  B.  Pope,  D.D.    . 
Rev.  J.  H.  Rigg,  D.D.     . 
Rev.  Benjamin  Gregory 
Rev.  John  Bond    .    .    . 
Rev.  Samuel  Davtes    . 
Rev.  M.  C.  Osborn     .    . 
Rev.  John  Baker,  M.A. 
Rev.  Charles  Gahrett 
Rev.  W.  L.  Watkinson  . 
Rev.  G.  W.  Olver.  B.A.  . 


Richmond  College,  London. 

Wesleyan  College,  Birmingham. 

Wesleyan  Mission  House,  London. 

Finsbury  Park,  London. 

Clapham  Common,  London. 

Birmingham. 

Highbury,  London. 

Finsbury  Park,  London. 

Didsbury  College,  Manchester. 

Wesleyan  College,  Westminster,  London. 

Wesleyan  Conference  Office,  London. 

Wandsworth,  London. 

Bangor,  North  Wales. 

Wesleyan  Mission  House,  London. 

Liverpool. 

Liverpool. 

New  Bamet.  London. 

Wesleyan  Mission  House,  London. 

3  2 


XX  LIST   OF  DELEGATES. 

Rev.  H.  W.  Holland Harrog-ate. 

Rev.  Richard  Green Clapton,  London. 

Rev.  T.  B.  Stephenson,  B.A.,  LL.D.  Bonner  Road,  London. 

Rev.  John  Kilner Wesleyan  Mission  House,  London. 

Rev.  J.  S.  Banks Headingley  College,  Leeds. 

Rev.  H.  J.  PiGGOTT,  B.A Rome. 

Rev.  J.  C.  Barratt Cannstatt,  Wiirtemberg'. 

Rev.  F.  W.  Macdonald      ....  Wesleyan  College,  Birmingham. 

Rev.  David  Hill China. 

Rev.  Joseph  Bush Altrincham,  Manchester. 

Rev.  J.  D.  Geden Didsbury  College,  Manchester. 

Rev.  Richard  Roberts     ....  Liverpool. 

Rev.  G.  Stringer  Rowe    ....  Finsbury  Park,  London. 

Rev.  C.  H.  Kelly Ludgate  Circus,  London. 

Rev.  W.  Gibson,  B.A.     .....  Paris. 

Rev.  James  Calvert Wesleyan  Mission  House,  London. 

Rev.  T.  M'Cullagh Hull. 

Rev.  F.  Greeves Mildmay  Park,  London. 

Rev.  William  Wilson Birmingham. 

Rev.  D.  J.  Waller Wesleyan  College,  Westminster,  London. 

Rev.  G.  0.  Bate Southlands  College,  Battersea,  London. 

Rev.  Geo.  Bowden Bristol. 

Rev.  H.  P.  Hughes,  M.A Oxford. 

Rev.  W.  J.  Tweddle Bristol. 

Rev.  Geo.  Curnock St.  George's,  London, 

Rev.  J.  Lyth,  D.D Sunderland. 

H.  J.  Atkinson,  J.P Gunnersbury,  London. 

R.  W.  Perks Chislehurst,  London. 

G.  J.  Smith,  J.P Camborne,  CornwaU. 

T.  M.  Bainbridge Newcastle-on-Tyne. 

W.  S.  Allen,  M.P Cheadle. 

T.  G.  OsBOKN,  M.A Bath. 

Ald.  M' Arthur,  M.P.,  Lord  Mayor .  Mansion  House,  London. 

*  H.  H.  Fowler,  M.P Wolverhampton. 

S.  D.  Waddy,  Q.C Finsbury  Park,  London. 

W.  Mewburn    . Wykham  Park,  Banbury. 

James  Wood,  LL.B Southport. 

A.  M' Arthur,  M.P. Brixton,  London. 

T.  F.  C.  May Bristol. 

T.  C.  Squance    .........  Sunderland. 

W.  W.  PococK,  B.A Wandsworth,  London. 

W.  Bickford-Smith,  J.P Trevawno,  Helston.  ♦ 

J.  W.  Gabriel City  Road,  London. 

J.  Dyson,  J.P.' Thurgoland,  Sheffield. 

F.  Howard Bedford. 

J.  Beauchamp Highgate,  London, 

P.  W.  Bunting Euston  Square,  London. 

J.  T.  Warrington Liverpool. 

I.  Hoyle,  J.P Prestwich,  Manchester. 


EASTERN   SECTION.  aCXl 

James  Barlow,  J.P Bolton. 

Skelton  Cole ShefiBeld. 

J.  H.  Mason,  J.P Newbury. 

H.  Mitchell Bradford. 

T.  W.  PococK,  J.P Virginia  Water,  Egham. 

S.  R.  Edge,  M.A Newcastle-under-Lyme. 

J.  S.  Sutcliffe,  J.P Bacup. 

Joseph  Edge,  J.P Cobridge,  Burslem. 

Geo.  Hazlehukst Runcorn. 

E.  Healey Liverpool. 

Geo.  Lidgett BiUiter  Street,  London. 

Alderman  Barlow Bury. 

W.  H.  Budgett Bristol. 

J.  R.  Hill York. 

J.  DiNGLEY Launceston. 

Edward  Holden Baildon,  Leeds. 

I.  Jenks Wolverhampton. 

L.  Williams Cardiff. 

J.  J.  Flitch Leeds. 


IRISH  METHODIST  CHURCH. 

Rev.  Jos.  M'Kay,  D.D Methodist  College,  Belfast 

Rev.  Wallace  M-Mullen     .    ,    .  Rathmines,  Dublin. 

Rev.  W.  Guard  Price Belfast. 

Rev,  W,  Crook,  D.D Bray. 

Rev.  James  Tobias Dublin. 

Samdel  M'Comas Dublin. 

George  Chambers Dublin. 

Francis  Fitzgerald Clones. 

William  Greenhill Belfast. 

James  H.  Swajjton  J.P Dublin. 


METHODIST  NEW  CONNEXION, 

Rev.  J.  Stagey,  D.D Ranmoor,  Sheffield. 

Rev.  Wm.  Cooke,  D.D Forest  Hill,  London. 

Rev.  Wm.  Cocker,  D.D Ranmoor  College,  Sheffield. 

Rev.  C.  D.  Ward,  D.D Fulham,  London. 

Rev.  S.  Holme Altrincham. 

Rev.  a.  McCurdy Loughborough. 

John  Whitworth    .    .     ....  Hart  Street,  Wood  Street.  London. 

R.  Ferexs Durham. 

E.  LuMBY Halifax. 

A.  Ramsden Halifax. 

C.  Shaw Lees,  near  Manchester, 

W.  E.  Brownfield Cobridge,  Hanley. 


XXll  LIST   OF  DELEGATES. 

PRIMITIVE  METIIODIST  CHURCHES, 

Rev.  C.  Kendall Driffield. 

Rev.  S.  Antlipp,  D.D Derby. 

Rev.  R.  Cheeseman HoUoway,  London. 

Rev.  C.  C.  M'Kechnie Holloway,  London. 

Rev.  J.  Wood,  M.A.    .    .    p    ,    .    .  Leeds. 

Rev.  H.  Gilmoee North  Shields. 

Rev.  J,  Causland      .  , Frees  GTreen,  via  Wem,  Salop. 

Rev.  J.  Wenn Chesterfield. 

Rev.  Gt.  Lamb HulL 

Rev.  G.  Seaman Wymondham,  Norfolk. 

Rev.  J.  Slater Manchester. 

Rev.  T.  Powell New  Swindon,  Wilts. 

Rev.  J.  Toulson Holloway,  London. 

Rev.  J.  Ferguson Old  Hill,  via  Dudley. 

Rev.  J.  Travis Liverpool. 

Rev.  W.  Cutts Holloway,  London. 

Rev.  R.  Fen  wick Loudon. 

Rev.  S.  B.  Reynolds     .    ,    ...  Castleford. 

J.  S.  Paekman        Tufnell  Park,  London, 

T,  Laurence Leicester. 

W.  Beckwoeth Leeds, 

G.  Hodge      Hull. 

R.  Clapham       Tarm. 

W.  Lift King's  Lynn. 

W.  E.  Parker Manchester. 

G.  W.  Turner   .........  Newbury. 

I.  Butler Bristol. 

G.  Charlton Gateshead. 

George  Green Clapham. 

H.  J.  M'CULLOCK Camden  Koad,  London. 

G.  Burpord        Cradley  Heath,  Brierley  HiU, 

J.  Goodman,  M.D Southport. 

A.  Dunn Southwark  Street,  London. 

D.  Berry       Stepney,  London. 

T.  Bateman       ....,,..  Chorley,  Nantwich. 

James  Payne Pudsey,  Leeds. 

BIBLE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCHES, 

Rev.  W.  B.  Reed St.  David's,  Exeter. 

Rev.  W.  B.  Lark Newport,  I.W. 

Rev.  W.  Luke London,  N. 

Rev.  F.  W.  Bourne London,  S.W. 

Rev.  I.  B.  Vanstone London,  E.G. 

Rev.  J.  Dymond    . Plymouth. 

J.  HORSWELL Launceston,  ComwalL 

W.  Denness Newport,  I.W. 


EASTERN    SECTION.  XXlll 

G.  R.  Waeeen Liphook,  Hants. 

R,  Dale Penzance. 

UNITED  METHODIST  FREE  CHURCHES. 

Rev.  R.  Chew  (President)  ....  Lincoln. 

Rev.  W.  M.  Honteb Bristol. 

Rev.  a.  Holliday Darlington. 

Rev.  J.  Myers Bradford. 

Rev.  E.  Abercrombie,  M.A.  .    .    .  Peckham,  London. 

Rev.  S.  S.  Barton Leeds. 

Rev.  Joseph  Kirsop Manchester. 

Rev.  J.  SwANN  Withington  .    .    .  Rochdale. 

Rev.  J.  GuTTRiDGE Manchester. 

Rev.  W.  Griffith Derby. 

Rev.  T.  Newton London. 

T.  Snape Liverpool. 

Alderman  Joseph  Green,  J.P.      .  North  Shields. 

T.  Watson,  J.P Rochdale. 

H.  T.  Mawson Harrogate. 

G.  LucKLEY Newcastle-on-Tyne. 

T.  BoDDiNGTON Manchester. 

Captain  King Clapton,  London. 

*W.  Butler       Bristol. 

R.  Ellis,  J.P Harrogate. 

R.  J.  Rows Helston. 

E.  S.  Snell Wanstead,  London. 

WESLEY  AN  REFORM  UNION. 

Rev.  E.  Barley Bradford. 

Rev.  R.  Nicholls Bradford. 

MosEs  Nash Twyford. 

John  Neal Sheffield. 


UNITED  FREE  GOSPEL  CHURCHES. 

W.  Sanderson       Liverpool. 

W.  Brimelow Bolton. 


FRENCH  METHODISTS. 

Rev.  jA^ri-s  Hocart Paris. 

Rev.  M.  Lelievbe Paris. 

AUSTRALIAN  METHODIST  CHURCHES. 

Rev.  Johx  Watsfoud Victoria  and  Tasmania  Conference. 

Rev.  Jas.  D.  Dodgso.v „  „ 

Rev.  Ale.xaxder  Reid New  Zealand  Conference. 


XXIV 


LIST   OF   DELEGATES. 


Rev,  William  Butters     ....  (London)  Australasian  Conference. 

Rev.  R.  S.  Caseley South  Australian  Conference. 

Rev.  James  Read „  „ 

Rev.  J.  Walkden  Brown  ....  New  S.  W.  and  QueenBla.nd  Conference. 

P.  P.  Fletcher „  „  „ 

W.  Briggs „  „  „ 

P.  Miller     . „  „  „ 

S.  Gr.  King Victoria  and  Tasmania  Conference. 

J.  Brooke „  „ 

J.  Warnock       „  „ 

*T.  Vasey „  „ 

J.  Ballantyne New  Zealand  Conference. 

T.  G.  Wateruouse     , New  Barnet,  Loudon. 


WESTERN  SECTION. 
METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH. 


.D. 


Bishop  Matthew  Simpson,  D.D.,  LL, 
Bishop  Jesse  T.  Peck,  D.D.,  LL.D. 
Bishop  Henry  W.  Warren,  D.D. 
Rev.  Robert  S.  Maclay,  D.D. 
Rev.  Stephen  L.  Baldwin.  D.D.  , 
Rev.  James  W.  Waugh,  D.D. 
Rev.  Leroy  M.  Vernon,  D.D, 
Rev.  John  H.  Johnson    .    . 
Rev.  a  .nOld  Sulzberger,  Ph 
Rev.  Thomas  B.  Wood,  A.M. 
Rev.  Vincent  H.  Bulkley  . 
Rev.  Edward  W.  S.  Peck    . 
Rev.  Henry  Liebhart,  D.D. 
*Rev.  Luther  T.  Townsend,  D.D. 
Rev.  Daniel  A.  Whedon,  D.D.     . 
Rev.  Bradford  K.  Peirce,  D.D.  . 
Rev.  James  M.  Buckley,  D.D. 
Rev.  De  Witt  C.  Huntington,  D.D 
*Rev.  Daniel  Curry,  D.D.,  LL.D. 
Rev.  George  R.  Crooks,  D.D.,  LL.D 
Rev.  Homer  Eaton,  D.D.     .    .    . 
Rev.  J.4.MES  M.  King,  D.D.    .    .    , 
Rev.  Orris  H.  Warren,  D.D.    .    . 
Rev.  John  P.  Newman,  D.D,  LL.D 

Rev.  Jacob  Todd,  D.D 

Rev.  Alfred  Wheeler,  D.D.   .    , 
Rev.  Otis  H.  Tiffany,  D.D.      .    . 
Rev.  William  S.  Edwards,  D.D. 
Rev.  William  AV.  Evans.  D.D.     . 


D. 


Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania. 

Syracuse,  New  York. 

Atlanta,  Georgia. 

Yokohama,  Japan. 

Foochow,  China. 

Lucknow,  India. 

Rome,  Italy. 

Christit^ia,  Norway. 

Frankfort,  Germany. 

Buenos  Ayres,  South  America.      , 

Orangeburgh,  South  Carolina. 

Washington,  District  of  Columbia. 

Cincinnati,  Ohio. 

Boston,  Massachusetts. 

Providence,  Rhode  Island. 

Boston,  Massachusetts. 

New  York  City. 

Buffalo,  New  York. 

New  York  City. 

Madison,  New  Jersey, 

Saratoga,  New  York. 

New  York  City.  # 

Syracuse,  New  York. 

New  York,  New  York. 

Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania. 

Pittsburgh,  Pennsylvania. 

Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania. 

Baltimore,  Maryland. 

Bloomsburgh,  Pennsylvania. 


WESTERN    SECTION.  23V 

Rev.  John  M.  Walden.  D.D.,  LL.D.      .  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 

Rev.  Charles  H.  Payxk,  D.D.,  LL.D.    .  Delaware,  Ohio. 

Rev.  JoH^f  M.  Reid,  D.D New  York  City. 

Rev.  Francis  S.  Hoyt,  D.D Cincinnati,  Ohio. 

Rev.  Alexander  Martin,  D.D.,  LL.D. .  Greencastle,  Indiana. 

Rev.  William  X.  Ninde,  D.D.      .    .    .  Evanston,  Illinois. 

Rev.  Arthur  Edwards,  D.D Chicago,  Illinois. 

Rev.  Park  S.  Donelson,  D.D Lima,  Ohio. 

Rev.  Carmi  A.  Van  Anda.  D.D.    ,    .    .  Minneapolis,  Minnesota. 

Rev.  Alpha  J.  Kynett,  D.D Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania. 

Rev.  John  W.  McDonald,  D.D.    .    .    .  Washington,  Iowa. 

Rev.  Werter  R.  Davis,  D.D Salina,  Kansas. 

Rev.  Augustus  C.  George,  D.D.       .    .  Chicago,  Illinois. 

Rev.  Elias  D.  Huntley,  D.D.,  LL.D.     .  Appleton,  Wisconsin. 

Rev.  William  N.  McElroy,  D.D.      .     .  Bloomington,  Illinois. 

Rev.  Otis  Gibson,  D.D San  Francisco,  California. 

Rev.  Benjamin  St.  James  Fry,  D.D.     .  St.  Louis,  Missouri. 

Rev.  Erasmus  Q.  Fuller,  D.D.     .     .    .  Atlanta,  Georgia. 

Rev.  John  Braden,  D.D Nashville,  Tennessee. 

Rev.  J.  N.  Fradenburgh Tidonte,  Pennsylvania. 

Rev.  Cyrus  E.  Felton,  D.D St.  Louis,  Missouri. 

Rev.  J.  L.  Humphreys,  D.D India. 

Wilson  Cooke Greenville,  South  Carolina. 

Hon.  Dietrich  C.  Smith Pekin,  Illinois. 

John  Kendrick Providence,  Rhode  Island. 

Henky  K.  Carroll Plainfield,  New  Jersey. 

John  M.  Van  Vleck Middletown,  Connecticut. 

Gen.  Clinton  B.  Fisk  . Seabright,  New  Jersey. 

Hon.  Oliver  Hoyt Stamford,  Connecticut. 

James  Lonq Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania. 

Hon.  John  "W".  F.  White,  LL.D.     ,    .  Pittsburgh,  Pennsylvania. 

Hon.  Washington  C.  De  Pauw      .    .  New  Albany,  Indiana. 

George  W.  Frost Omaha,  Nebraska. 

Orrington  Lunt Chicago,  Illinois. 

David  Mc Williams Dwight,  Illinois. 

Hon.  Oliver  H.  Horton Chicago,  Illinois. 

Gen.  Cykus  Bussey New  Orleans,  Louisiana. 

Hon.  Edwin  0.  Stannard St.  Louis,  Missouri. 

•Cornelius  Altman Canton,  Ohio. 

*James  C.  McGrkw Kingwood,  West  Virginia. 

Gen.  Benjamin  R,  Cowkn Delaware,  Ohio. 

William  H.  KiNCAiD, M. A. Pittsburgh,  Pennsylvania. 

Thomas  Fox Lockland,  Ohio. 

J.  Stitt Baltimore,  Maryland. 

H.  Sutherland Pennsylvania. 

J.  DoRMAN  Steele,  Ph.D Elmira,  New  York. 

George  H.  Foster Milwaukee,  Wisconsia 

James  Burns Detroit,  Michigan. 

Frederick  Ohgren Sweden. 


XXVI 


LIST   OF  DELEGATES. 


METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH,  SOUTH. 


Eev.  Bishop  H.  N.  McTteire,  D.D 
Rev.  John  B.  McFerkin,  D.D. 
Rev.  Alpheus  W.  Wilson,  D.D, 
Rev.  David  Morton  .... 
Rev.  Charles  W.  Miller,  D.D. 
Rev.  Wm.  W.  Bennett,  D.D. . 
Rev.  L.  S.  Burkheab,  D.D.   . 
Rev.  Wallace  W.  Duncan     . 
Rev.  Wyman  H.  Potter,  D.D. 
Rev.  Wm.  P.  Harrison,  D.D. 
Rev.  Mark  S.  Andrews,  D.D. 
Rev.  J.  B.  A.  Ahrens,  D.D.    . 
Rev.  Francis  A.  Mood,  D.D. 
Rev.  Isaac  G.  John,  D.D.  . 
Rev.  Joseph  W.  Lewis,  D.D. 
Rev.  Charles  G.  Andrews,  D.D 
Rev.  Augustus  R.  Winfield,  D, 
Rev.  Ephraim  E.  Wiley,  D.D. 
Rev.  J.  0.  A.  Clark,  D.D.,  LL.D 
Rev.  George  W.  Horne    .    . 
Rev.  James  W.  Lawbuth 
Rev.  S.  Halsey  Weelein  .    . 
Rev.  a.  S.  Andrews,  D.D. 
Rev.  Reynolds  Trippett  .    . 
Rev.  Charles  R.  Williamson 

A.  G.  Stit^i,  M.D 

Francis  H.  Smith,  LL.D.  .    . 


Richard  W.  Jones,  A.M.  .  . 
Hon.  Edward  H.  East  .  .  . 
Hon.  J.  Wofford  Tucker 

Walter  Clark 

Hon.  a.  R.  Boone 

Thomas  S.  Moorman     .    .    . 
Thomas  J.  Magruder  .    .    . 
Charles  K.  Marshall,  D.D. 
H.  V.  M.  Miller,  M.D.  ,    .    . 


.D. 


Nashville,  Tennessee. 
Nashville,  Tennessee. 
Nashville,  Tennessee. 
Loi;isville,  Kentucky. 
Lexington,  Kentucky. 
Ashland,  Virginia. 
Raleigh.  North  Carolina. 
Spartanburg,  South  Cai'olina. 
Atlanta,  Georgia. 
Washington  City,  D.C. 
Montgomery,  Alabama. 
New  Orleans,  Louisiana. 
Georgetown,  Texas. 
Galveston,  Texas. 
St.  Louis,  Missouri. 
Jackson,  Louisiana. 
Little  Rock,  Arkansas. 
Abingdon,  Virginia. 
Macon.,  Georgia. 
Terrell,  Texas. 
Shanghai,  China. 
Houston,  Texas. 
Opelika,  Alabama. 
New  Orleans. 
Mobile,  Alabama. 
Millersburg,  Kentucky. 
Charlottesville,  Virginia. 
Oxford,  Mississippi. 
Nashville,  Tennessee. 
Sanford,  Florida. 
Raleigh,  North  Carolina.' 
May  field,  Kentucky. 
Newberry,  South  Carolina. 
Baltimore,  Maryland. 
Vicksburg,  Mississippi 
Atlanta,  Georgia. 


METHODIST  PROTESTANT  CHURCH. 

Rev.  S.  B.  Southerland,  D.D.  .     .  Georgetown,  District  of  Columbia. 

Rev.  J.  H.  Robinson Patterson,  N.  J. 

Rev.  W.  R.  Cowl,  M.A Fairmont,  West  Virginia. 

Hon.  C.  W.  Button Lynchburg,  Virginia. 

Hon.  J.  J.  Gillespie Pittsburg,  Pennsylvania. 

Pees.  G.  B.  McEleot,  D.D.,  Ph.D.  .  Adrian,  Michigan. 


WESTERN   SECTION.  XXVll 


EVANGELICAL  ASSOCIATION. 

Bishop  Thomas  Bowman  ....    Allentown,  Pennsylvania. 
Rev.  Henex  Hintze Gelsenkirchen,  Prussia. 

UNITED  BRETHREN. 

Rev.  H.  a.  Thompson,  D.D.    .    .    .    Westerville,  Ohio. 
Rev.  J.  W.  HoTT Dayton,  Oliio. 

AMERICAN  WESLEYAN  CHURCH. 

*Rev.  N.  Waedman Morley,  New  York. 

*Pkof.  E.  G.  Payne Wosioja,  Minnesota. 


FREE  METHODIST  CHURCH. 

♦Rev.  B.  T.  Roberts Rochester,  New  York. 

*Rev.  Joseph  Travis Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania. 

PRIMITIVE  METHODIST  CHURCH  IN  UNITED  STATES. 

Rev.  C.  Spurr Mahonoy  City,  Pennsylvania. 

Howard  Daisley Brooklyn,  New  York. 

INDEPENDENT  METHODIST  CHURCH. 

Rev.  Charles  M.  Giffin  ....    Baltimore. 
*HoN.  Charles  H.  Baker.    .    .    .    Baltimore. 


CONGREGATIONAL  METHODIST  CHURCH. 

*Rev.  S.  C.  McDaniel Griffen,  Georgia. 

♦Rev.  J.  F.  N.  IIuddleston   .     .     .     Forest,  Mississippi. 


AFRICAN  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH. 

Bishop  Daniel  A.  Payne,  D.D.      .  Baltimore. 

Bishop  J.  M.  Brown,  D.D.,  L.C.D.  .  Washington,  District  of  Columbia. 

*Bishop  James  A.  Shorter  .     .    .  Wilberforce,  Ohio. 

Bishop  Wm.  F.  Dickerson,  D.D.     .  Columbia,  South  Carolina. 

*Rev.  B.  T.  Lee,  D.D.     .     .     .     .     .  Wilberforce,  Ohio. 

Rev.  James  M.  Townsexd      .    .    .  Richmond,  Indiana. 

Rev.  Augustus  T.  Carr    .    ,    ,    .  Charlestown,  South  Carolina. 

Rev.  James  C.  Embry Leavenworth,  Kansas. 

♦Alexander  Clark,  Esq Iowa  City,  Iowa. 

Prof.  Joseph  P.  Shorter,  A.M.     .  Wilberforce,  Ohio. 

*Mr.  Nelson  T.  Gant Zanesville,  Ohio. 

Joseph  W.  Morris,  Esq.     .    ,    ,    .  Cokesbury,  South  Carolina. 


XXVlll 


LIST   OF   DELEGATES. 


AFRICAN  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  ZION  CEURCE. 


Bishop  J.  W.  Hood  .... 
♦Bishop  S.  T.  Jones,  D.D.  . 
Bishop  W.  H.  Hillery  .  .  . 
Bishop  Joseph  P.  Thompson 
*Rev.  J.  B.  Small  .... 
Prof.  William  Howard  Day 
Rev.  J.  McH.  Farley    .    .    . 

Rev.  J.  C.  Price 

*Rev.  Samuel  Wilson  .    .    . 
*Rev.  Wilberd  C.  Strong     . 


Fayetteville,  North  Carolina. 
Washing-ton,  District  of  Columbia, 
Pittsburg,  Pennsylvania, 
Newburg,  New  York. 

Harrisburgh,  Pennsylvania. 
Petersburg,  Virginia. 
North  Carolina, 
Mobile,  Alabama. 
Mobile,  Alabama. 


COLOURED  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH  OF 

AMERICA. 


Bishop  Holsey  ,  .  . 
*Rev.  C.  W.  Fitzhugh  . 
*Rev.  H.  H.  Mitchell  , 
*Mr.  Lewis  Carnish  .  . 
*Mr.  Peter  Postell  . 
*Mr.  James  H.  Harper 


Augusta,  Georgia. 

Virginia. 

North  Mississippi  Conference. 

Washington,  District  of  Columbia. 

Hopkinsville,  Kentucky. 

Augusta,  Georgia, 


METHODIST  CHURCH  OF  CANADA, 

Rev.  George  Douglas,  LL.D.    .    .  Montreal, 

*HoN,  James  Ferrier Montreal. 

Rev.  Edward  B.  Ryckman,  D.D.    .  Brantford,  Ontario. 

Rev.  John  Wakefield Hamilton,  Ontario. 

James  H.  Beatty,  Esq Thorold,  Ontario. 

Rev.  Edward  H.  Dewart,  D.D.     .  Toronto,  Ontario. 

Rev.  a.  Sutherland,  D.D.    .    .    .  Toronto,  Ontario. 

John  Macdonald,  Esq Toronto,  Ontario. 

Rev.  Henry  Pope,  D.D St.  John,  New  Brunswick. 

Rev.  a.  W.  Nicolson Annapolis,  Novia  Scotia. 

David  Allison,  LL.D Halifax,  Novia  Scotia. 

Rev.  James  Dove Blackhead.  Newfoundland. 

METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH  OF  CANADA. 

Rev,  J,  Gardner,  D.C.L Ingersoll,  Ontario. 

Rev.  S.  G.  Stone,  D.D Hamilton,  Ontario. 

Rev.  E.  J.  Badgeley,  D.D.,  LL.D.  . 

*J.  G,  Robinson Belville,  Ontario, 


PRIMITIVE  METHODIST  CHURCH  OF  CANADA. 

Rev.  J,  Cooper  Antliff,  M,A,,  B.D.    Toronto. 
Robert  Walker,  Esq Toronto. 


OFFICIAL  COMMITTEip. 


XXI  y 


CANADIAN  BIBLE  CHRISTIANS. 

EeV.  H.  J.  NOTT.  CHAKLES  H0BB3. 

BRITISH  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH  OF  CANADA. 
Eev.  Josephus  O'Banyoun.  Eev.  Wm.  J.  Butleb. 


YU.—LTST  OF  COMMITTEES. 


GENERAL  EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE. 


EASTERN 

Kev.  E.  E.  Jenkins,  M.A.,  Chairman. 

Rev.  John  Bond,  Secretary. 

H.  J.  Atkinson,  Esq. 

Rev,  W.  M-Mullen, 

William  Gregg,  Esq, 

Rev.  W.  Cocker,  D.D. 

J.  Whitworth,  Esq. 

Rev.  C.  C.  M'Kechnib. 

J.  S.  Parkman,  Esq. 

Rev.  F.  W.  Bourne, 


section. 

C.  HoBBs,  Esq. 
Rev.  J.  SwANN  Withinoton, 
H.  T.  Mawson,  Esq. 
Rev.  John  Watsford, 
John  Ballantyne,  Esq, 
Rev.  James  Hocart. 
William  Maxten,  Esq. 
Rev.  E.  Barley. 
Moses  Nash,  Esq. 


WESTERN  section  (ACTING  COMMITTEE). 


Rev.  Bp.  Matthew  Simpson,  D.D., 

LL.D.,  Chairman. 
Rev.  Bp.  H.  N.  M-Tyeire,D.D.,  Vice- 

Presidetit, 

BUSINESS 
FIRST  DIVISION. 

The  British  Wesley  an  Methodist 
Church. 

Rev.  E.  E.  Jenkins,  M.A. 
Rev.  John  Bond. 
Rev.  J.  H.  Rigg,  D.D. 
H.  J.  Atkinson,  Esq, 
John  Beauchamp,  Esq. 

second  division. 
Other  British  3Iethodist  Chvrches. 

Rev.  Wm.  Cocker,  D.D. 
Rfev.  F.  W.  Bourne. 
Rev.  J.  SwANN  Withington. 
J.  S.  Parkman,  Esq. 
Moses  Nash,  Esq. 


Rev,  a,  C.  George,  D.D.,  Secretary. 
W.  J.  C.  DtiLANY,  Esq. 
Da\^d  Allison,  Esq.,  LL.D. 
Rev.  J.  Gardiner,  D.CL. 

COMMITTEE. 

THIRD  DIVISION, 
American  Methodist  Churches  hamng 
an  Epucoj)al  form  of  government. 
Gen.  Clinton  B.  Fisk. 
Rev.  a.  W.  Wilson,  D.D. 
Rev.  Bp.  T.  Bowman. 
Rev.  Jas.  Gardiner,  D.C.L. 
Rev.  Bp.  Dicker^on. 
Rev.  a.  C.  George,  D.D. 

fourth  division. 
American  Churches  having  a  Xon- 

Ujiiscopal  form  of  government. 
Hon.  Chas.  W.  Button. 
Rev.  E.  H.  Dewart,  D.D. 
Rev.  Charles  Spur. 
David  Allison,  Esq..  LL,D. 


XXX 


OFFICIAL   COMMITTEES. 


P UBLICA  TION  S UB-  COMMITTEE. 


eastern  section. 

Rev.  William  Arthur,  M.A. 
Rev.  J.  H.  Rigg,  D.D. 
Rev.  Theophilus  Woolmbe. 
Rev.  C.  D.  Ward,  D.D. 
Rev.  Thomas  Newton. 
Rev.  F.  W.  Bourne. 

Rev.  J.  SWANN  WiTHINGTON. 

R.  W.  Perks,  Esq.,  Secretary. 


western  section. 

Rev.  J.  M.WALDEN,LL.D.,CAairffiflM 
Hon.  John  W.  F.  White. 
Oliver  Hoyt,  Esq. 
Hon.  W.  C.  De  Pauw. 
Rev.  J.  W.  Lewis. 
Hon.  E.  H.  East. 
Hon.  J.  J.  Gillespie. 
Rev.  S.  G.  Stone,  D.D. 


RECEPTION  SUB 

Right  Hon.  William    M'Arthur, 

M.P.,  Lord  Mayor. 
Rev.  a.  McAulay. 
Rev.  J.  TouLSON. 
Rev.  S.  Meldrum. 
Rev.  William  Williams. 
Rev.  T.  B.  Stephenson,  B.A.,  LL.D. 
J.  P.  DoBSON,  Esq. 
R.  B.  Salisbury,  Esq. 


■  COMMITTEE. 

Samuel  Moore,  Esq. 
S.  D.  Waddy,  Esq.,  Q.O. 
J.  C.  Clarke,  Esq.,  M.P. 
Rev.  C.  C.  M'Kechnie. 
Rev.  John  Bomd. 
Rev.  George  Curnock. 
Rev.  R.  Green,      i 
Rev.  R.  M.  Spoor,  | 


Secretaries 


FIN  A  NCE  S  UB-  COMMITTEE. 


Treasvrer.s. 


Rev.  E.  E.  Jenkins.  M  A.  -i 
J.  S.  Parkman,  Esq.  j 
Right  Hon.  William  M'Arthur, 

M.P.,  Lord  Mayor. 
Rev.  S.  Antliff,  D.D. 
Rev.  M.  C.  Osborn. 
A.  M'Arthur,  Esq.,  M.P. 
T.  G.  Squance,  Esq. 
John  Vanner,  Esq. 


William  Vanner,  Esq. 

William  Mewburn,  Esq. 

T.  M.  Harvey.  Esq. 

E.  S.  Snell,  Esq. 

W.  G.  Denham,  Esq. 

H.  J.  Atkinson,  Esq. 

Rev.  C.  Warboys. 

A.  E.  Witty,  Esq.,  Secretary. 


PREACHING  PLAN  SUB-COMMITTEE. 


Rev.  Thomas  Newton. 
Rev.  William  Luke. 
Rev.  J.  TouLSON. 
Rsv.  F.  Jewell. 


Rev.  J.  SwANN  Withington. 
Rev.  F.  W.  Bourne. 
Rev.  T.  B.  Stephenson,  B. A.,  LL.D., 
Secretary, 


EDITORIAL  SUB-COMMITTEE. 


Rev.  C.  D.  Ward,  D.D. 

R,  W.  Perks,  Esq. 

Rev.  G.  Stringer  Rowe. 


Rev.  J.  M.  Walden,  LL.D. 
Rev.  J.  B.  M'Feeein,  D.D. 


OFFICIAL   PROGRAMME.  XXXI 

Ylll.— DAILY  PROGRAMME. 

RESOLUTIONS  OF  EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE. 

I.  That  the  odd  numbers  on  the  Programme  be  left  for  the  designation  of 
essayists  to  the  Eastern  Section,  and  that  the  even  numbers  be  filkd  by  the 
Western  Section  ;  and  that  the  invited  speakers  to  follow  on  the  even  numbers 
be  selected  by  the  Eastern  Section,  and  the  invited  speakers  to  follow  on  the 
odd  numbers"  be  selected  by  the  Western  Section. 

II.  That  no  Paper  presented  in  the  regular  Programme  shall  occupy  more 
than  twenty  minutes  in  reading  ;  the  invited  speaker  who  follows  shall  be 
allowed  ten  minutes  ;  after  which  thirty  minutes  shall  be  allowed  for  remarks. 
provided  that  no  member  shall  occupy  more  than  five  minutes,  nor  speak  more 
than  once  on  the  same  subject. 


First  Day,  Wednesday,  September  7ih.    (I'ages  ]-40.) 

First  Session. — 10  a.m.— Sermon  at  City  Road  Chapel  by  Rev.  Bishop 
M.  Simpson,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  :  to  be  imme- 
diately followed  by  the  administration  of  the  Lord's  Supper  to  the  members  of 
the  Conference,      page  1. 

Second  Session. — 2.30  p.m. — Devotional  Exercises,  &c.      p.  21. 

Address  of    welcome    by  the   President    of    the    British   Weeleyan 

Methodist  Conference.  Rev.  Geoege  Osborn,  D.D.     p.  21. 
Responses  by  the  Rev.  Bishop  Holland,  A.  M'Tieire.  D.D..  of  the 

Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  South.  Rev.  Bi.«liop  Henry  W. 

Warren,  D.D.,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and  Rev. 

George  Douglas,  LL.D.,  of  the  Methodist  Church  of  Canada, 

and  others,   pp.  28-40. 


Second:  Day,  Thursday,  September  8th.    (Pages  41-97.) 
Subject :  Methodism  :  its  History  and  Results. 

First  Session. — 10  a.m.— Devotional  Exercises,  &c.,  p.  41. 

(1)  11  a.m. — The  Grateful  Bfcogii'ifinn  of  the  Hand  of  God  in  the  Origin  and 

Progress  of  Methodism. 
Address — Rev.  Wm.  Cooke,  D.D.,  Methodist  New  Connexion  of  Great 

Britain,    p.  43, 
Invited  Address  by  Rev.  W.  X.  Ninde,  D.D.,  Methodist  Episcopal 

Church,  p.  50. 

(2)  12  noon. — Statistical  Results.  [p.  54. 

Essay — Rev.  Arthur  Edwards,  D.D.,  Methodist  Episcopal  Church* 
Invited   Address — Rev.   M.   G.    Osborn,    Secretary    to    the    British 
Wesleyan  Missionary  Society,   p.  62. 

Second  Session. — 2.30  p.m. — Devotional  Exercises,  p.  fi9. 

(3)  2.40  p.m. — Methodism,  a  Power  Purifying  and  Elevating  Society,   [p.  69. 

Essay — Rev.  W.  Arthur,  M.A.,  British  Wesleyan  Methodist  Church. 
Invited  Address— Rev.  Bishop  L.  H.  Holsey,  Coloured  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  of  America,  p.  78. 

(4)  3.40  p.m. — The  Infiience  that  Methodism  has  exerted  on  other  Peligious 

Bodies,  and  the  Extent  to  rvhich  they  have  mod ijied  Methodism. 

Essay— Rev.  Alpheus  W.  Wilson,  D.D.,  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 

South.   >>.  H2. 
Invited  Address— Rev.  S.  S.  Barton,  Leeds,  United  Methodist  Free 

Churches  of  Great  Britain;  p.  89. 


XXxii  OFFICIAL   PROGRAMME. 

Third  Day,  Friday,  September  9th.  (Pages  98-i5f>.) 

Subject :  Evangelical  Agencies  of  Methodism. 

First  Session. — 10  a.in. — Devotional  Exercises,  Sco.,  page  98. 
(oj     11  a.m. — The  Itinerant  3Iinistry. 

Essay— Rev.  S.  Antlipf,  D.D.,  Primitive  Methodist  Church  of  Great 

Britain,  p.  99 
Invited  Address— Rev.  J.  B.  M'Feerin,  D.D.,  Methodist  Episcopal 

Church,  South,  p.  101. 
(())     12  noon. — Lay  Preacherg. 

Essay~Hon.  J.  W.  F.  White,  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  p.  110. 
Invited  Address — Mr.  W.  Shepherd  Allen,  M.P.,  British  Wesleyan 

Methodist  Church,  p.  114 

Second  Session. — 2.30  p.m. — Devotional  Exercises,  p.  1 23. 

(7)  2.40  p.m. —  Women,  and  their  Work  in  3Iethndism. 

Essay — Rev.   F.   W.   Bourne,   Bible  Christian   Churches    of    Great 

Britain,  p.  126. 
Invited  Address — Rev.  Charles  H.  Payne,  D.D.,  Methodist  Episcopal 

Church,  p.  132. 

(8)  3.40  p.m. — Scriptural  Holiness,  and  the  special  fitness  of  Methodist  means 

of  Grace  to  promote  it. 

Essay — Rev.  John  P.  Newman,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  p.  139 

Invited  Address— Rev.  J.  Stacey,  D.D.,  President,  Methodist  New- 
Connexion  of  Great  Britain,  p.  146. 


Fourth  Day,  Saturday,  September  lOfJi.   (Pages  156-188.) 
Subject :    Methodism    and    the    Young. 

10  a.m. — Devotional  Exercises,  &c  p.  156 

(9)  11  a.m. — The  Training  of  Children  in   Christian  Homes ;   so  a»  to  "bring 

them  to  Christ,  and  attach  them  to  Methodism. 
Essay — Rev.  Joseph  Wood,   M.A.,  Primitive  Methodist  Church  of 

Great  Britain,  p.  158. 
Invited  Address  —Rev.  J.  Mc.  H.  Farley,  Methodist  Episcopal  Zion 

Church,  p.  168 

(10)  12  noon. — The  Training  of  Children  in  the  Sunday-School  and  Church;  so 

as  to  secure  tlie  largest  Evangelical  Denominational  Bemtlts. 
Essay  -Rev.  H.  A.  Thompson,  D.D.,  United  Brethren  Church,  p.  174. 
Invited  Address— Mr.   G.  J.    Smith,    British    Wesleyan    Methodist 

Church,  p.  180. 


Fifth  Day,  Monday,  September  12th.    (Pages  189-246.) 
Subject:  The  Lord's  Day  and  Temperance. 

First  Session. — 10  a.m.  Devotional  Exercises,  &c,  p.  189. 

(11)  11  a.m. — Methodism  and  the  Lord's  Day.  rp_  jgg^ 

Essay — Rev.  John  Baker,  M.A.,  British  Wesleyan  Methodist  Church 
Invited  Address— Rev.  B.  T.   Roberts,   Free  Methodist  Church  of 
America,  (not  present)— (4lier  Addresses,  p.  203. 


*  OFFICIAL   PROGRAMME.  XXXIU 

(12)  12  noon. — BeJaiion  of  Methodism  to  the  Temperance  Mor-ement. 

Essay — Rev.   Bishop   D,   A.    Payne,    African    Methodist    Episcopal 

Church,  page  208 
Invited    Address — Rev.    Joseph    Kirsop,    United    Methodist    Free 

Churches  of  Great  Britain,  p.  211. 
Second  Session. — 2.30  p.m. — Devotional  Exercises,  p.  220. 

(13)  2.40  p.m. — Jiii'enile    Temperance    Organuatians    and    their    Promotion 

through  the  Sitnday-school  and  Chvrch.  ["p_  220. 

Essay — Rev.  Charles  Garrett,  British  Wesleyan  Methodist  Church, 
Invited  Address— Rev.  Marshall  W.  Taylor,  Methodist  Episcopal 

Church,(notpresent)—othpr  Addresses,  p.  224. 

(14)  3.40  p.m. — Ciril  Measvres  to  suppress  Intemperance,  and  the  Relation  of 

the  Church  to  such  Movements.  [p.  231. 

Essay— Rev.  J.  M.  Walden,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
Invited  Address— Mr.  Wm.  Beckworth,  Primitive  Methodist  Church 

of  Great  Britain,, p.  237. 


^ixtli  Day,   Tuesday,  September  13th.  (Pages  247-300.) 
Subject :  Possible  Perils  of  Methodism. 

First  Session. — 10  a.m. — Devotional  Exercises,  &c.,  p.  247. 

(15)  11  a.m. — Mvm.  the  Papacy;  from    Sacerdotalism,    and  its  connected 

Errors. 

Essay— Rev.   J.   Guttridge,   United  Methodist   Free  Churches  of 

Great  Britain,  p.  262. 
Invited  Address— Rev.  E.  B.  Ryckman,  D.D.,  Methodist  Church  of 

Canada,  p.  257. 

(16)  12  noon. — Fjvm  Modern  Scepticism  in  its  different  Forms  and  Mani- 

festations. 

Essay— Rev.  Daniel  Curry,  D.D.,  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  p. 262 
Invited  Addrt  ss — Rev.  W.  L.  Watkinson,  British  Wesleyan  Methodist 
Church,  p.  271. 

Second  Session. — 2.30  p.m. — Devotional  Exercises,  p.  278. 

(17)  2.40  p.m. — From    Formality,    Worldliness,    and   Improper  Ainuscments 

among  our  own  Members. 

Essay— Rev.  J.  W.  M'Kay,  D.D.,  Irish  Methodist  Church,  p.  278. 
Invited  Address— Rev.  Charles  M.  Giffen,  Independent  Methodist 
Church,  p.  283. 

(18)  3.40  p.m. — From  Innovations  upon  EstaUished  Methodist    Usages  and 

Institutions, 

Essay— Rev.    Bishop    J.   P.   Thompson,    Methodist   Episcopal   Zion 

Church,  p.  290 
Invited  Address — Rev.  R.  Cheeseman,  Primitive  Methodist  Church 

of  Great  Britain,  p.  293 


Seventh  Day,  Wednesday,  September  14th.   (Pages  301-359.) 

Subject:  Education. 

First  Session.— 10  a.m.— Devotional  Exercises,  &o.,  p.  301. 
(19)  11  a,.m.—T7ie  Higher  Education   Demanded  by   the  Necessities  of  the 
Chvrch  in  our  Tiw-e.  r     on^ 

Essay— Mr.  T.  G.  Osbobn,  M.A,,  British  Wesleyan  Methodist  Church. 
Invited   Address— Rev.  F.    A.      Mood,    D.D.,    Methodist    Episcopal 
Church,  South,p.  310. 
c 


XXXIV  OFFICIAL  PROGRAMME.  ,, 

(20)  12  noon. — The  Duty  of  tTie   Church  to  Maintain    Schools    which  are 

Christian  in  their  Influence  and  Character. 

Essay— Rev.   C.   G.   Andrews,    D.D.,    Methodist  EpiEcopal  Church, 

South,  page  317. 
Invited  Address— Rev.  G.  W.  Olver,  B.A.,  British  Wesleyan  Methodist 

Church,  p.  322. 

Second  Session. — 2.30  p.m. — Devotional  Exercises,  &c,  p.  329. 

(21)  2.40  p.m. — The  Education  and  Special  Training  of  Ministers  in  TJieo- 

logical  Schools.  [p.  329. 

Essay— Rev.  W.  B.  Pope,  D.D.,  British  Wesleyan  Methodist  Church, 
Invited  Address — Rev.  George  R.  Crooks,  D.D.,  Methodist  Episcopal 

Church,  p.  340. 

(22)  3.40  p.m. — The   Education  and   Si)ecial    Training    of   Ministers   while 

engaged  in  Ministerial  and  Pastoral  \Vork. 

Essay— Rev.   E.   J.   Badgeley,   D.D.,    LL.D.,    Methodist    Episcopal 

Church  of  Canada,  p.  3-16. 
Invited  Address— Rev.  J.  Dtmond,  Bible  Christian  Church  of  Great 

Britain,  p.  352. 


Eighth  Day,  Thursday,  September  15th.    (Pages  360-409.) 
Subject :  The  Use  of  the  Press  for  the  Advancement  of  Christianity. 

First  Se.ssion.— 10  a.m. — Devotional  Exercises,  &c,  p.  360. 

(23)  11  a.m. — Denominational  Literature  and  its  Publication. 

Essay — Rev.  J.  Swann  Withington,  United  Free  Methodist  Churches 

of  Great  Britain,  p.  364. 
Invited  Address— Rev.  J.  Cooper  Ajjtliff,  M.A.,  B.D.,  Primitive 

Methodist  Church  of  Canada,  p.  371, 

(24)  12  noon. — The  Newspaper,  and  the  Use  to  he  made  of  it  by  the  Church. 

Essay — Rev.  C.  K.  Marshall,  D.D.,   Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 

South,  p.  378. 
Invited  Address— Rev.  H.  W.  HOLLAND,  British  Wesleyan  Methodist 

Church,  p.  387. 

Second  Session. — 2.30  p.m. — Devotional  Exercises,  &o,  p.  393. 

(25)  2.40  i>.m.— Methodist  Hymnology.  [p.  393. 

Essay— Rev.  Geo.  Osborn,  D.D.,  British  Wesleyan  Methodist  Churchi 
Invited  Address— Rev.  James  A.  Buckley,  D.D.,  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  p.  400. 


Ninth  Day,  Friday,  September  16th.    (Pages  410-465.) 
Subject:  Home  Missions. 

First  Session. — 10  a.m. — Devotional  Exercises,  &o,  p.  410. 

(26)  11  a.m. — T?ie  Maintenance  of  Home  Missions  among  the  most  Degraded 

Populations. 
Essay — Mr.  John  Macdonald,   Methodist  Church  of  Canada>p.413. 
Invited  Address — Rev.  Hugh  Gilmore,  Primitive  Methodist  Church 

of  Great  Britain,  p.  419. 

(27)  12  noon. — The  Important   Work  which  the  Methodist  Laity  have  per- 

formed in  this  Direction,  and  the  great  Opportunities  which 
they  have  in  the  Future.  [p.  423. 

Essay — Mr.  T.  H.  Bainbridge,  British  Wesleyan  Methodist  Church. 
Invited  Address— Rev.  G.  B.  McElrot,  D.D.,  Methodist  Protestant 
Church,  p.  430. 


OFFICIAL   PROGRAMME.  XXXV 

Second  Session. — 2.30  p.m — Devotional  Exercises,  &o.,page  440, 

(23)  2.40  p.m. — The  Best  Methods  of  Reaching  the  Unconverted  Sections  of  the 
Richer  Classes.  rp_  44q_ 

Essay— Rev.  S.  B.  Southerland,  D.D.,  Methodist  Protestant  Church, 
Invited  Address — Rev.  Richard  Geeen,  British  Wesleyan  Methodist 
Church,  p.  445. 

(29)  3.40  p.m. — Methodism-  and  its   Work  for  Orpliians,  for  the  Aged,  and 
generally  for  the  Dependent  Classes. 

Essay— Rev.  T.    B.    Stephenson,    B.A.,    LL.D.,    British  Wesleyan 

Methodist  Church ,  p.  452. 
Invited    Address— Rev.    Jacob    Todd,    D.D.,    Methodist    Episcopal 

Church,  p.  457. 


Tenth  Day,  Saturday,  September  17th.    (Pages  466-497.) 
Subject:  Foreign  Missions. 

10  a.m. — Devotional  Exercises,  &c.,  p.  466. 

(30)  11  a.m. — The  Results  of  Methodist  Missions  in  Heathen  Lands. 

Essay— Rev.  John  M.  Reid,  D.D.,  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  p.  472. 
Invited  Address— Rev.   E.   E.   Jenkins,    M.A.,     British     Wesleyan 
Methodist  Church,  (not  present) — other  Addresses,  p.  480. 

(31)  12  noon. — How  to  Aroid  Wa.ite,  Rivalries,  and  Confusion,  arisiiig  from 

different  Methodist  Bodies  occvpying  the  same  or  contiguous 
Fields.  [p.  483. 

Essay— Rev.  J.  H.  RiGG,  D.D.,  British  Wesleyan  Methodist  Church, 
Invited  Address — Rev.   R.   S.   Maclay,   D.D.,  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  p.  490. 


Eleventh  Day,  Monday,  September  19th.    (Pages  498-550) 
Subject :  Foreign  Missions — (continued). 

First  Session.— 10  a.m.— Devotional  Exercises,  &c,,  p.  498. 

(32)  11  a.m. — The  EstaUishinent  and  Svpport  of  Training-Sehools  for  Native 

Converts  and  Native  MinMers  in  the  Foreign  Field. 

Essay— Rev.  Wtman  H.  Potter.  D.D.,  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 

South,  p.  499. 
Invited  Address — Rev.   John  Kilner,   British  Wesleyan  Methodist 

Church,  p.  505. 

(33)  12  noon. — Tlie    Use    of   the  Press   in    non- Christian    Countines  for  the 

Promotion  of  the  Gospel. 

Essaj- — Rev.  J.  S.  Banks,  British  Wesleyan  Methodist  Church,  p.  513. 
Invited  Address — Rev.  Leroy  M.  Vernon,  D.D.,  Methodist  Episcopal 
Chui-ch,  p.  517. 

Second  Session. — 2.30  p.m.— Devotional  Exercises,  &c.,  p.  522. 

(34)  2.40  p.m. — The  Missionary   Worh  required  in  Papal  and  Semi-Infidel 

Nations.  '  [p,  522. 

Essaj' — Rev.  A.  Sulzberger,  Ph.D.,  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
Invited    Address — Rev.    H.    J.    Piggott,    B.A.,    British    Wesleyan 
Methodist  Church ,  p  528. 


XXXVl  OFFICIAL  PROGRAMME. 

(35),  ^.40  p.m. — TTie  Besources  of  MetTiodism  for  the  WarJi  of  the  Woj-lcTg 
Conversion,  and  the  Duty  of  Z>eveloj?ing  and  Employing  those 
Kesources. 

Essay — Rev.  C.  C.  M'Kechnie,  Primitive  Methodist  Church  of  Great 

Britain,  page  535. 
Invited  Address— Rev.  C.  W.  Miller,  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 

South,  p.  539. 


Twelfth  Day,  Tuesday,  September  20th.    (Pages  551-604.) 
Suhject :  Christian  Unity. 

First  Session. — 10  a.in. — Devotional  Exercises,  &c,  p.  551. 

(36)  11  a.m. — Hotv  Christian   Utiity  may  be  maintained  and  increased  amony 

Ourselves,  and  made  manifest  in  the  World.  r„^  555 

Essay— Rev.  Augustus  C.  George,  D.D.,  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
Invited  Address — Rev.  Wm.  Cocker,  D.D.,  Methodist  New  Connexion 
Church  of  Great  Britain,  p.  561. 

(37)  12  noon. — TJie  Catholicity  of  Metlwdism. 

Essay — Rev.  John  Myers,  United  Methodist  Free  Churches  of  Great 

Britain,  p.  564. 
Invited  Address — Prof.  J.  P.  Shorter,  African  Methodist  Episcopal 

Church,  p.  574. 

Second  Session.— 2.30  p.m. — Devotional  Exercises,  p.  581. 

(38)  2.40  p.m. — Methodism  as  a  Bond  of  Brotherhood  among  the  Nations. 

Essay — Mr.  David  Allison,  LL.D.,  Methodist  Church  of  Canada,p.588 
Invited  Address— Rev.  Benjamin  Gregory,  British  Wesleyan  Me- 
thodist Church,  p.  594. 


IX.— REGULATIONS,  &g, 

EEGULATIONS  FOR  THE  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CONFERENCE. 

I._For  convenience  of  organisation,  and  for  the  purposes  of  equity  and 
fraternity,  the  whole  Methodist  community  shall  be  included  in  four  general 
divisions,  as  follows  : — 

First  JDi vision.— The  British  Wesleyan  Methodist  Churches. 

Seeond  Division. — Other  British  Methodist  Churches. 

Third  Division. — The  Methodist  Churches  in  the  United  States  and  Canada 
having  an  episcopal  form  of  government. 

Fourth  Division. — The  Methodist  Churches  in  the  United  States  and  Canada 
having  a  non-episcopal  form  of  government. 

It  is  understood  that  the  several  Churches  described  are  inclusive  of  their 
respective  mission-fields  and  affiliated  Conferences. 

II. — There  shall  be  a  business  committee  consisting  of  twenty  members, 
five  of  whom  shall  be  selected  from  each  general  division,  and  two  of  whom, 
if  possible,  shall  be  laymen.  This  committee  shall  be  chosen  by  the  Eastern 
and  Western  Sections  of  the  executive  committee,  on  nomination  of  the 
members  of  said  executive  committee  representing  respectively  the  several 
general  divisions.  The  first  named  on  the  business  committee  by  the  fii'st 
European)  division  shall  be  the  convener,  but  the  committee  shall  choose  by 
ballot  its  own  chairman  and  secretary. 

All  questions,  proposals,  resolutions,  communications,  or  other  matters,  not 
included  in  the  regular  programme  of  exercises,  which  may  be  presented  to 
the  Conference,  shall  be  passed  to  the  secretary,  read  by  their  titles  only,  and 
referred  without  delay  or  motion  to  the  business  committee. 


CONFERENCE  REGULATIONS.  XXXVll 

A  period  at  the  close  of  the  regular  programme  of  the  second  session  of  the 
day  shall  be  set  apart  for  reports  from  the  business  committee  and  from  other 
committees  ;  but  the  reports  of  the  business  committee  shall,  at  all  times,  be 
privileged,  and  shaU  take  precedence  of  any  other  matter  which  may  be 
before  the  Conference. 

III. — The  business  committee  shall  appoint  some  one  to  preside  on  each 
day  of  the  Conference,  and  in  the  following  manner,  to  wit :  on  the  first  day, 
from  the  fii-st  division;  on  the  second  day,  from  the  third  division ;  on  the 
thu'd  day  from  the  second  division  ;  on  the  fourth  day,  from  the  fomth 
division ;  repeating  this  order  as  long  as  the  Conference  may  remain  in 
session. 

IV. — The  business  committee  at  the  opening  of  the  first  regular  business 
session  of  the  Conference  shall  nominate  four  secretaries,  one  from  each 
general  division,  the  one  named  from  the  first  (Em'opean)  division  to  be 
chief  ;  but  if  the  nominations  thus  made  shall  fail  of  confirmation,  in  whole 
or  in  part,  then  the  Conference  shall  proceed  to  fill  the  vacant  place,  or 
places,  in  such  manner  as  it  may  determine ;  prodded  that  the  mode  of 
distribution  herein  indicated  shall  be  maintained. 

v.— Every  session  of  the  Conference  shall  be  opened  with  devotional 
exercises,  to  be  conducted  by  some  person  elected  by  the  president  for  the 
day. 

VI. — The  first  hour  of  each  forenoon  session,  after  devotional  exercises 
and  reading  of  journal,  shall  be  set  apart  for  the  presentation  of  resolutions 
or  other  papers  not  included  in  the  regular  programme.  Every  resolution 
must  be  reduced  to  writing  and  be  signed  by  at  least  two  names.  The 
Conference  may  at  any  time  close  the  morning  hour  and  proceed  to  the 
regular  order,  but  the  question  must  be  taken  without  debate  or  subsidiary 
motion. 

VII. — No  paper  presented  in  the  regular  programme  shall  occupy  more 
than  twenty  minutes  in  reading ;  the  invited  speaker  who  follows  shall  be 
allowed  ten  minutes ;  after  which  thirty  minutes  shall  be  allowed  for 
remarks  ;  provided  that  no  member  shall  occupy  more  than  five  minutes,  nor 
speak  more  than  once  on  the  same  subject. 

VIII. — At  the  close  of  the  regular  order,  at  the  final  session  of  each  day, 
the  president  shall  call  for  a  report  froni  the  business  committee.  In  debates 
on  reports,  whenever  presented,  no  member  shall  occupy  more  than  ten 
minutes,  nor  speak  more  than  once  on  the  same  report  ;  and  the  chau-man 
of  the  committee,  or  some  one  designated  by  bim,  shaU  be  allowed  ten 
minutes  in  which  to  close  the  debate. 

IX.— All  votes  taken  in  the  Conference  shall  be  by  individual  cdunt, 
without  any  reference  to  the  particular  body  with  which  the  voter  is 
connected. 

X. — Any  addition  to  or  alteration  of  these  regulations  thought  desirable 
must  be  sent  to  the  Business  Committee  and  reported  back  to  the  Conference 
before  a  final  vote  is  taken  ;  and  no  rule  shall  be  suspended,  except  by 
consent  of  two- thirds  of  the  Conference. 

XI. — The  first  session  of  each  day  shall  be  closed  at  one  o'clock  p.m.  by 
lapse  of  time,  and  the  second  session  by  resolution  of  the  Conference, 


KRRATA. 

Page  21,  Item  V  of  Report  of  Business  Committee  should 
read  "Rev.  A.  Sutherland,  D.D.  (Methodist  Church  of 
Canada.)  " 

Page  41,  Twelfth  line  from  bottom,  read  Rev.  A.  Suther- 
land, D.D.,  instead  of  Rev.  S.  B.  Southerland. 


REPORT  OF  THE  PROCEEDINGS 


OP   THE 


FIRST  (ECUMENICAL  METHODIST  CONFERENCE. 


CECDMENICAL  METHODIST  CONFERENCE. 


FIRST  DA  Y,  Wednesday,  Septemher  7th. 


rnHE  FIEST  SESSION  of  the  (Ecumenical  Methodist  Con- 
ference was  held  in  the  City  Road  Wesleyan  Chapel, 
London,  on  Wednesday,  the  7th  September,   1881.      The  chapel 
was  densely  crowded  with-  delegates  and  ministers. 

The  Opening  Service  in  the  morning  was  conducted  by  the 
Eev.  George  Osborn,  D.D.,  President  of  the  British  Wesleyan 
Conference. 

The  Sermon  was  preached  by  the  Rev.  Matthew  Simpson, 
D.D.,  LL.D.,  of  Philadelphia,  Senior  Bishop  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  of  America,  from  the  text : 

*  The  words  that  I  speak  unto  you,  they  are  spirit,  and  they  are  life.'' — 

John  vi.  63. 

Bishop  Simpson  said :  To  the  Jews  Jesus  was  a  mystery.  He  was  a 
man  like  other  men.  Until  thirty  years  of  age  He  lived  in  their  midst 
a  son  of  toil.  When  He  appeared  as  a  teacher  they  said,  "  Is  not  this 
Jesus,  the  carpenter's  son,  whose  father  and  mother  we  know  ?  "  Yet 
His  words  were  strange  words.  The  common  people  heard  Him  gladly. 
At  His  voice  diseases  fled,  and  the  winds  and  the  seas  obeyed  Him. 
Only  a  day  or  two  before  these  words  were  uttered,  after  having  healed 
many  of  the  sick  on  the  other  side  of  the  little  sea  of  Galilee,  He  had 
with  five  loaves  and  two  fishes  fed  five  thousand  men  besides  women 
and  children,  and  the  same  night  the  disciples  had  seen  Him  walking 
on  the  billows  of  the  angry  sea. 

The  next  day  many  of  those  who  had  been  fed  followed  Him  across 
the  sea  to  Capernaum  ;  but  discerning  their  thoughts  He  said  to  them, 
•'  Ye  seek  Me,  not  because  ye  saw  the  miracles,  but  because  ye  did  eat 
of  the  loav&s  and  were  filled."  Leading  them  from  the  natural  to  the 
spiritual.  He  said,  "  I  am  the  bread  of  life  ;  he  that  cometh  to  Me  shall 
never  hunger  ;  and  he  that  believe th  on  Me  shall  never  thirst."     Then 

B 


2  OPENING   SERVICES. 

were  uttered  the  most  remarkable  words  that  ever  dropped  from  the 
Saviour's  lips,  "Except  ye  eat  the  flesh  of  the  Sou  of  man  and  drink 
His  blood,  ye  have  no  life  in  you.  Whoso  eateth  My  flesh  and 
drinketh  My  blood  hath  eternal  life,  and  I  will  raise  him  up  at  the  last 
day.  For  My  flesh  is  meat  indeed,  and  My  blood  is  drink  indeed." 
Not  understanding  these  words  as  figurative,  the  people  murmured, 
and  the  disciples  were  perplexed.  Jesus  explained  them  by  saying, 
"It  is  the  spirit  that  quickeneth ;  the  flesh  profiteth  nothing :  the 
words  that  I  speak  unto  you,  they  are  spirit,  and  they  are  life  ; "  or  as 
the  Revised  Version  reads,  "  The  words  that  I  have  spoken  unto  you 
are  spirit  and  are  life."  As  if  foreseeing  that  the  literal  use  of  these 
words  might  in  the  ages  to  come  lead  to  the  errors  of  transubstan- 
tiation,  He  distinctly  averred,  "  The  flesh  profiteth  nothing,"  meaning, 
if  ye  could  eat  My  flesh  it  could  be  of  no  service  to  you,  it  is  only  the 
spiritual  that  can  purify  and  save.  In  the  Holy  Communion,  however, 
the  precious  symbols  of  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ  teach  us  how 
truly  and  how  really  Christ  does  give  Himself  by  faith  to  our  hearts. 

The  same  mystery  which  perplexed  the  Jews,  still  perplexes 
humanity.  Neither  reason  nor  philosophy  can  clearly  explain  how  the 
Divine  and  the  human  can  be  blended.  I  think  this  is  one  reason  why 
we  never  feel  fully  satisfied  with  any  painting  reiiresenting  th'e  blessed 
Saviour.  Vfe  know  He  was  human,  we  know  also  that  He  was  Divine, 
and  we  long'  to  see  some  indication  of  that  Divine  manifesting  itself  in 
the  features  or  in  the  expression.  The  old  masters,  evidently  feeling 
this  want,  painted  a  halo  or  radiance  around  His  head,  but  no  such 
halo  was  visible  to  the  eye.  In  His  appearance  He  was  human,  and 
nothing  more.  The  old  prophet  who  had  named  Him  "  Wonderful, 
Counsellor,  the  Mighty  God,  the  Everlasting  Father,  and  the  Prince  of 
Peace,"  had  also  said,  "  He  hath  no  form  nor  comehness,  and  when  we 
shall  see  Him  there  is  no  beauty  that  we  should  desire  Him."  It  is  no 
marvel  that  when  at  the  simple  word  of  such  an  one  the  demoniac  came 
to  his  right  mind,  the  multitude  exclaimed,  "  What  a  word  is  this  !  " 

Taking  the  expression  in  its  widest  significance,  let  us  consider  how 
the  words  of  Jesus  are  "  spirit  and  life." 

I.  The  Avords  of  Christ  pertain  to  and  reveal  the  spiritual  and 
eternal.  Spirit  and  hfe  are  closely  related  to  each  other.  The 
spirit  originates,  life  perpetuates.  Words,  strictly  speaking,  cannot 
be  spirit.  But  the}'  rtm-esent,  or  'I'lan'ifest.  Figurative  expressions  are 
found  in  all  languages,  and  they  give  conciseness  and  force.  Espe- 
cially was  this  the  case  in  Oriental  languages.  Thus,  "The  Lord 
is  a  sun  and  a  shield."  "Under  the  shadow  of  His  wings  shalt 
thou  trust."  Christ  says,  "  I  am  the  good  Shepherd,"  "  I  am 
the  Vine,  ye  are  the  branches."  So  His  words  are  spirit  and 
life.  The  words  of  man  express  his  thoughts.  They  form  what  is 
termed  his  style.  They  reveal  to  some  extent  the  inward  being.  How 
easy  is  it  by   a  few  sentences   to  detect  the  style  of  Johnson,   or 


BISHOP   SIMPSONS   SERMON.  3 

Macaulay,  or  Carlylef  The  words  of  Christ  reveal  to  us  His  sjjirit 
of  wisdom  and  of  love.  He  reveals  to  us  the  Father,  who  brings  us 
into  contact  with  the  invisible  and  the  eternal.  He  brings  life  and 
immortality  to  light  in  His  Gospel.  "  These  are  written,"  says  St. 
John,  "  that  ye  might  believe  that  Jesus  is  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  God  ; 
and  that,  believing,  ye  might  have  life  through  His  name." 

Valuable  as  unquestionably  are  the  works  of  literature,  science  and 
art,  Christ's  words  pertain  to  none  of  these.  They  are  of  a  prior  and 
higher  realm.  They  do  not  teach  science,  but  they  give  light  and  life 
to  man  that  he  may  pursue  the  most  profound  investigations.  They 
give  impulse  and  power  to  the  mind  which  God  has  given  to  man,  and 
to  which  He  has  made  all  material  knowledge  possible.  Hence,  under 
the  shadow  of  the  cross,  and  under  that  shadow  alone,  flourish  literary 
and  scientific  institutions  of  the  higliest  character.  Only  in  lands 
where  the  words  of  Christ  give  spirit  and  life  do  we  find  the  grandest 
discoveries  and  the  most  useful  inventions.  Only  where  God  is  re- 
vealed do  men  successfully  pursue  the  investigations  of  those  great 
laws  which  He  has  given  to  the  works  of  His  hands. 

n.  The  words  of  Christ  are  accompanied  by  an  unseen  spiritual 
power,  which  is  indissolubly  joined  with  them,  and  thus  they  become 
spirit  and  life.  How  the  si)iritual  can  be  joined  to  the  material  we 
cannot  explain.  We  cannot  by  experiment  in  science  discover  those 
hidden  chains.  But  we  have  analogies  in  nature  all  around  us.  Where 
are  the  cords  which  bind  this  earth  to  yonder  sun,  or  that  hold  the 
moon  to  this  earth  ?  What  is  gravitation,  that  controls  all  the  grosser 
elements  ?  What  is  it  the  loadstone  imparts  by  its  mysterious  touch 
to  the  needle,  which  makes  it  our  safe  guide  through  darkness  and 
storm  ?  We  can  see  results,  but  we  cannot  look  deeply  into  nature. 
What  is  it  that  gives  that  minute  seed  power  to  expand  and  develop 
into  the  beautiful  plant?  You  call  it  life.  But  what  is  that  life? 
The  chemist  has  never  found  it.  The  anatomist  has  never  detected  it. 
I  take  a  grain  of  wheat  to  my  friend  the  chemist,  and  he  analyses  it. 
He  tells  me  there  is  so  much  carbon,  hydrogen,  &c.  I  ask  him  to  make 
me  a  grain  of  wheat,  and  he  takes  the  various  substances  in  their 
proper  proportions,  and  presents  me  the  result.  It  looks  like  a  grain 
of  wheat :  it  has  the  same  weight,  and  form,  and  colour,  and  I  cannot 
distinguish  it  from  a  grain  which  God  has  made.  But  plant  it — it  will 
not  grow.  But  the  grain  which  God  has  made,  though  kept  in  Egypt's 
catacombs  for  three  thousand  years,  if  given  light  and  heat  and 
moisture,  will  develop  a  stalk  producing  its  like.  What  is  the  dif- 
ference ?     The  one  has  life,  the  other  has  not. 

So  with  the  words  of  Christ.  They  are  like  other  words.  They 
sound,  are  spelled,  and  printed  like  other  words,  but  God  has  joined 
with  them  a  sjiirit  and  life  which  affect  the  heart  of  man.  He  gives  to 
His  own  Word  an  accompaniment  of  wonderful  power.  He  is  Himsell 
present  in  His  Word,  and  its  only  limit  is  His  own  grand  design. 

B2 


4)  OPENING   SERVICES. 

III.  The  power  of  this  Word  is  seen  in  the  material  universe.  Says 
the  psalmist,  "  By  the  word  of  the  Lord  were  the  heavens  made,  and 
all  the  host  of  them  by  the  breath  of  His  mouth."  "  He  spake,  and  it 
was  done ;  he  commanded,  and  it  stood  fast."  The  apostle  says, 
"  The  worlds  were  framed  by  the  word  of  God,  and  the  things  which 
are  seen  were  not  made  of  things  which  do  appear."  The  great  worlds 
that  gem  the  limitless  realms  of  space  are  in  their  multitudes  and 
magnitudes,  in  their  motions  and  relations,  the  utterances  of  His  word ; 
they  are  His  conceptions  solidified  or  materialised,  that  finite  minds 
may  catch  a  glimpse  of  His  almightiness  and  of  His  wisdom.  To-day 
science  has  given  us  the  phonograph,  which  ma^DS  the  human  voice  and 
fixes  in  material  form  the  very  accents  which  we  utter.  These  great 
globes  bear  the  impress  of  their  Creator's  voice,  and  are 

"For  ever  singing,  as  they  shine, 
The  hand  that  made  us  is  Divine.'* 

Could  we  transfer  ourselves  to  creation's  morn,  when  the  foundations 
of  the  earth  were  laid, — could  we  hear  the  great  fiat,  "  Let  there  be," 
and  behold  as  in  a  moment  unnumbered  worlds  appearing  in  space  and 
moving  in  perfect  harmony  as  wheels  of   some  vast  machinery,  we 
should  not  wonder  that  "  the  morning  stars  sang  together,  and  all  the 
sons  of  God  shouted  for  joy."    Who  can  estimate  the  magnitude  of 
creation  ?     Our  solar  system,  vast  as  it  is,  is  but  a  speck  in  the  firma- 
ment ;  other  stars  are  larger  than  our  sun,  and  probably  around  them 
roll  other  worlds  larger  than  ours,  but  which,  in  the  immense  distance, 
are  so  small  they  cannot  be  seen.     The  domain  of  the  visible  creation 
extends  as  our  vision  enlarges.    Telescopes  carry  us  far  away.    Nebulse 
become  worlds, — star-dust  clusters  of  systems.     When  we  fancy  we 
have  seen  all,  every  now  and  then  bursts  out  of  the  darkness  and  the 
distance  one  of  those  eccentric-orbed  comets  to  blaze  on  our  horizon 
a  few  days,  and  then  away  to  distances  unmeasured  and  unknown. 
Think  of  all  this  as  the  product  of  a  word,  and  who  can  estimate  its 
power  ?     The  ancients  fancied  a  god  for  every  star,  the  earth  itself 
was  under  different  deities,  but  science  clearly  demonstrates  that  the 
universe  is  the  offspring  of  one  mind.     One  law  is  everywhere.     The 
spectroscope  has  shown  us  that  the  matter  of  the  sun  and  of  the  stars 
is  similar  to  our  earth.     The  researches  of  the  evolutionists  have  found 
throughout  the  whole  gradation  of  beings  marks  of  similarity  which 
bear  testimony  to  one  origin.     We  may  not  admit  all  their  conclusions, 
but  we  do  find  God's  signet  everywhere.     He  has  placed  His  mark  on 
all  His  creation,  and  whatever  we  may  think  of  the  atom  or  the  monad, 
we  know  all  things  are  of  God.     Henceforth  idolatry  or  the  worship  of 
more  than  one  God  is  impossible.     No  intelligent  being  can  bow  a  knee 
at  the  shrine  of  fancied  deities. 

Certain  classes  of  scientists  love  to  descant  upon  the  age  of  the  world, 
and  fancy  that  by  removing  the  period  of  creation  millions  of  years 


BISHOP  SIMPSON'S   SERMON.  5 

back  into  eternity  they  weaken  our  faith  in  a  personal  Creator  and  iu 
His  supervising  care  ;  but  they  greatly  mistake.  No  matter  how  many 
myriads  of  ages  may  have  elapsed,  or  through  how  many  convulsions 
the  world  may  have  passed,  the  truth  still  stands.  "  In  the  begin- 
ning Gotl  created  the  heavens  and  the  earth."  More  than  this,  He 
uj)holdcth  "  all  things  by  the  word  of  His  power."  There  must  be  a 
power  x>resent  in  the  movement  of  all  machinery — there  must  be  a 
living  force  guiding  the  movements  of  the  universe.  The  act  of 
creation,  though  so  sublime  and  glorious,  is  little  more  glorious  than 
that  of  preserving  and  perpetuating.  If  from  untold  myriads  of  years 
this  universe  has  existed,  God's  plans  are  older  still,  and  the  stability 
of  Nature's  laws  but  demonstrate  that  God  is  the  same  yesterday  that 
He  is  to-day,  and  He  will  be  the  same  for  ever.  What  power  is  there 
in  that  word  that  upholdeth  all  things  !  Could  a  jeweller  produce  a 
watch  capable  of  keei^ing  time  for  a  hundred  years  without  erring  a 
second,  of  what  priceless  value  would  it  be,  and  how  greatly  we  should 
admire  the  skill  of  the  artist !  What  shall  we  say,  then,  of  Him  who 
holds  the  machinery  of  unnumbered  worlds  for  untold  ages  in  perfect 
Larmony  ?  Nor  has  one  atom  ever  been  lost.  Science  shows  us  that 
forms  perpetually  change,  but  substances  endure.  Nothing  perishes. 
In  this  sense  it  is  true  that  not  a  jot  or  tittle  of  His  Word  shall  ever 
faU. 

Great  as  is  the  creation  and  preservation  of  worlds,  there  is  some- 
thing higher  in  life.  The  one  is  passive,  the  other  active.  St.  John 
says  of  Christ,  "  In  Him  was  life. "  He  was  the  author  of  life ;  He 
breathed  into  man  a  living  soul.  His  word  perpetuates  natural  life, 
and  how  numberless  are  its  forms  and  varieties !  Think  of  vegetable 
life  in  shrub  and  plant  and  trees — in  the  moss  that  covers  the  rock  or 
that  tinges  with  red  the  snow.  Think  of  animal  life  in  all  its  species. 
It  is  said  that  320,000  species  have  been  classified,  and  that  probably 
the  half  have  not  been  found.  In  what  strange  varieties  and  what 
singular  forms  does  this  life  exist !  Life  in  the  branches  of  moss  ;  life 
in  the  drop  of  water  ;  vegetable  life  below  the  surface  of  the  earth 
in  unturned  soil ;  animal  life  in  every  layer  or  drop  of  the  sea.  In 
summer  heat  the  very  dust  of  the  earth  seems  alive,  and  the  au*  is  full 
of  living  beings.  Life  is  in  the  micrcsLiopic  insect  as  well  as  in  the 
elephant.  It  co-exists  with  almost  every  form  of  matter,  and  in  almost 
every  temperature.  The  scientific  world  was  startled  the  other  day  by 
the  announcement  that  organised  forms  had  been  discovered  in 
Eerolitcs,  and  a  distinguished  savant  suggested  that  j)ossibly  life  might 
in  this  way  have  first  reached  our  earth  from  more  advanced  worlds. 
Without  discussing  the  probability  of  this  fancy,  if  it  were  true  that 
life  could  come  in  the  midst  of  a  glowing  mass  of  incandescent  matter, 
under  what  fearful  surroundings  might  it  exist  I 

What  endless  gradations  in  the  character  of  that  life,  from  the  worm 
that  riots  and  multii)lies  in  corruption,  to  man  who  bears  the  image  of 


6  OPENING   SERVICES. 

God,  and  is  His  vicegerent  on  earth — from  life  for  a  moment  to  life 
everlasting  !  God's  great  lesson  seems  to  be  that  life,  though  working 
through  form,  is  independent  of  form ;  that  life  is  as  truly  in  the  insect, 
whose  shadowy  form  is  scarcely  visible  in  the  microscope,  as  in  the 
great  whale  that  makes  the  ocean  boil. 

It  is,  however,  to  spiritual  life  that  the  text  chiefly  refers,  and  the 
declaration  is  that  the  words  of  Christ,  the  words  of  revelation,  both 
originate  and  perjjetuate  that  life.  Indeed,  were  there  no  declaration 
we  might  infer  so  much  from  the  fact  of  revelation  being  given  to  man. 
Unless  needed  to  awaken  his  sensibilities,  why  did  God  stoop  to  Mount 
Sinai  to  utter  in  thunder-tones  His  eternal  law?  Unless  life  was 
impossible  without  it,  why  did  Christ  stoop  to  the  manger  and  the 
cross,  and  in  the  tenderest  tones  of  affection  offer  to  cure  every  malady 
and  to  open  the  dark  gi-ave  of  every  human  heart  ?  Why  was  the  Jew 
instructed  to  bind  the  law  as  frontlets  between  his  eyes,  and  as  borders 
on  his  garments,  and  to  talk  of  it  to  his  children  lying  down  and  rising 
up  ?  Everywhere  is  religion  spoken  of  as  life,  both  in  precepts  and 
prophecy.  Moses  said,  "  The  Lord  hath  fed  thee  with  manna  which 
thou  knewest  not,  neither  did  thy  fathers  know  ;  that  He  might  make 
thee  know  that  man  doth  not  live  by  bread  alone,  but  by  every  word 
that  proceedeth  out  of  the  mouth  of  God  doth  man  live."  Every 
Christian  will  recall  how  the  Saviour  quoted  this  passage  in  the  hours 
of  His  temptation.  The  prophet  Ezekiel  beautifully  foretells  the 
coming  of  Christianity.  He  carries  us  to  the  temple,  and  water  drops 
from  the  right  hand  of  the  altar,  and  issues  eastward  from  the  thresh- 
old of  the  temple.  A  thousand  cubits  are  measured,  and,  without 
any  added  streams,  the  water  has  risen  to  the  ankles,  another  thousand 
to  the  knees,  another  thousand  to  the  loins,  and  in  another  thousand,  a 
river  to  swim  in,  and  that  cannot  be  passed  over.  As  the  waters  pour 
down  the  deep,  dreary  valley,  trees  grow  upon  the  banks,  and  the  dead 
sea  becomes  alive  with  fish.  Everything  liveth  whithersoever  the 
waters  come.  Such  is  a  picture  of  a  world  dead  in  sin,  made  alive  by 
the  stream  which  issues  from  the  temple  of  God.  Again  is  the  jjrophet 
carried  to  the  valley  of  dry  bones.  They  are  very  many  and  very  dry. 
As  he  looks  upon  this  scene  of  desolation  and  death,  a  voice  inquires, 
"  Can  these  dry  bones  live  ? "  Though  seemingly  impossible,  he 
answers,  "  O  Lord  God,  Thou  knowest."  At  God's  command  he  pro- 
claims, "  O  ye  dry  bones,  hear  the  word  of  the  Lord,"  and  "  Behold  a 
shaking,  and  the  bones  come  together,  bone  to  his  bone,"  and  "  sinews 
and  flesh  come  upon  them."  Again  he  pro]jhesies,  "  O  breath,  come 
from  the  four  winds,  and  breathe  upon  these  slain,  that  they  may  live." 
"  And  the  breath  came  into  them,  and  they  lived,  and  stood  up  upon 
their  feet  an  exceeding  great  army."  Can  there  be  a  more  vivid 
illustration  of  the  word  of  God  being  "spirit  and  life"?  Can  there 
be  any  field  so  hopeless  to  which  a  minister  of  Christ  shall  carry  the 
life-giving  Gosjiel  ?     These  pictures  represent  the  nations  still  in  the 


BISHOP   SIMPSON'S   SERMOX.  7 

"darkness  of  heathenism."     There  are  shadows,  it  is  true— even  dark 
shadows^over  lands  nominally  Christian,  but  in  the  regions  beyond 
the  shadows  grow  wider  and  darker.     The  great  movement  which  the 
world  has  made  in  the  last  two  centuries  received  not  a  single  impulse 
outside  of  Christendom.     But,  like  the  stream  of  vivifying  water,  oi 
the  breath  on  the  dry  bones,  wherever  the  words  of  Christ  are  taught, 
the  nations  awake  to  life  and  activity.     The  words  of  great  men  have 
frequently  given   to  nations   or   races   increasing   iniiuence   and   pro- 
minence.    What  did  Plato,  Aristotle,  and  Homer  for  Greece !     What 
did  Bacon,  Shakespeare,  and  Milton  for  England !     The  examjile  and 
teaching  of   one  philosopher  may  elevate  many.     How  many  erring 
Greeks  did  Socrates  turn  to  higher  thoughts  and  a  nobler  life  !     Alex- 
ander, we  are  told,  so  admired  Homer  that  he  slept  with  a  copy  under 
his  pillow,  and  Homer's  heroes  inspired  him  with  bravery  and  daring. 
But  if  God  si^eaks  to  man,  if  from  the  depths  of  eternity  and  from  the 
height  of  His  glory  He  utters  words  not  only  of  wdsdom  but  of  affection 
and  love — if  He  offers  rest  to  the  weary,  extends  His  arms  to  every 
returning  prodigal,   and  promises  a  crown  of    immortality  to   every 
faithful  servant — how  powerfully  must  such  words  affect  the  hearts 
and  lives   of  men !      And   if,   accompanying  these   words,    strangely 
wrapped  up  in  them,  there  is  a  spiritual  omnipotence  which  softens 
and  melts  the  most  obdurate ;  which  sweetly  whispers  the  forgiveness 
of  sins,  though  they  be  many ;  whicli  purifies  the  heart,  whicli  fills  it 
with  iieace  and  love  and  joy — even  joy  unspeakable  and  full  of  glory  ; 
is  it   too  much  to   believe  that  redeemed   and  purified  spirits   shall 
become  one  with  Christ,  as  He  and  the  Father  are  one  ?     No  marvel  is 
it  that  amidst  the  tortures  and  fires  of  persecution  some  of  the  early 
Christians,  dying,  clasped  the  Evangels  to  their  bosoms,  and  thus  slept 
in  Jesus,  in  perfect  assurance  that  He  would  raise  them  up  at  the  last 
day.     Divine  words  have  ever  made  men  heroes.     Even  fancied  Divine 
words,  as  of  the  oracle  to  Alexander,  or  the  imaginings  of  Joan  of  Arc, 
inspired  almost  irresistible  power.     The  belief  in  an  invisible,  omni- 
potent power  always  i)resent,  prepares  men  for  deeds  of  valour  and 
sustains  them  in  trials.     How  valiant  were  Cromwell's  hosts  when  he 
shouted  at  Naseby  as  the  sun  arose,  "Let  God  arise  !    let  His  enemies 
be  scattered !  "     How  brave  were  the  martyrs!     How  many  delicate, 
sensitive  women,  burned  at  the  stake,  sustained  even  to  joyfuluess  at 
the  thought  of  being  accounted  worthy  to  suffer  for  their  Master,  and 
confident  in  His  promise  of  eternal  life  ! 

During  His  earthly  abode  Jesus  showed  how  truly  His  words  were 
spirit  and  life.  The  prophets  had  foretold  His  wonderful  works,  and 
their  in-ophecies  He  fulfilled.  The  sick  of  every  disease,  the  bUnd,  the 
deaf,  the  dumb,  the  cripple,  the  leper,  the  paralytic,  and  the  demoniac 
were  brought  to  Him,  and  by  a  word  "  He  healed  them  all."  He  came 
to  the  abodes  of  death,  restored  the  damsel,  gave  back  the  widow's  son 
from  the  bier,  and  called  Lazarus  from  his  tomb.      Nor  were  these 


8  OPENING   SERVICES, 

expressions  of  sympathy  or  manifestations  of  power  designed  merely 
for  the  weeping  friends.  He  spoke  through  them  to  the  hearts  of 
parents,  widows  and  sisters  of  all  lands  and  of  all  ages,  His  sympathy 
for  suffering  humanity,  and  gave  the  blessed  assurance  that  "  earth 
hath  no  sorrows  which  heaven  cannot  cure."  Think  also  how  simple 
were  His  words,  how  apparently  without  any  effort  Divine  power 
accomplished  its  grand  results  !  How  quietly  He  spoke  to  the  winds, 
how  calmly  He  blessed  the  bread — all  He  did  was  by  a  word — a  breath 
— and  nothing  more.  There  was  no  second  trial— no  experimenting, 
but  an  evident  consciousness  of  exhaustless  power.  His  words  reached 
spirit  as  well  as  matter — the  j)hysical  was  but  the  type  of  the  spiritual. 
"  Whether  is  easier  to  say.  Thy  sins  be  forgiven  thee,  or  to  say,  Arise 
and  walk."  As  He  healed  every  disease,  so  He  forgives  every  sin. 
His  word  called  the  dead  to  life,  the  same  word  saves  those  who  are 
dead  in  trespasses  and  sins.  No  disease  was  so  terrible  Christ  could 
not  cure  it — there  is  no  sinner  so  depraved  that  Christ  cannot  save  him. 

The  same  power  that  accompanied  the  words  of  Christ  when  spoken 
by  His  lips,  accorupanies  His  words  when  spoken  by  His  servants.  For 
He  has  promised  to  be  with  them  to  the  end  of  the  world.  He  hath 
said,  "  He  that  believeth  in  Me,  the  works  that  I  do  shall  he  do  also; 
and  greater  works  than  these  shall  he  do,  because  I  go  unto  the 
Father."  So  His  words  have  revolutionised  the  world.  Idolatry 
disaj)]peared  before  the  Bible.  Dagon  lies  broken  before  the  ark. 
Temples  have  been  closed  and  abandoned.  The  cross  was  exalted 
above  the  eagle  of  the  Caesars,  and  is  to-day  conspicuous  above  the 
banners  of  the  nations.  Kings  have  become  nursing  fathers,  and 
queens  nursing  mothers,  and  the  gold  and  the  glory  of  the  earth  are 
being  offered  to  our  Messiah.  Errors  have  been  vanquished,  for  the 
word  of  the  Lord  is  sharper  than  a  two-edged  sword. 

Great  reforms  have  always  been  preceded  and  accompanied  by  the 
study  of  God's  Word.  In  the  days  of  Josiah  and  of  Ezra  the  people 
were  brought  by  reading  of  the  law  to  penitence  and  prayer.  The 
early  Christians  studied  the  Scriptures,  among  whom  the  Bereans  w^ere 
specially  noted.  Translations  were  early  made  into  native  languages. 
The  copies,  however,  were  costly  and  rare  before  the  invention  of 
prmting.  The  age  of  the  Eeformation  was  preceded  by  translating  and 
printing  the  Bible  in  the  European  languages.  Huss,  Tyndall,  Wick- 
liffe,  and  Luther  were  as  "  morning  stars  "  of  that  Reformation,  which 
stirred  the  heart  of  Europe,  and  detached  nearly  one-half  of  it  from 
bhe  Papacy.  A  large  part  of  the  other  half  would  have  followed  had 
not  the  reading  of  the  Bible  been  interdicted,  and  had  not  the  terrors  of 
bhe  Inquisition  and  the  fires  of  martyrdom  been  employed  against  Pro- 
testantism. In  all  the  great  revivals  which  have  since  occurred,  the 
reading  and  study  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  have  formed  an  important  part. 

Met  to-day,  as  members  of  the  Methodist  family,  in  a  special  re- 
union, we  may,  without  a  charge  of  egotism  on  the  one  hand,  or  of 


BISHOP   SIMPSON'S   SERMON.  9 

bigotry  on  the  other,  refer  more  specifically  to  that  great  revival  which 
conimeuced  uuder  the  labours  of  John  Wesley  and  his  coadjutors,  the 
influence  of  which  has  reached  the  remotest  parts  of  the  globe.  The 
germ  of  that  great  movement  was  in  what  was  termed  the  "  Holy 
Club  "  in  the  University  of  Oxford.  It  was  simply  a  meeting  of  a  few 
tutors  and  students,  who  examined  carefully  and  critically  the  New 
Testament  in  Greek,  and  who  resolved  to  practise  implicitlj'  its  Divine 
commands.  Among  them  there  was  neither  fanaticism  nor  enthusiasm, 
neither  excitement  nor  deep  emotion.  They  invoked  God's  blessing 
upon  their  jjursuits,  and  jirayed  for  Divine  light  and  guidance.  They 
firmly  believed  that  the  Bible  was  the  word  of  God,  and  they  studied 
its  meaning  thoroughly,  that  they  might  be  able  more  intelligently  and 
more  perfectly  to  obey.  Tauglit  by  that  Word,  they  visited  "  the 
fatherless  and  the  widow  in  their  afiiiction,  and  kept  themselves 
unspotted  from  the  world."  They  were  good  students,  obedient  to  the 
rules  of  the  University,  faithful  to  their  Church  duties,  and  just  and 
honourable  in  all  their  relations.  Believing  it  to  be  their  duty  to 
redeem  the  time  because  it  was  precious,  they  practised  great  regu- 
larity, shunned  all  revelry  as  well  as  amusements,  avoided  injurious 
company,  and  gave  all  their  spare  moments  to  works  of  charity  and 
benevolence.  They  visited  and  instructed  the  sick  and  the  poor,  and 
helped  them  as  far  as  their  scanty  means  would  allow.  They  visited 
the  gaols,  and  read  to  the  prisoners  the  Word  of  God,  giving  also  words 
of  encouragement  and  admonition.  They  lived  as  seeing  Him  who  is 
invisible,  and  sought  to  follow  the  footsteps  of  their  Divine  Master. 
Eeproved  or  ridiculed,  they  referred  not  to  the  customs  of  society,  but 
appealed  directly  to  the  Holy  Scriptures.  For  this  devotion  they  were 
named  by  their  fellow-students  "  Bible  moths  "  and  "  Bible  bigots," 
and  then  the  "  Holy  Club ;  "  subsequently  they  were  termed 
Methodists.  Such  was  the  only  Methodism  in  the  world  one  hundred 
and  fifty  years  ago — a  half-dozen  students  and  tutors  in  the  University 
studying  the  Word  of  God  critically,  believing  it  implicitly,  and 
obeying  it  practically  in  every  possible  form  of  doing  good.  This  was 
old-fashioned  Methodisin.  Could  such  a  spirit  return  to  our  colleges 
and  universities,  were  all  the  professors  and  students  of  like  mind, 
what  "  spirit  and  life "  would  soon  be  manifested  in  all  our  ranks. 
What  a  host  'of  "  burning  and  shining  lights "  would  soon  honour 
our  age. 

Yet  with  all  these  excellencies  they  had  not  yet  attained  a  full 
Christian  experience.  They  had  read,  "  Being  justified  by  faith  we 
have  peace  with  God."  They  had  read,  "  The  Spirit  itself  beareth 
witness  with  our  spirit  that  we  are  the  children  of  God."  And  again, 
"  He  that  believeth  on  the  Son  of  God  hath  the  witness  in  himself." 
They  had  read  that  "  Perfect  love  casteth  out  fear,"  but  they  fancied 
that  these  "  exceeding  great  and  precious  promises  "  could  not  in  their 
fulness  be  enjoyed  until  the  hour  of  death  or  shortly  before.     Subse- 


10  OPENING   SERVICES. 

quently  Mr.  Wesley  became  associated  with  some  Moravians  who 
professed  to  enjoy  such  a  blessed  experience.  He  listened  to  their 
words,  observed  closely  their  sjjirit  and  conduct,  and  became  fully 
convinced  of  their  sincerity  and  consistency.  In  a  frightful  tempest  he 
found  them — men,  women,  and  children — calmly  singing  hymns  in  the 
face  of  ajiparent  death.  Their  testimony  coincided  with  the  Word  of 
God,  and  he  rested  not  until  he  was  made  "  partaker  of  a  like  precious 
faith."  In  the  circumstances  connected  with  his  experience  we  have 
an  illustration  of  the  life  which  abides  in  the  Divine  Word.  Six 
hundred  years  before  Christ  the  prophet  Habakkuk  had  written,  "The 
just  shall  live  by  his  faith."  The  apostle  Paul  felt  the  power  of  the 
vitterance,  and  quoted  it  in  his  Epistle  to  the  Komans,  as  well  as  in 
those  to  the  Galatians  and  the  Hebrews,  and  he  forcibly  illustrated  the 
power  of  that  faith.  Nearly  fifteen  centuries  passed  whenv  the  eye  of 
Luther  fell  upon  it  as  he  turned  the  pages  of  the  chained  Bible  in  his 
convent.  It  turned  the  monk  into  the  reforming  hero,  and  manfully 
did  he  battle  for  the  truth.  Two  centuries  more  had  passed,  when  one 
evening,  at  a  little  meeting- room  in  Aldersgate-street,  in  this  city,  one 
was  reading  Luther's  Preface  to  the,  Ephtle  to  the  Romans,  where  he 
"  teaches  what  faith  is,  and  that  faith  alone  justifies."  Mr.  Wesley 
listened,  and  he  records  :  "  I  felt  my  heart  strangely  warmed.  I  felt  I 
did  trust  in  Christ — Christ  alone — for  salvation  ;  and  an  assurance  was 
given  me  that  He  had  taken  away  my  sins,  even  mine,  and  saved  me 
from  the  law  of  sin  and  death  ;  and  I  then  testified  openly  to  all  there 
what  I  now  first  felt  in  my  heart."  Thus  from  century  to  century, 
from  Jerusalem  to  Erfurth,  and  from  Erfurth  to  London,  the  Word  of 
God  "  was  sj)irit  and  was  life."  Then  commenced  Wesley's  life  of 
joyous  and  triumphant  faith.  His  ministry  assumed  a  new  phase. 
Having  read  that  "  Jesus  Christ,  by  the  grace  of  God,  tasted  death  for 
every  man,"  and  that  the  blood  of  "  Christ  cleanseth  from  all  un- 
righteousness," he  became  the  earnest  and  unwearied  herald  of  a  free 
and  full  salvation.  With  a  full  heart  he  offered  the  blessings  of  the 
Gospel  then  and  there  to  waiting  congregations.  Multitudes  flocked 
to  his  ministry,  for  he  seemed  to  them  as  a  messenger  from  another 
world.  Soon  the  churches  of  the  City  were  closed  against  him,  the 
clergy  denounced  him  from  their  pulpits,  and  the  bishops  admonished 
him  ;  but  his  simple  appeal  was  to  the  Word  of  God.  As  Luther  at  the 
Diet  of  AVorms,  facing  the  powers  of  the  world,  stood  with  the  Bible 
before  him,  and,  closing  his  defence,  said  in  his  strong  German,  "  Ich 
kann  nicht  anders,  Gott  hilf  mir,"  so  stood  Wesley.  He  could  do  no 
more,  and  he  cried  "  God  help  me  !  "  As  God  helped  Luther  to  shake 
the  power  of  the  Vatican,  He  helped  Wesley  to  arouse  a  slumbering 
world.  Though  abused  by  the  Press,  though  derided  in  books  and 
pamphlets,  though  caricatured  on  the  stage  and  by  the  pencil,  though 
persecuted  and  his  life  endangered  by  mobs,  some  of  which,  we  are 
sorry  to  say,   were  headed  by  priests,  who   were  never  rebuked  or 


BISHOP  Simpson's  sermon.  11 

censured  by  their  bishops,  he  kept  on  his  way  rejoicing.  His  joyous 
experience  never  turned  him  from  his  studies,  or  from  his  i:)lans  of 
almost  boundless  benevolence.  He  still  visited  prisoners  in  Newgate 
and  elsewhere,  and  i^reached  to  them  both  the  terrors  of  the  law  and 
the  promises  of  the  Gospel.  He  accompanied  penitent  malefactors  to 
the  gallows,  administering  consolation';  and  many  a  jirisoner  detained 
for  paltry  debts  he  liberated  by  his  own  means,  or  by  donations  from 
friends.  He  organised  schools  for  the  poor,  and  enlisted  the  voluntary 
services  of  young  men  and  young  women  in  their  behalf.  He  started 
in  connection  with  the  Old  Foundry  a  Dispensary,  the  first  in  the  City 
of  London,  and  some  say  the  first  in  tlie  world.  His  soul  burned  with 
missionary  fire,  and,  proclaiming  tliat  the  world  was  his  parish,  he  sent 
missionaries  as  far  as  he  was  able  to  every  oi)en  tloor.  He  wrote  and 
published  tracts,  and  helj)ed  to  form  one  of  the  first  Tract  Societies 
ever  organised.  Immediately  after  Dr.  Franklin  published  his  ex- 
periments with  electricity  he  placed  electrical  machines  in  several 
localities,  that  the  poor  might  obtain  relief  from  nervous  diseases,  and 
with  almost  prophetic  words  wrote  :  "  What  an  amazing  scene  is  here 
opened,  for  after  ages  to  improve  upon !  "  In  short,  he  had  taken 
Christ  alone  for  his  great  exemplar,  and  he  went  about  always  doing 
good.  A  hundred  years  have  passed.  His  traducers  sleep  and  are 
almost  forgotten.  But  Wesley  lives  !  Philosophers,  statesmen,  and 
historians  honour  his  name.  His  tablet  is  among  the  men  of  might  in 
Westminster  Abbey,  and  his  spii'itual  children,  in  all  parts  of  the 
world,  rise  up  to  call  him  blessed. 

Individual  life  is  at  longest  but  brief.  Organisation  is  required  that 
the  manifestations  of  life  may  continue,  and  that  organisation  will 
be  most  successful  which  gives  the  fullest  spope  to  the  animating  spirit. 
The  strong  features  of  Methodism,  as  we  have  seen,  were  Bible  study, 
Bible  experience,  and  Christian  activity.  To  promote  these  we  find 
several  jjrovisions  which  are  specially  serviceable,  among  which  two 
may  be  mentioned. 

I.  Lay  preaching  was  one  of  the  first  and  most  successful  of  its 
peculiarities.  At  its  origination  it  was  thought  almost  profane  for  one 
not  episcojpaUy,  or  at  least  clerically,  ordaijied  to  exhort  his  fellow-men. 
The  minister  alone  led  the  prayer-meeting  or  ofiiciated  in  the  pulpit. 
By  the  employment  of  lay  preachers  a  class  of  men  was  called  into 
active  labour  who  had  not  enjoyed  University  or  theological  training. 
Some  of  them  became  diligent  and  successful  students.  Mr.  Wesley 
termed  Thomas  Walsh  the  best  Hebraist  he  ever  knew,  and  says,  "  I 
never  asked  him  the  meaning  of  a  Hebrew  word  but  he  could  tell  me 
how  often  it  occurred  in  the  Bible,  and  what  it  meant  in  each  place." 
The  fame  of  Dr.  Adam  Clarke  became  world-wide.  These,  however, 
were  rare  exceptions  even  among  those  who  devoted  their  whole  time 
to  the  ministry.  The  gi-eat  majority  of  kiy  preachers  worked  for  their 
daily  bread,  and  were  moved  by  a  powerful  impulse  to  preach  without 


12  OPENING   SERVICES. 

salary  or  reward.  Some  of  them  had  few  books  besides  the  Bible,  and 
they  always  appealed  directly  to  it.  All  of  them  were  Bible  students. 
They  had  no  doubts  as  to  its  inspiration.  They  were  not  troubled  as 
to  what  sceptics  did  say  or  might  say.  They  listened  only  for  Christ's 
voice,  and  their  message  to  men  was,  "  Thus  saith  the  Lord."  To 
them  the  Gospel  was  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation,  and  they 
believed  that  Divine  power  always  accompanied  the  Word.  They  read 
and  believed  the  declaration,  "  For  as  the  rain  cometh  down,  and  the 
snow  from  heaven,  and  returneth  not  thither,  but  watereth  the  earth, 
and  maketh  it  to  bring  forth  and  bud,  that  it  may  give  seed  to  the 
sower  and  bread  to  th^e  eater ;  so  shall  My  Word  be  that  goeth  fortti 
out  of  My  mouth  :  it  shall  not  return  unto  Me  void,  but  it  shall  ac- 
complish that  which  I  please,  and  x^rosiier  in  the  thing  whereto  I  sent 
it."  Their  faith  was  frequently  sublime.  Yv^ithout  friends,  without 
supiiort,  tliey  went  to  the  collieries  and  to  the  commons  and  to  the 
outcasts  of  cities,  and,  in  spite  of  interrui)tions  and  mobs,  preached  the 
unsearchable  riches  of  Christ  to  multitudes  who  seldom,  if  ever,  had 
entered  a  sanctuary.  Probably  no  class  of  ministers  since  the  aijosfcolic 
times  had  more  implicit  faith  in  the  i)ower  of  the  Gospel  apj)lied  to  the 
human  conscience.  They  expected  awakenings'or  conversions  under 
every  sermon,  and  they  were  seldom  disappointed.  To  fit  themselves 
for  this  work  they  read  the  Bible  daily,  thoroughly,  and  many  of  them 
on  their  knees,  imploring  Divine  hght.  To  help  them,  Mr.  Wesley 
pubhshed  outline  grammars  of  Greek  and  Hebrew,  and  his  Notes  on 
the  New  Testament ;  but  his  emphatic  injunction  was,  "  Have  a  Bible 
always  about  you."  As  these  men  were  of  the  masses,  their  spirit 
spread  to  those  around  them,  and  hence  promoted  Bible  study. 

n.  The  institution  of  classes  and  class-meetings  led  in  the  same 
direction.  One  of  every  twelve  members  of  the  societies  was  a];)pointed 
a  class-leader.  It  became  his  duty  to  converse  carefully  with  each 
member  of  his  class,  and  to  give  such  direction,  warning,  rei^roof,  or 
encouragement  as  he  might  deem  beneficial.  To  do  this  successfully, 
he  must  study  the  Scriptures,  and  the  early  class-leaders  were  remark- 
ably apt  in  quotations  from  the  Psalms  and  from  the  Apostles'  writings 
as  to  Christian  experience.  In  their  meetings  the  leader  not  unfre- 
queutly  called  other  members  to  assist  him  or  to  take  his  place ;  and 
all  the  members,  in  their  utterances  of  experience,  resorted  to  Biblical 
expressions  to  indicate  their  spiritual  condition.  Each  member  was 
not  only  exhorted,  but  was  stimulated  by  the  spiritual  triumphs  of 
others  to  seek  the  highest  privileges  of  true  believers.  In  these  meet- 
ings women  took  equal  part  with  men,  and  were  prepared  to  speak  in 
love-feasts,  and  to  take  part  in  social  prayer.  The  Methodist  mothers 
of  early  times  frequently  led  in  family  jn-ayer.  Many  a  wife  pleaded 
for  the  conversion  of  her  irreligious  husband,  and  many  a  pious  widow 
at  the  family  altar  consecrated  her  fatherless  children.  Some  of  us 
can  still  hear  a  mother's  voice  ringing  in  our  ears,  as  when  wit'i  tearful 


BISHOP  Simpson's  sermon.  13 

eye  she  pleaded  with  God  in  our  behalf.  In  some  instances  women 
were  class-leaders,  and  a  few  officiated  more  publicly.  Among  the  com- 
pany of  sainted  women  how  brightly  shine  the  names  of  Mrs.  Fletcher, 
Hester  Ann  Rogers,  and  Lady  Maxwell. 

The  opposition  which  Methodism  encountered  almost  compelled  its 
early  members  to  study  the  Bil)le  in  self-defence.  Their  doctrines 
were  everywhere  assailed.  Antinomianism  had  taken  possession  of  a 
large  i)roportion  of  the  pulpits  and  of  the  public  mind,  and  its  votaries 
opposed  with  great  earnestness  the  doctrines  of  a  free  and  full  salva- 
tion. The  Methodists,  believing  in  the  possible  salvation  of  all  men, 
and  further  believing  that  each  one  was  responsible  for  all  the  talents 
and  opportunities  bestowed,  felt  constrained  by  the  love  of  Christ  to 
make  j)ersonal  efforts  in  behalf  of  a  perishing  world. 

Of  the  success  of  Methodism  I  do  not  wish  to  speak  in  detail.  That 
will  be  better  done  by  others  during  the  progress  of  our  Conference. 
That  we  are  here  to-day  is  evidence  of  our  success.  We  have  come 
from  every  quarter  of  the  globe,  and  from  distant  islands  of  the  sea. 
The  Gosjpel  is  preached  by  the  sons  of  Wesl^  in  more  than  thirty 
different  languages.  The  common  people  have  heard  them  gladly,  and 
have  gathered  into  its  sanctuaries.  They  have  published  books  and 
tracts,  founded  schools,  and  are  establishing  hospitals  for  the  sick,  and 
homes  for  the  aged  and  the  orphan.  Beginning  among  the  poor  and 
unknown,  whose  hearts  have  been  strangely  warmed,  they  have  risen, 
as  heated  air  always  rises,  and  are  touching  here  and  there  the  wise 
and  great  and  strong,  though  its  triumphs  are  still  largely  among  the 
masses.  Leaving  the  land  of  its  earliest  triumphs,  it  has  reached  the 
heathen  in  his  abodes  of  darkness,  encountered  the  Mohammedan  in 
his  bigotry  and  fierceness,  and  has  confronted  the  Romanist  under  the 
shadow  of  the  Vatican.  It  has  bravery  and  daring.  It  has  spirit  and 
life. 

How  has  this  success  been  gained,  if  not  by  the  spirit  and  life  which 
Christ  imparts  ?  Where  are  the  human  agencies  adequate  for  such 
results  ? 

I.  It  has  not  made  its  conquests  by  the  sword,  or  by  the  employment 
of  force.  Mohammedanism  overran  Western  Asia,  Northern  Africa, 
and  parts  of  Europe,  by  their  enthusiastic  armies.  They  conquered 
by  force,  and  to-day  it  holds  its  votaries  chiefly  by  repressing  free 
utterances  and  action.  Romanism  regained  full  control  of  Bohemia, 
parts  of  Bavaria,  France,  and  Belgium,  only  by  military  power  and  by 
terrible  cruelties.  The  massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew,  the  ashes  of 
Huss,  and  the  thousands  murdered  by  the  Duke  of  Alva,  bear  fearful 
testimony.  But  Methodism  has  never  wielded  a  sword.  It  has  had 
no  prisons  ;  it  has  never  even  cut  off  an  ear  in  self-defence. 

II.  It  has  not  grown  by  Government  favour  or  patronage.  From  its 
origin  to  this  day,  it  has  not  in  any  civilised  land  eujoyed  the  smiles  of 
royalty,  or  the'patronage  of  many  of  the  nobility.     It  has  had  but  few 


14  OPENING   SERVICES. 

powerful  friends  at  Court.  Nor  has  it  received  money  from  the  public 
treasury.  The  Romanists  and  the  Reformed  Churches  on  tlie  Con- 
tinent, the  Church  of  England,  the  Church  of  Scotland,  the  Romanists 
and  the  Presbyterians  in  Ireland,  have  fed  more  or  less  at  the  public 
treasury.  In  America,  in  early  times,  the  Episcopalians  and  the  Con- 
gregationalists  were  supported  partly  at  the  public  expense.  But  Me- 
thodism has  stood  alone,  unbefriended  by  the  Government,  and  unaided 
by  its  treasury.  Its  people  have  never  been  dependent,  and  hence 
have  acquired  self-reliance,  and  dare  to  express  their  opinions  in  the 
face  of  oi3i)osition.  They  have  passed  through  serious  convulsions  of 
government  without  harm,  for  they  had  no  power  or  place  to  lose. 
But,  though  ubaided  by  Governments,  they  have  ever  been  loyal.  No 
people  have  volunteered  more  freely  their  means,  or  consecrated  more 
promptly  their  lives,  in  their  country's  service.  They  have  borne  the 
burdens,  without  enjoying  the  patronage  to  any  great  extent. 

III.  Nor  did  they  own  large  landed  estates,  or  possess  great  wealth. 
In  other  years,  patents  were  granted  for  large  tracts  of  land,  which 
became  to  families,  antl  indirectly  to  Churches,  of  great  value.  The 
cases  of  William  Penn  and  Lord  Baltimore  may  be  cited  as  instances. 
But  Methodism  had  no  such  sources  of  wealth.  Its  people  at  first 
were  poor  ;  they  had  no  estates  and  no  endowments. 

IV.  Nor  had  it  sj^ecial  assistance  from  Schools,  or  from  old  educa- 
tional institutions.  In  its  earlier  years  it  had  none.  Mr.  Wesley 
founded  and  struggled  for  years  to  maintain  the  Kingswood  school, 
which  has  had  a  proud  record,  and  has  accomplished  great  good.  But 
what  was  that  compared  with  the  venerable  colleges  and  rich  endow- 
ments in  England,  Scotland,  and  Ireland  ?  It  is  well  known  that  until 
comparatively  recently  Oxford  and  Cambridge  refused  their  honours 
without  subscription  to  the  Thirty-nine  Articles ;  and  the  sons  of 
Methodism  who  sought  a  university  education  were  estranged  from 
the  faith  of  their  fathers.  In  America  the  literary  institutions  were 
under  the  control  of  some  of  the  older  churches,  and  while  no  religious 
test  was  legal,  the  whole  influence  was  thrown  against  Methodist 
theology  and  usages.  Some  of  us  well  remember  the  j)roscription  and 
ridicule  through  which  we  passed  on  account  of  our  faith.  At  last,  in 
self-defence,  Methodism  was  obliged  to  build  its  own  seminaries  and 
colleges.  But  what  an  unequal  struggle!  A  people  few  in  numbers, 
without  wealth,  to  come  into  competition  with  the  strength  and 
endowments  of  centuries  I  When  we  look  around  us  and  see  what 
has  been  accomplished  in  this  direction,  and  what  facilities  are  now 
afforded,  we  can  only  say,  What  hath  God  wrought ! 

V.  Nor  did  it  enjoy  the  powerful  advocacy  of  the  Press.  In  its  earlier 
years  it  was  fearfiJly  traduced  and  misrepresented,  and  to  this  day  it 
is  the  subject  of  unjust  and  merciless  criticism  from  old-established 
papers  and  reviews.  Nor  is  the  ink  scarcely  dry  upon  pages  prepared 
and  published  by  its  enemies  to  caricature  it,  in  view  of  this  fficumeni- 


BISHOP  Simpson's  sermon.  15 

cal  Session.  Bub  its  opponents  forget  that  it  has  stood  this  ordeal 
for  niore  than  a  hundred  years  without  serious  injury.  To  defend 
himself  and  his  cause,  as  well  as  to  furnish  religious  reading  for  his 
people,  Mr.  Weslej'  early  established  a  magazine,  which  still  lives. 
This  has  been  followed  by  papers  and  periodicals  in  many  countries 
and  languages,  until  it  may  be  boldly  said  that  the  press  of  Methodism 
is  not  surpassed  in  the  number  of  its  issues,  or  in  the  abilitj^  of  its 
management,  by  the  press  of  any  other  denomination.  Meanwhile  the 
general  Press  has  become  more  courteous,  and  we  have  little  of  which 
to  complain,  except  from  a  few  controlled  by  our  enemies. 

VI.  Nor  did  it  grow  because  the  times  were  propitious.  The  af^e  of 
its  origin  was  one  of  spiritual  darkness.  England  in  the  early  part 
of  the  eighteenth  century  had  largely  lapsed  into  infidelity.  Ministers 
even  in  the  pulpit  cast  doubts  upon  the  truth  of  the  Bible.  Some  of 
them,  by  their  lives  and  writings,  brought  discredit  on  the  sacred  desk. 
Immorality  was  rampant.  This  is  the  universal  testimony  of  divines, 
statesmen,  and  historians.  Had  it  not  been  for  some  such  movement 
as  that  of  the  Wesleys,  England  would  have  followed  France  in  her 
terrible  career.  I  heard  Cardinal  Manning,  in  his  sermon  on  the  anni- 
versary of  the  re-establishment  of  the  Roman  Catholic  hierarchy  in 
England,  say  that  had  it  not  been  for  John  Wesley  and  his  preaching 
of  justification  by  faith,  "  no  man  could  tell  to  what  a  depth  of 
degi-adation  England  would  have  sunk." 

VII.  It  may  be  said  that  the  unprecedented  growth  of  Methodism, 
especially  in  America  and  Australia,  is  due  largely  to  emigration  from 
older  lands.  It  undoubtedly  has  thus  received  many,  very  many, 
valuable  accessions,  but  its  relative  growth  cannot  be  traced  to  this 
cause.  The  heaviest  emigration  was  tor  many  years  from  Ireland. 
But  in  Ireland  there  is,  according  to  the  census,  but  one  Methodist  to 
every  100  of  the  population.  There  is  but  one  Methodist  to  ten 
Presbyterians.  If  the  emigration  is  relatively  equal,  other  Churches 
must  receive  99  for  every  one  that  swells  the  Methodist  ranks.  Still 
stronger  is  the  ratio  against  Methodism  on  the  Continent  and  in 
Scotland.  In  England  the  proportion  is  different,  but  the  Established 
Church  still  largely  outnumbers  them,  and,  consequently,  in  the 
emigration  the  Protestant  Episcopalians  are  largely  the  gainers. 

If,  then,  its  growth  cannot  be  accounted  for  by  the  sword,  by 
Government  aid,  by  the  patronage  of  the  nobility,  by  wealth,  by  the 
schools,  by  the  Press,  by  emigration,  or  by  the  demands  of  the  age, 
where  among  human  agencies  do  we  find  the  cause  ?  Was  it  by  the 
superior  wisdom  and  skill  of  those  who  laid  its  foundations  and 
planned  its  superstructure  ?  Our  critical  friends  will  scarcely  admit 
that.  Was  it  by  the  superior  learning  or  eloquence  of  its 
ministry  ?  That  will  scarcely  be  granted.  Was  it  by  social 
position  and  influence  ?  That  would  be  denied.  Was  it  bj'  the 
assumption   of   exclusive    powers    or   pri\aleges  ?     It  never  claimed 


16  OPENTNa   SERVICES. 

apostolic  succession.  It  had  no  close  communion.  From  its  earliest 
history  it  recognised  as  Christians  all  who  loved  and  honoured  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Neither  its  altars  nor  its  pulpits  have  ever  been 
closed  against  Christians  or  Christian  ministers  by  canons  either 
of  brass  or  of  parchment.  Where,  then,  can  be  the  secret  of  its 
success,  save  in  its  spirit  and  in  its  life  ?  Its  ministers  felt  the  power 
of  a  Divine  call.  Like  the  Apostle,  woe  was  upon  them  if  they 
preached  not  the  Gospel.  They  braved  winter's  cold  and  summer's 
heat,  swam  streams  and  threaded  forests,  endured  persecution  and 
reproach,  to  save  their  fellow-men.  The  people  recognised  their 
earnestness  and  sincerity,  believed  that  they  were  sent  of  God, 
listened  to  their  words,  and  were  saved.  Thus  societies  were  gathered 
without  church  edifices  and  without  regular  pastors.  They  met 
together  for  singing,  prayer,  and  mutual  exhortation,  until  increasing 
numbers  and  means  enabled  them  to  erect  an  humble  building  and  to 
establish  a  congregation.  They  grew  because  there  was  unoccupied 
territory.  They  grew  because  the  Head  of  the  Church  had  given  to 
them  ' '  spirit  and  life." 

There  are  those,  however,  who  disparage  Methodism  because  it  has 
had  divisions,  and  they  predict  its  early  disintegration.  For  the  same 
reason  Christianity  itself  might  be  disparaged.  The  learned  and 
eloquent  Bossuet  wrote  a  work  against  Protestantism  on  account  of  its 
variations — -showing  its  weakness ;  but,  nevertheless,  in  the  last 
century,  its  progress  has  been  more  rapid  than  ever  before.  I  am  not 
sure  that  these  divisions  are  an  unmixed  evil.  They  seem  to  me  to 
have  compensations  also.  With  the  different  tastes  and  habits  of  men, 
I  fancy  that,  through  churches  somewhat  differently  organised,  and 
with  different  usages,  more  minds  may  be  won  for  Christ.  Certainly 
we  m  ly  be  provoked  even  to  love  and  good  works.  It  seems  also  to 
me  that  as  God  has  showed  us  physical  life  in  almost  every  possible 
foi'm.  He  means  that  we  shall  understand  that  Christian  life  may  exist 
and  flourish  in  different  organisations  and  usages.  He  would  show  us 
that  there  is  no  sacredness  in  mere  ecclesiasticism.  Organisation  has 
its  value,  and  every  member  of  each  church  should  be  true  to  his 
association  ;  yet  the  organisation  is  only  the  temple  in  which  the  life 
dwells.  The  organisation  is  of  man.  The  life  is  of  Christ.  Were 
there  but  one  organisation  with  certain  usages  that  prospered,  we 
should  think  its  forms  and  usages  were  in  themselves  sacred,  we  should 
grow  narrow  and  bigoted.  Our  Church  would  be  the  Church,  and  all 
others  would  be  schismatics.  But  when  we  see  life  in  other  churches, 
we  learn  that  the  God  of  the  Jew  is  the  God  of  the  Gentile  also.  We 
recognise  a  brother  beloved  in  every  member  of  the  family,  and  praise 
God  for  the  infinitude  of  His  grace.  Quite  possibly,  also,  in  these 
separate  organisations  a  little  more  flexibility  may  be  gained,  and, 
while  holding  fast  to  the  Great  |^ead  of  the  Church,  and  contending 
earnestly  for  the  faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints,  we  may  learn  from 


BISHOP   SIMPSON'S   SERMON.  17 

each  other  something  that  may  help  us  in  conquering  the  world  for 
Christ. 

As  to  the  divisions  in  the  Methodist  family,  there  is  little  to  mar  the 
family  likeness.  For,  first,  there  has  been  among  the  Wesleyan  ranks 
no  division  as  to  doctrines.  The  clear  statements  in  Mr.  Wesley's 
sermons,  and  the  doctrinal  character  of  the  hymns  constantly  sung, 
have  aided  in  keeping  us  one.  All  over  the  world  Methodist  theology 
is  a  unit.  Nor,  secondly,  is  there  any  radical  difference  in  usages 
The  class-meeting,  the  prayer -meeting,  the  love-feast,  the  watch-night, 
though  more  or  less  strictly  observed,  are  known  everywhere  in 
Methodism.  So  far  as  the  membership  is  concerned,  there  is  scarcely 
a  single  difference.  Even  in  the  Couuexional  bonds  there  is  general 
likeness.  The  itinerant  ministry,  and  the  quarterly  and  annual 
conferences,  exist  in  almost  every  branch.  In  the  manner  of  legislation, 
and  in  the  mode  of  effecting  ruinisterial  changes,  there  are  some 
.  differences  ;  but  the  points  of  agreement  are  so  numerous  as  compared 
with  the  differences  that  we  are  emphatically  one.  We  have  no  divi- 
sions as  to  vestments,  and  candles,  and  genuflections.  We  have  no 
High  Church,  or  Low  Church,  or  Broad  Church. 

Differ  as  we  may,  there  is  something  in  all  of  us  which  the  world 
recognises.  Does  a  minister  preach  with  unusual  fervour,  does  he  in 
all  his  duties  exhibit  unusual  zeal  ?  Does  not  the  world  say,  He 
preaches  like  a  Methodist  ?  Does  a  congregation  meet,  and  sing,  and 
pray,  and  rejoice  ?  Does  not  the  world  say.  They  are  like  Methodists  ? 
This  Conference  evinces  a  jj^earning  for  closer  union,  for  more  fraternal 
feeling.  It  is  in  the  si^irit  of  Mr.  Wesley,  who  sought  a  closer  union 
among  all  Christians.  His  societies  were  at  first  independent.  When 
by  the  formation  of  a  Conference  they  were  united  he  greatly  rejoiced. 
Not  only  so,  but  wrote  in  1764,  "  I  have  long  desired  that  there  might 
be  an  open,  avowed  union  between  all  who  preach  those  fundamental 
truths — original  sin,  and  justification  by  faith,  producing  inward  and 
outward  holiness ;  but  all  my  endeavours  have  been  hitherto  ineffec- 
tual. God's  time  has  not  fully  come."  Again  he  wrote,  "I  do  not 
desire  a  union  of  opinion  among  them.  They  might  agree  or  disagree 
touching  absolute  decrees  on  the  one  hand,  and  perfection  on  the 
other.  Not  a  union  in  expression.  These  may  still  speak  of  imputed 
righteousness,  and  those  of  the  merits  of  Christ.  Not  a  union  with 
regard  to  outward  order.  Some  may  remain  still  quite  regular,  some 
quite  irregular,  and  some  partly  regular  and  partly  irregular."  Again 
he  -wrote,  "  I  ask  but  one  thing,  '  Is  thy  heart  right  as  my  heart  is  with 
thine?'  If  it  be  so,  give  rae  thy  hand."  His  great  heart  was  a 
hundred  years  in  advance  of  the  Christian  world.  Recently  we 
have  seen  a  Pan-Anglican  Congress,  a  Pan-Presbyterian  Council,  and 
now  a  Methodist  CEcumenical  Conference.  Do  not  these  foreshadow 
an  Gilcumeuical  Protestant  Conference,  when  Mr.  Wesley's  hope  shall 
be  reali.^ed,  and  the  world  shall  see  that  evangelical  Christians  are 

C 


18  OPENING   SERVICES. 

one  in  heart  and  one  in  effort  ?  Certain  I  am  that  there  will  be  an 
CEcumenical  Conference,  if  not  on  earth,  at  least  in  heaven,  when  the 
good  and  the  wise  of  all  ages  and  of  all  churches  shall  meet  at  the 
Redeemer's  throne.  The  nearer  we  rise  toward  the  spirit  of  that 
heavenly  union,  the  closer  we  come  together  here. 

I  was  walking,  some  weeks  since,  in  a  beautiful  grove.  The  trees 
were  some  distance  apart,  and  the  trunks  were  straight  and  rugged. 
But  as  they  ascended  higher  the  branches  came  closer  together,  and 
still  higher  the  twigs  and  branches  interlaced  and  formed  a  beautiful 
canopy.  I  said  to  myself,  Our  churches  resemble  these  trees.  The 
trunks  near  the  earth  stand  stiffly  and  widely  apart.  The  more  nearly 
towards  heaven  they  ascend,  the  closer  and  closer  they  come  together, 
until  they  form  one  beautiful  canopy,  under  which  the  sons  of  men 
enjoy  both  shelter  and  happiness.  Then  I  thought  of  that  beautiful 
prayer  of  the  Saviour,  "  That  they  all  may  be  one,  that  the  world  may 
know  that  Thou  hast  sent  Me,  and  that  Thou  hast  loved  them  as  Thou 
hast  loved  Me."  In  loving  obedience  to  Christ's  commands,  and  in 
earnest  efforts  for  the  extension  of  His  kingdom  by  doing  good  to  men, 
is  true  oneness  with  Him  to  be  found.  Those  who  have  the  spirit  of 
Christ,  who  go  about  always  doing  good,  will  be  like-minded. 

The  future  of  Methodism,  if  I  have  rightly  traced  the  source  of  its 
power,  will  depend  upon  the  careful  study  of  God's  Word,  which  should 
be  still  more  encouraged  both  in  the  family  and  in  the  Sunday-school; 
upon  an  implicit  belief  in  its  Divine  authority,  a  loving  obedience  to  all 
its  commands,  a  ceaseless  activity  in  doing  good,  and  a  glorious  enjoy- 
ment of  all  its  precious  promises.  This  last  feature  is  essential  to 
great  success.  "The  joy  of  the  Lord  is  your  strength"  is  as  true 
to-day  as  in  the  time  of  Nehemiah.  The  cry  of  the  human  soul  in  its 
hours  of  weakness  and  loneliness  is  for  God.  "  Oh,  that  I  knew  where 
I  might  find  Him  "  is  but  an  echo  of  the  voice  of  humanity.  The 
Romanists  seek  to  satisfy  this  want  by  alleging  that  in  the  Mass  the 
wafer  is  actually  transmuted  into  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ,  and 
that  He  is  there  and  then  actually  present.  No  marvel  that  with  this 
belief  the  knee  is  bowed  at  the  elevation  of  the  host.  No  wonder  is  it 
that  the  priest  has  such  power  over  the  consciences  of  the  people. 
The  Rituahsts  in  the  Chui-ch  o*  England,  and  the  High  Church 
party  among  the  Lutherans,  tend  strongly  in  the  same  direction. 
The  doctrine  of  apostolical  succession  is  but  a  figment  invented 
to  require  a  priestly  intervention  between  the  soul  and  its  Redeemer. 
Methodism  rejects  all  these  doctrines  and  practices.  It  invites 
the  sinner  directly  to  the  Saviour,  and  assures  him  that  in  his  own 
conscious  experience  of  peace  and  love  and  joy  he  shall  know 
that  he  is  accepted  in  Christ.  There  are  but  the  two  ultimate 
theories.  The  sinner  must  come  to  Christ  through  the  priest,  who 
holds  the  keys,  or  he  must  come  personally  to  the  throne  of  grace, 
where  he  shall  find  grace  and  mercy  to  help  in  time  of  need.    He 


BISHOP   SIMPSON'S   SEEMON.  19 

mnst  receive  absolution  from  the  priest,  or  must  have  the  conscious 
forgiveness  of  sins  through  the  Holy  Spirit.  Those  who  have  found 
Christ,  "  the  way,  the  truth,  and  the  hfe,"  and  who  have  obtained 
"peace  and  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost,"  should  give  decided  testimony: 
"  Ye  are  my  witnesses,  saith  the  Lord."  If  Mr.  Wesley  was  led  to 
Christian  assurance  in  part  by  the  testimony  of  others,  how  much 
more  do  men  generally  need  this  testimony  i  Where  sinners  are 
awakened,  converted,  and  reformed,  where  the  Church  is  joyful  in 
God,  men  feel  that  God  is  of  a  truth  in  their  midst,  and  they  come 
unto  Him  through  the  one  and  only  Mediator. 

The  j)erils  of  Methodism  will  lie  in  a  neglect  or  doubt  of  the  Word 
of  God,  in  a  low  experience,  or  in  carelessness  for  the  souls  of  those 
around  us. 

How  interesting  are  the  circumstances  under  which  we  have  met 
to-daj'  I  We  are  in  a  building  planned  by  Mr.  Wesley  and  erected 
through  his  own  efforts.  In  this  pulpit  he  frequently  preached. 
Beside  us  reposes  his  dust.  We  are  in  the  city  traversed  by  his  feet, 
on  the  commons  of  which  he  preached  to  vast  multitudes  when  the 
churches  were  closed  against  him.  We,  his  sons,  have  gathered,  not 
from  England  merely,  but  from  all  parts  of  the  world.  We  are  here, 
not  to  legislate,  not  to  establish  any  new  doctrine  or  to  enact  any 
ecclesiastical  canon ;  we  come  not  by  authority,  not  to  seek  for  our- 
selves position  or  place ;  but  we  have  come  moved  by  the  spirit  of  love 
for  each  other,  to  join  hands,  to  look  in  each  other's  eyes,  to  report 
progress,  and  to  exchange  fraternal  views.  A  few  days  will  we  be 
in  session,  and  then  away  to  different  parts  of  Mr.  Wesley's  great 
parish — the  world.  Could  Mr.  Wesley  witness  such  an  assembly, 
convened  in  his  own  spirit,  composed  of  his  own  spiritual  sons,  would 
not  his  heart  leap  for  joy  ?  Are  we  sure  he  is  not  here  ?  Can  we  not 
almost  see  that  face  of  purity  and  love  ?  Can  we  not  almost  hear  that 
voice  to  which  thousands  listened  ?  Is  he  not  a  part  of  that  glorious 
cloud  of  witnesses  by  whom  we  are  even  now  encompassed?  Our 
elder  brothers  Fletcher  and  Benson,  Clarke  and  Watson,  who  preached 
in  this  puliDit,  are  they  not  here  also  ?  What  a  host  has  ascended 
heavenward  I  Some  have  long  since  joined  the  celestial  company, 
others,  among  whom  we  mourn  our  beloved  and  honoured  Punshon, 
have  scarcely  entered  within  the  gates.  As  I  look  upward  at  the 
glorious  train,  my  heart  exclaims,  "  My  fathers,  my  fathers,  the  chariot 
of  Israel  and  the  horsemen  thereof."  May  a  double  portion  of  their 
spirit  be  upon  us  I 

Brothers,  let  us  here  renew  our  vows  of  allegiance  to  Christ,  and  of 
increased  fideUty  to  His  cause.  When  we  go  forth  from  this  place,  may 
it  be  to  carry  with  us  more  of  the  Spirit  of  the  Head  of  the  Church. 
We  honour  the  name  of  Wesley,  but  we  call  no  man  Master  save 
Christ  Jesus  the  Lord.  His  words  alone  let  us  preach  to  dying  men. 
We  have  no  fears  for  the  Bible  nor  for  the  assaults  of  infidehty.     God's 

C  2 


20  OPENING  SERVICES. 

Word  by  its  own  spirit  and  life  commends  itself  to  the  consciences  of 
men.  Our  work  may  lie  far  apart ;  we  may  scarcely  see  in  this  life 
what  we  accomplish,  but  in  the  coming  eternity  we  shall  discern  that 
we  were  fellow-workmen  in  one  great  work.  It  is  said  that  in  the 
manufacture  of  Gobelin  tapestry  the  workman  sits  at  the  back  of  the 
material,  and  does  not  see  the  figures  which  he  is  making,  nor  can 
he  conceive  how  his  small  corner  may  be  connected  with  the  rest.  He 
must  implicitly  follow  the  directions  before  him  ;  a  single  error  on  his 
part  will  mar  the  beauty  of  the  work.  Brothers,  so  we  work.  We  sit 
on  the  earthly  side  of  the  fabric, — the  beautiful  side  is  turned  towards 
heaven.  We  see  not  fully  our  own  work,  but  there  are  eyes  that  every 
moment  behold  the  pictures  which  we  form  ;  and  in  the  day  of  eternity 
we  shall  see  as  we  are  seen.  Let  us  follow  the  pattern,  and  do  glorious 
work  for  Christ.  Then  when  heart  and  flesh  shall  fail,  we  shall  be 
able  to  say  with  the  dying  Wesley,  "  The  best  of  all  is,  God  is 
with  us." 

At  the  close  of  the  sermon  the  Lord's  Supper  was  administered 
to  the  Members  of  the  Conference.  The  following  ministers 
officiated  :  Eev.  Dr.  Osborn,  President,  and  the  Revs.  Dr.  Rigg 
and  E.  E.  Jenkins,  MA.,  of  the  British  Wesleyan  Conference; 
Revs.  Bishops  Jesse  T.  Peck,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  and  H.  W.  Warren 
D.D.,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church;  Rev.  Bishop  H.  N. 
M'Tyeire,  D.D.,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South ;  and 
Rev.  Bishop  Daniel  A.  Payne,  D.D.,  of  the  Africau  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church. 


BUSINESS   REPORT.  21 

In  the  Afternoon  the  Conference  reassembled  at  Three  o'clock. 
The  Eev.  Dr.  Osborn,  President  of  the  British  Wesleyan  Con 
ference,  presided.  The  proceedings  commenced  with  the  singing 
of  hymn  526,  after  which  portions  of  the  11th  and  12th  chapters 
of  Isaiah  were  read  by  the  Rev.  K.  N.  Young,  Secretary  of  the 
British  Wesleyan  Conference.  The  Rev.  E.  E.  Jenkins,  M.A., 
oftered  prayer. 

The  Rev.  John  Bond,  Secretary  to  the  Eastern  Section  of  the 
General  Executive  Committee,  then  called  the  Roll  of  the  Members 
of  the  Conference. 

Mr.  Bond  read  the  following  Report  from  the  Business  Com- 
mittee : — 

I.  •'  That  the  Rev.  E.  E.  Jenkins,  M.A.,  be  the  permanent 
Chairman  of  the  Business  Committee ;  the  Rev.  John  Bond  the 
Secretary." 

II.  "  That  the  Rev.  John  Bond  (Wesleyan)  be  one  of  the 
Secretaries  of  the  Conference." 

III.  "  That  the  Rev.  J.  S.  Withington  (United  Free  Churches) 
be  the  Second  Secretary." 

IV.  "  That  the  Rev.  A.  C.  George,  D.D.  (Methodist  Episcopal), 
be  the  Third  Secretary." 

V.  "That  the  Rev.  S.  B.  Southerland,  D.D.  (Methodist 
Protestant),  be  the  Fourth  Secretary." 

VI.  "  That  as  early  as  possible  after  the  opening  of  the  Con- 
ference a  resolution  be  introduced  expressing  the  sympathy  of 
the  Conference  with  General  Garfield  and  Mrs.  Garfield  in  their 
terrible  trouble." 

On  motion,  the  above  recommendations  were  agreed  to. 

The  Rev.  J.  Bond  stated  that  it  had  been  resolved  to  hold  meet- 
ings in  Exeter  Hall  next  Monday,  Tuesday,  and  Wednesday  even- 
ings, the  first  to  be  addressed  on  Methodist  Work  on  the  Continent  of 
America ;  the  second  on  Methodist  Work  in  India,  China,  and  Japan  ; 
and  the  third  on  Methodism  in  Australia  and  Australian  Missions. 

The  President,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Osborn,  then  said  : — Dear  and  honoured 
Fathers  and  Brethren, — When  I  was  admitted  into  fuU  connexion  with 
the  British  Conference,  there  was  put  into  my  hands,  by  John  Wesley's 
direction,  a  little  book,  and  in  that  little  book  tliere  were  twelve  rules, 
which  I  was  told  I  would  be  expected  to  observe,  and  should  not  be 
entitled  to  be  recognised  as  a  Methodist  preacher  any  longer  than  I  did 


22  OPENING   SERVICES. 

observe  them,  or  at  least  endeavoured  to  observe  them.  One  of  those 
rules  was  what  some  people  are  apt  to  think  very  despotic — "Act  in 
all  things,  not  according  to  your  own  will,  but  as  a  son  in  the  Gospel, 
and  do  that  work  which  we  appoint  at  such  times  and  places  as  we 
appoint."  Now,  it  is  just  in  obedience  to  that  rule  that  I  am  here  to- 
day. I  am  not  acting  according  to  my  own  will,  but  doing  the  work  I 
am  appointed  to  do  at  the  time  and  place  at  which  I  am  appointed. 
I  have  not  been  consulted  in  this  matter,  or,  if  I  had,  I  should  certainly 
have  endeavoured  to  have  had  this  duty  devolved  upon  some  abler  and 
worthier  person.  But  I  have  been  ax^poiuted,  and  I  have  come  to  fulfil 
my  appointment,  and  to  express  to  you,  on  behalf  of  the  British  Con- 
ference, its  respectful  greetings  on  tliis  most  interesting  and  happy 
occasion— to  offer  fraternal  salutation  to  every  brother  and  father 
whose  name  is  on  this  list,  to  give  a  cordial  welcome  to  England,  to 
those  who  have  come  from  a  distance ;  to  London,  to  those  who  have 
come  from  the  provinces  ;  to  City  Road  Chapel,  to  one  and  all.  It  fills 
our  hearts  with  joy  to  see  you  here,  for  though  some  have  had  many 
fears  from  the  inception  of  this  business  up  to  this  morning  as  to  how 
far  the  de-sign  miglit  be  carried  out,  I  api^reheud  that  after  this  morn- 
ing there  is  no  fear  in  the  mind  of  any  brother -as  to  whether  this 
Conference  will  be  a  blessing  or  not.  Will  be  a  blessing  did  I  say  ?  It 
has  been  a  blessing!  It  is  a  blessing!  It  is  good  to  see  one  another, 
it  will  be  better  still  to  hear  one  another,  and  best  of  all  for  us 
to  unite  in  those  exercises  of  devotion  in  which  we  really  antici- 
pate our  final  and  everlasting  destiny.  "  "What  are  you  going  to  do  ?" 
I  have  been  asked  again  and  again.  "What  are  you  going  to  do?"  I 
have  said ;  "  What  do  they  do  in  heaven  ?  Sing  and  converse,  and  learn 
to  love  one  another."  I  suppose  I  must  not  put  in  "pray;"  but  we 
are  going  to  do  that  one  thing  at  least,  in  addition  to  what  we  shall  do 
in  heaven.  As  to  all  the  rest  it  will  be  heavenly  work.  "Is  it  a  do- 
nothing  Conference  ?  "  says  more  than  one  whom  I  have  had  the 
pleasure  of  speaking  to  with  reference  to  it.  "  To  bring  all  these 
persons  together  to  do  nothing  ?"  Well,  Jonathan  went  to  David  in 
the  wood,  and  strengthened  his  hands  in  God.  Was  that  to  do 
nothing  ?  And  where  would  David  have  been  if  his  hands  %ad  not 
been  strengthened  at  that  particular  time,  and  under  those  circum- 
stances ?  And  the  difference  will  be  that  what  he  did  by  stealth  we 
shall  do  openly  ;  what  he  did  at  great  peril  we  shall  do  in  perfect  ease 
and  comfort  and  liberty.  Blessed  be  God,  our  way  is  clear  to  spend 
some  days  together  in  holy  exercises,  in  improving  conversation,  in 
sacred  fellowship,  and  in  providing  means  for  increased  usefulness.  I 
was  dreadfully  afraid  yesterday  as  to  what  I  could  find  to  say  to-day  ; 
but  you,  being  all  Methodists,  I  do  not  know  that  I  need  scrui^le  to  tell 
you  a  little  ot  my  experience.  I  say  I  was  dreadfully  afraid  as  to 
whether  I  shou.id  find  anything  to  say,  but  the  Lord  delivered  me  from 
my  fears,  as  He  has  often  done  before,  by  means  of  a  woman.     "  Well," 


DR.  osborn's  address.  23 

she  said,  *'  I  do  not  know  what  else  it  can  be  but,  '  What  hath  God 
wrought?'"  "Very  well,"  I  said  to  myself.  "I  have  got  to  that 
already,  certainly  it  must  be  What  hath  God  wrought  ?  "  Then  she 
went  on  to  say,  "  And  what  He  will  do  if  we  do  not  hinder  Him." 
"  What  hath  God  wrought?"  That  was  John  Wesley's  text  when  he 
laid  the  foundation  of  this  chapel.  When  he  opened  this  chajjel  he 
preached  about  the  hundred  and  forty-four  thousand  standing  with 
the  Lamb  on  Mount  Zion.  I  was  curious  enough  to  ask  myself  how 
many  Methodists  there  were  in  the  world  at  that  time,  and  the  total 
number  including  America  was  a  little  more  than  44,000.  Here  is  a 
good  standi)oint  by  means  of  which  we  can  measure,  to  some  extent 
at  least,  what  God  has  wrought  for  us  and  by  us — 44,000  and  a 
few  more,  including  America — a  hundred  years  ago.  To-day  we 
speak  of  millions.  We  do  not  know  what  millions  are ;  very  few 
of  us  by  experience  and  observation  have  been  able  to  realise  the 
idea  of  a  million  ;  but  still  we  speak  of  millions,  and  we  do  not 
speak  without  book  when  we  speak  of  millions  gathered  at  this 
day,  by  our  humble  instrumentality  and  that  of  our  fathers,  to  our 
fellowship  and  training  under  our  care  for  the  best  of  all  fellowships  at 
the  right  hand  of  God.  We  speak  of  millions  !  the  little  one  has  indeed 
become  a  thousand,  and  the  small  one  a  strong  nation.  There  is  one 
before  me  whose  great  gi-eat-grandmother  is  said  to  have  been  the 
thirteenth  person  that  joined  John  Wesley's  societj'  in  1739,  and  I  trace 
the  succession  of  saints  in  that  particular  case  for  generations  from  that 
thirteenth  woman  down  to  the  millions  that  we  speak  of  to-day.  The 
membership  of  these  societies  may  be  said,  on  the  whole,  with  many 
deductions,  I  grant,  on  the  ground  of  hypocrisy,  and  more  deduc- 
tions still  on  the  ground  of  human  weakness  and  uncontrollable 
infirmity,  as  in  that  particular  instance  so  over  the  whole  surface 
to  which  my  remarks  apply, — the  membership  has  imj)lied  a  desire 
and  effort  to  flee  from  the  wrath  to  come  and  to  be  saved  from  sin. 
Here  are  the  blessed  words  1  Here  are  the  first  rules  of  the  Methodist 
Society  i:)ublished  hy  John  Wesley — a  precious  rag  it  is,  though  it  is 
only  a  rag  I  "  The  Nature,  Design,  and  Rules  of  the  United  Societies 
in  London,  Bristol,  Kingswood,  and  Newcastle-upon-Tyne.  Price  Id." 
Twelve  pages,  of  course.  And  the  peculiarity  of  the  document  is  that 
the  concluding  part  of  it  is  drawn  up  in  the  singular  number.  "  These 
are  the  general  rules  of  the  Society,  and  if  there  be  any  among  us  who 
observe  them  not  I  will  admonish,  I  will  bear  with  him."  Signed  by 
John  Wesley  only.  Two  months  afterwards  he  had  shown  it  to 
Charles,  so  the  Second  edition  bears  tlie  signature  of  those  blessed 
brothers,  John  Wesley  and  Charles  Wesley,  but  there  is  no  other 
variation  but  in  the  date.  John  Wesley  signed  on  February  23rd,  1743, 
and  Charles  and  John  together  on  the  1st  of  May,  1743.  Ever  since 
that  time  men  have  been  taught  to  flee  from  the  wi-ath  to  come, 
and  have  fled  from  it.     How  many  thousands  have  found  the  way  to 


24  OPENING  SERVICES. 

the  Celestial  City  through  this  Society  !  How  many  thousands  have 
been  delivered  from  the  terrors  of  a  guilty  conscience,  and  felt  assured 
of  their  free  and  full  pardon  through  the  blood  of  Jesus,  and  their  title 
to  eternal  life  through  their  Saviour's  righteousness  1  He  taught  us  to 
say,  and  to-day  with  much  joy  I  will  say — 

*•  Lift  your  eyes  of  faith  and  see 
Saints  and  angels  join  in  one, 
What  a  countless  company 
Stand  before  yon  dazzling  throne. 
Each  before  his  Saviour  stands, 
All  in  milk-white  robes  arrayed  ; 
Palms  they  carry  in  their  hands, 
Crowns  of  glory  on  their  head." 

And  how  many  of  you  will  recognise  in  that  countless  company  those 
who  were  dearest  to  you  ?  How  many  of  you,  fuU  of  holy  hope  and 
longing,  desire  to  join  them,  counting  the  time  long  till  your  summons 
comes  to  enter  into  the  joy  of  your  Lord  ?  "  What  hath  God 
wrought  ?  "  At  this  time  with  deeper  emphasis  you  say  it,  and  with  a 
deej)er  emphasis  still  it  shall  be  said  in  1981,  "  What  hath  God 
wrought  ? "  We  cannot  improve  upon  the  expression ;  we  will  not 
vary  it.  It  is  our  joy  to  confess  that  He  has  wrought  it,  and  that 
whether  in  the  instruments  that  He  has  raised  up,  or  in  the 
efficiency  with  which  He  has  clothed  those  instruments,  the  work 
was  all  His  own.  And  what  will  He  do  if  we  do  not  hinder  Him? 
Oh,  I  love  to  think  of  that.  What  will  He  do  ?  If  I  may  tell  you 
in  a  sentence  a  little  more  of  my  experience,  there  are  few  things, 
if  any,  for  which  I  chide  myself  more  than  my  anticipations  of 
what  He  will  do.  If  I  measure  those  anticipations  by  the  standard 
which  is  set  wp  in  the  glorious  promises  to  which  we  have  now 
listened,  I  ask  myself,  Does  my  faith  rise  to  that  level,  and  have  those 
promises  ever  expounded  themselves  in  the  fulness  of  their  meaning 
within  this  heart  of  mine  ?  I  fear  not.  What  we  have  seen  is  but  the 
beginning  of  what  God  is  about  to  do ;  the  Pentecostal  promise  is  not 
exhausted  ;  the  Pentecostal  promises  may  be  said  only  to  have  begun 
to  be  fulfilled.  There  are  depths  in  the  mercies  of  God  which  we 
have  not  fathomed,  and  blessings  in  store  for  His  Church  which  only 
wait  to  be  asked  for  in  order  to  be  received,  and  a  power  which  is  . 
to  make  Christianity,  as  we  heard  this  morning — I  do  not  mean  our 
Methodist  form  of  it — the  ascendant  i^ower  in  the  whole  world, — east, 
west,  north,  and  south  !  We  are  not  going  to  fail ;  we  are  not  going 
to  retreat ;  we  are  not  going  to  narrow  our  operations,  to  retrench  our 
expenditure,  or  to  retire  in  disgrace  from  fields  of  labour  wliich  we  may 
have  occupied ;  but  we  are  to  expect  to  go  frora  victory  to  victory,  and 
from  strength  to  strength.  We  have  the  means  of  doing  it,  blessed  be 
God,  we  have  in  some  measure  the  heart  to  do  it ;  and  if  faith  can  but 
be  put  into  lively  exercise  and  effort  proportioned  to  the  expectation 


DR.  osborn's  address.  25 

from  time  to  time  called  forth,  tbe  world  will  soon  be  at  onr  Master's 
feet.  I  am  no  prophet ;  I  am  not  about  to  expound  enigmas  ;  I  am  not 
about  to  enter  into  disputed  questions  of  chronology.  I  am  not  about 
to  see  in  passing  events  the  realisation  of  the  more  or  less  obscure 
vaticinations  of  the  seers  of  old.  I  have  seen  too  much  in  my  little  day 
of  the  mischief  done  to  religion  by  attempts  of  this  kind.  But  I  hazard 
nothing  when  I  say,  "  He  shall  see  of  the  travail  of  His  soul  and  shall  be 
satisfied  ;"  I  hazard  nothing  when  I  say,  "  Jerusalem  shall  be  trodden 
down  of  the  Gentiles  until  the  times  of  the  Gentiles  be  fulfilled ; "  I 
hazard  nothing  when  I  say,  "  God  hath  concluded  them  all  in  unbelief, 
that  through  your  mercy  they  also  may  obtain  mercy,"  and  then  let  St. 
Paul  say  the  rest,  "  There  shall  come  out  of  Sion  the  Deliverer,  and  shall 
turn  away  ungodliness  from  Jacob ;  and  the  fulness  of  the  Gentiles 
shall  come  in,  and  all  Israel  shall  be  saved."  "  O  the  depth  and  the 
riches  both  of  the  wisdom  and  knowledge  of  God  !  How  unsearchable 
are  His  judgments,  and  His  ways  past  finding  out  I  "  How  un- 
fathomable His  love  1  how  inexhaustible  the  blessing  which  He  is 
waiting  to  bestow  I  What  will  He  do  for  us  if  we  do  not  hinder 
Him  ?  That  is  what  He  will  do  for  us,  and  that  which  He  will 
do  by  us,  dear  brethren,  is  in  our  measure,  and  according  to  the 
measure  of  our  faith.  He  has  already  condescended  to  use  us  in  a 
way  which  must  humble  us  deep  in  the  contemplation  of  it ;  but 
He  has  much  more  to  do  by  us  than  He  has  done  by  us.  My  heart 
went  with  the  preacher  this  morning  in  his  anticipations,  and  so  it 
was  evident  did  yours.  What  He  is  to  do  by  us  implies  that  the  work 
of  Methodism,  as  a  specific  function  in  the  Church  of  Christ,  is  not 
exhausted.  I  do  not  say  He  cannot  spare  us,  for  that  might  seem  to 
imply  some  reflection  on  His  resources  ;  but  I  do  say  that  the  agencies 
which  we  employ,  that  the  doctrines  which  we  teach,  and  that  the 
spirit  which,  by  God's  blessing,  we  strive  to  cultivate,  will  be  found 
conducive  to  the  continuous  spread  of  Christianity,  and  preparatory 
and  subservient  to  its  final  triumph.  Of  that  I  am  fully  persuaded, 
and  of  that  I  am  rejoiced  to  believe  you  have  no  doubt. 

Our  doctrine  is  unquestionably  Catholic — not  Anglo-Catholic,  still  less 
Roman  Catholic — but  Catholic,  and  because  it  is  Catholic — Protestant. 
The  creeds  of  the  Church  we  hold  excepting  the  thirteen  Articles 
added  by  Pope  Pius  IV.  Catholic,  thoroughly,  undeniably  Catholic 
is  our  theology.  Our  evangelical  Arminiauism  the  world  wants ;  for 
the  world,  as  far  as  I  can  judge,  is  disposed  to  weary  of  predesti- 
nation, particular  redemption,  and  irresistible  decrees  of  a  Christian 
fatalism ;  in  short,  these  things  find  no  favour  now  in  quarters 
where  they  once  found  much  favour.  Our  evangelical  Arminiauism, 
by  God's  blessing,  will  supply  a  want  already  beginning  to  be  felt 
by  those  who  are  breaking  loose  from  old  moorings  and  hardly 
know  as  yet  where  they  shall  drift.  By  God's  grace  to  all  such 
IDcrsons,    our    evangelical    Arminiauism    may    prove,     and    I    trust 


26  OPENING   SERVICES. 

will  prove,  an  unspeakable  blessing ;  but  it  must  be  our  evangelical 
Armiuianism,  and,  judging  from  present  appearances,  v^e  have  every 
reason  to  believe  it  will  be,  aided  as  we  beard  this  morning  by  those 
wonderful  discriminating  Christian  treatises  that  were  mentioned,  and 
aided  still  further  by  those  wonderful  hymns  which  have  carried  our 
doctrine  over  the  whole  face  of  the  earth,  and  insinuated  it  in  their 
sweet  verse  into  hundreds  of  minds  which  it  would  not  otherwise 
have  reached.  These  invaluable  hymns  will  help  to  maintain  the  true 
standard  of  evangelical  Armiuianism  from  east  to  west  and  from  north 
to  south,  and  supply,  if  I  do  not  greatly  mistake,  an  invaluable  coun- 
teractive  to  much  prevailing  error,  as  well  as  an  invaluable  safeguard 
against  much  ai)prebended  danger.  And  so,  dear  brethren,  looking 
both  to  the  doctrine  which  we  teach,  and  to  the  agencies  which  we 
emi^loy,  the  fellowship  of  which  we  have  already  heard  so  much  this 
morning,  and  the  si^irit  which  by  the  help  of  God  we  strive  to 
maintain,  will,  I  am  persuaded,  constitute  a  large  portion  of  that 
leaven  which  is  to  go  on  working  until  the  whole  lump  is  leavened. 
The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  like  leaven,  and  it  must  work  until  there 
is  nothing  unleavened  Avhich  does  not  feel  its  influence,  and  until  the 
saving  power  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is  felt  by  a  ransomed  world. 

And  now  I  ask  myself  this  question :  The  spiritual  influence  by 
means  of  which  these  anticipations  can  alone  be  realised  being  at  our 
command— bumbly  but  confidently  be  it  spoken — and  within  our  reach, 
when  shall  we  realise  it  ?  When  shall  we  actually  obtain  it  ?  And  I 
ask  myself,  Why  not  now  ?  I  address  four  hundred  sons  of  the  Lord 
God  Almighty — four  hundred  men  who  have,  without  presumption  I 
may  say,  "the  key  of  heaven;  "  four  hundred  men  gathered  within 
these  hallowed  walls,  every  one  of  whom  I  hope  deserves  to  be  named 
"  Israel,"  every  one  of  whom  knows  what  it  is  to  wrestle  and  prevail. 
Do  I  deceive  myself  ?  Is  there  any  one  of  us  who  by  the  grace  of  God 
is  not  able  to  testify  to  the  power  of  prayer — the  simplest,  softest 
prayer — if  it  be  but  offered  in  faith  in  the  all-prevailing  Name  ?  Is 
there  any  one  of  us  to  whom  the  dearest  secret  of  life  is  not  the  secret 
of  asking  and  receiving,  of  seeking  and  finding,  of  knocking  and  having 
the  door  opened  ?  Come  then,  Israel  of  God— Israel  from  the  east  and 
from  the  west,  from  the  north  and  from  the  south,  ministers  and  people, 
bishops  and  elders  and  deacons,  stewards,  leaders,  and  officers  of  every 
kind, — every  one  of  you  that  has  an  interest  at  the  Throne  of  Grace, 
lift  up  your  hearts!  Behold,  now  is  the  accejjted  time;  now  is  the 
time  to  pray  and  to  prevail ;  now  is  the  time  to  bring  down  a  blessing 
which  shall  permeate  not  only  through  this  assembly,  but  through  aU 
those  communities  that  are  represented  here,  through  all  those 
Churches  that  have  sent  us  here,  and  through  all  those  associations 
which  from  time  to  time  we  keej)  in  motion  for  the  advancement  of 
spiritual  objects.  Is  the  Lord's  hand  shortened  that  it  cannot  save  ? 
Is  the  Lord's  ear  heavy  that  it  cannot  hear  ?     Have  we  exhausted 


DR.    OSBORNS   ADDRESS.  27 

the  fulness  of  His  grace  ?  Let  us  hear  Him  :  "Ye  have  not  because  ye 
ask  not."  "Ask  and  ye  shall  receive,  that  your  joy  may  be  full."  If 
you  ask  for  what  He  waits  to  give,  He  is  enthroned  to  give,  for  what 
it  is  His  wish  to  give — a  wish  stronger  than  your  most  earnest  wish 
to  receive.  You  ask  not  for  yourselves :  it  is  for  His  honour 
and  for  His  interest,  and  on  His  behalf,  that  you  ply  the  throne 
of  grace.  Can  we  have  a  stronger  motive?  Can  we  have  a  more 
prevailing  plea  ?  "  Father,  glorify  Thy  Son."  Holy  Ghost,  the  Com- 
forter, the  gift  of  Jesus,  touch  and  fill  our  every  heart !  Let  there 
sweep  over  this  assembly  such  a  wave  of  Divine  influence  as  shall 
exceed  all  our  desires,  and  gi-eatly  promote  the  accomplishment  of 
our  Saviour's  purpose.  I  am  persuaded  that  I  speak  the  sentiments 
of  all  in  this  Conference  when  I  say  that  these  are  "words  of  truth 
and  soberness  ;"  I  am  persuaded  that  if  we  expect  a  great  blessing, 
we  shall  obtain  a  great  blessing  ;  I  am  j^crsuaded  that  that  blessing 
obtained  to-day  will  not  stop  here ;  but  that  its  issues  and  its 
influences  will  be  felt  to  the  ends  of  the  earth ;  I  am  persuaded  that 
this  will  be  a  greater  gratification  to  our  Master  than  it  can  be  to 
any  of  us.  "Lord,  increase  our  faith."  That  is  what  He  will  do 
for  us  if  we  do  not  hinder  Him.  Will  you  forgive  me  if  I  say  we 
may  hinder  Him,  and  sometimes,  it  may  be,  we  have  hindered  Him. 
I  have  occasionally  listened  to  representations  in  regard  to  the 
usefulness  and  honour  of  Methodism  which  I  could  not  help  fearing 
might  tend  to  derogate  from  the  honour  of  the  blessed  Spirit,  and  to 
take  for  the  instrument  that  which  belongs  only  to  the  Divine  Agent. 
I  do  not  say  that  we  shall  fall  into  this  difficulty,  but  I  am  persuaded 
that  every  one  of  you  will  accord  with  the  statement  that  if  such 
a  temper  should  under  any  circumstances  find  j)lace  within  us,  we 
should  grieve  Him.  And  we  should  hinder  Him  by  anything  like 
ostentation,  vainglory,  or  self-confidence,  or  self-complacency.  "  Not 
unto  us,  not  unto  us,  but  to  Thy  name  do  we  give  glory,  for  Thy 
mercy  and  for  Thy  truth's  sake."  We  may  hinder  Him  if  we  allow 
anything  contrary  to  that  mutual  esteem  and  love  to  which  we 
are  pledged  as  His  disciples  to  rise  up  in  our  hearts.  But  it  is  our 
hope  that  the  intercourse  which  this  assembly  will  bring  will  result 
in  the  dispersion  of  jealousies,  in  the  mitigation  of  animosities,  if 
animosities  exist,  in  the  putting  down  of  every  disposition  which  may 
be  considered  to  be  at  variance  with  Christian  life,  or  obstructive  of 
tbe  v>ork  of  God ;  and  that  by  coming  nearer  to  our  common  Master 
we  shall  come  nearer  to  each  other,  and  partake  yet  more  largely  of 
that  true  Catholic  charity  which  is  the  very  bond  of  i)eace  and  of 
all  virtue. 

And  now  I  must  first  ask  your  forgiveness  if  I  have  exceeded 
the  limits  of  my  time,  and  then  in  repeating  the  welcome,  which  it 
was  my  official  duty  to  offer  to  this  Conference,  I  may  fall  back  upon 
the  words  of  Charles  Wesley — for  I  have  almost  learned  to  think  in 


28  OPENING  SERVICES. 

them,  ana  I  have  fonnrl  few  words  more  eminently  adapted  to  the 
promotion  of  vital  godliness.  One  of  his  earliest  compositions  is 
headed,  "  On  Receiving  a  Christian  Friend."  It  stands  in  the 
siagular,  but  we  can  easily  adapt  it : — 

"Welcome,  friend,  in  that  great  Nama, 
"WTience  our  every  blessing  flows ; 
Enter  and  increase  the  flame, 
Which  in  all  our  bosoms  glows. 

"Sent  of  God,  we  thee  receive, 
Hail  the  providential  guest ; 
If  in  Jesus  we  believe. 
Let  us  on  His  mercies  feast." 

That  is  the  old  Methodist  welcome  in  the  name  of  .Testis !  Welcome 
to  feast  on  His  mercies.  How  shall  we  do  it  ?  We  will  sing  the  rest 
of  the  hymn  : — 

"Jesus  is  our  common  Lord, 
He  our  loving  Saviour  is ; 
By  His  death  to  life  restored, 
Misery  exchanged  for  bliss." 

The  hymn  having  been  sung,  the  President,  Dr.  Osborn,  offered 
a  few  words  of  prayei^  He  then  introduced  to  the  Conference 
Bishop  McTyeire,  D.D.,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South ; 
Bishop  AVarren,  D.D.,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  ;  and 
Rev.  Dr.  Douglas,  of  the  Methodist  Church,  Canada,  who  responded 
as  follows  : — 

Bishop  M'Tteire  said  :  Mr.  Chairman,  we  hear  with  pleasure  your 
words  of  welcome,  and,  to  be  straightforward  about  it,  we  accept  the  hospi- 
talities which  you  tender  us.  We  do  not  feel  altogether  like  strangers  in  a 
strange  land.  If  you  are  not  our  fathers,  you  at  least  live  where  they  lived, 
and  labour  where  they  laboured,  and  all  these  places  to  us  feel  like  home. 
Those  of  us,  at  least,  who  come  fron  my  side  of  the  water,  do  not 
approach  old  England  like  you  and  your  brethren  who  go  from  England 
would  approach  America.  Some  of  our  best  ministers  and  members  came 
directly  from  Great  Britain,  and  the  most  of  us  are  only  about  two  or  three 
or  four  generations  removed  from  good  old  Ireland,  Scotland,  and  England. 
When  the  Conference  of  1770  was  held  in  London,  and  perhaps  in  this 
house,  America  was  put  down  on  j'our  list  as  a  circuit.  You  li ad  forty- 
nine  before,  and  we  made  the  even  fifty.  The  year  before,  at  Leeds,  John 
Wesley  said,  "  Our  brethren  in  America  have  built  a  preaching-house,  and 
they  are  in  great  need  of  money  and  men."  So  they  sent  us  two  good 
men,  and  they  raised  £50,  and  sent  it  to  us  as  a  token  of  brotherly  love. 
Fifty  pounds  was  a  great  deal  in  that  day,  and  especially  to  be  raised  in  a 
Conference  of  Methodist  preachers.  I  suppose  at  compound  interest  it 
would  by  this  time  amount  to  a  good  deal  of  money  ;  we  are  not  prepared 


BISHOP  M'TYEIHE'S  ADDRESS.  29 

to  pay  it,  but  we  acknowledge  the  debt.  The  year  afterwards  the 
Conference  sent  us  two  more  preacliers,  one  of  whom  made  a  deeper 
impression  and  a  greater  record  of  Christian  labour  than  any  other  man  has 
ever  done  on  the  American  continent — Francis  Asbury.  If  we  were  indebted 
to  old  England  for  nothing  else  but  Francis  Asbury,  our  debt  could  never 
be  paid.  By  the  way,  sir,  like  Paul,  he  wrought  at  a  trade — not  at  tent- 
making — but  he  wrought  in  iron,  and  there  was  a  good  deal  of  iron  in  hini. 
I  am  told  that  the  very  anvil  that  received  his  honest  strokes  is  some- 
where in  this  kingdom,  and  if  lam  in  time — I  speak  now — I  should  like  td 
get  it.  I  am  no  relic  worshipper,  but  I  should  like  to  get  hold  of  that  relic, 
and  to  take  it  home  to  one  of  our  theological  schools.  I  do  not  know  that 
I  could  work  at  it,  but  I  should  like  to  see  if  we  could  not  hammer  out  a 
few  more  such  men  as  he  was.  We  feel,  therefore,  that  our  past  has  been 
connected  with  yours  in  a  way  that  draws  us  very  close  to  you,  and  it 
warms  our  heart  to  hear  words  of  welcome  to  England.  Speaking  of 
relics,  I  do  not  think  I  am  greatly  given  to  them,  yet  I  do  confess  to  an 
interest  for  certain  places,  and  scenes,  and  associations.  Let  me  say  to  you, 
sir,  and  to  your  brethren,  that  you  have  a  greater  opulence  in  the  way  of 
relics,  and  sacred  places,  and  sacred  scenes  in  England,  than  any  other 
country  in  the  world  has  for  Protestants.  What  Palestine  is  to  a  Jew, 
what  Italy  is  to  a  Roman  Catholic,  that  England  is  to  a  Protestant.  If  you 
Englishmen  are  not  good  Protestants,  thorough  and  sound,  you  ought  to 
be,  not  only  for  your  own  sakes,  but  for  what  you  hold  in  trust  for  the 
rest  of  the  Protestant  world.  Here  the  great  councils  and  assemblies  and 
conferences  were  first  held  that  shaped  the  symbols  and  constructed  the 
polity  of  the  Protestant  Churches  that  are  now  conquering  the  world  ; 
here  were  the  martyrs.  Excuse  me  if  I  say  that,  having  a  little  leisure 
and  a  few  congenial  friends  when  I  started  to  this  Conference,  I  passed  on 
to  the  Continent  to  look  at  old  places  that  history  and  art  had  made  classic, 
and  I  greatly  enjoyed  it ;  but  I  was  constantly  reminded  that  there  was  in 
England,  which  I  had  passed  by — I  would  not  have  done  so  if  I  had  not 
been  sure  of  an  opportunity  to  return — places  still  more  interesting.  No 
Campo  Santo  of  Italy,  with  its  sculptured  marble,  has  half  the  interest  to 
our  hearts  as  that  pious  dust  that  lies  right  about  you.  At  Pisa  I  was 
interested,  not  so  much  in  the  Leaning  Tower,  but  in  a  lamp,  which  was 
called  Galileo's,  which  had  been  hung  up  there  for  three  hundred  years. 
The  accidental  shaking  of  that  lamp  when  Galileo  was  present  suggested 
to  him  the  doctrine  of  the  lever,  and  it  has  been  wrought  out  in  uuithe- 
matics  and  applied  to  mechanics,  and  I  do  not  know  where  its  application 
will  stop,  I  looked  at  it  with  more  interest,  I  must  say,  than  at  the  marble 
colunms  of  the  wondrous  cathedral.  But,  sir,  you  have  here  in  England — 
not  in  drowsy  Pisa,  but  in  busy,  bustling  Bristol — something  tliat  I  would 
rather  see  ;  not  the  lamp  that  suggested  the  lever  to  Galileo,  but  that 
church,  the  building  and  paying  for  which  suggested  to  John  Wesley  the 
class-meeting.  A  mightier  moral  lever  Methodism  has  not  had  and  the 
world  has  not  seen.     When  in  Naples  I  was  at  some  pains  to  visit  the  tomb 


30  OPENING   SERVICES. 

of  Virgil.  We  felt  indebted  to  that  poet  for  having  redeemeu  our  school 
days  from  drudgery.  We  found  the  tomb  and  the  urn  that  held  his 
ashes.  Do  not  think  it  strange  that  we  took  a  leaf  from  the  oak  and  the 
vine  that  grew  near  it,  and  sent  them  home  to  our  friends.  But  there  is  a 
tomb  I  would  rather  see  than  that ;  it  is  in  England,  not  in  Italy — the  tomb 
of  a  poet ;  not  the  man  who  sung  of  arms,  and  pastoral  scenes,  and  ducal 
men  ;  but  of  the  poet  that  sung  of  Christian  hope  and  free  grace,  that 
breathed  the  prayers  of  the  penitent  and  the  aspirations  of  the  Christian 
as  none  but  Charles  Wesley  could  do.  They  took  me  to  the  forum  and 
showed  me  where  Cicero  stood  when  he  pronounced  his  second  oration 
against  Cataline  ;  and  I  verily  believe  we  stood  on  the  spot  that  Mark 
Antony  stood  on  when  he  made  the  oration  over  Cajsar,  and  stirred  the 
multitude  with  his  subtle  eloquence.  But,  sir,  I  would  rather  see  a  spot 
where  the  first  Methodist  preachers  took  to  field  preaching.  I  would 
rather,  standing  in  Moorfields  or  Kingswood,be  assured  that  I  stand  where 
those  men  of  God,  breaking  through  the  trammels  of  formalism,  preached 
the  Gospel  with  the  Holy  Ghost  sent  down  from  heaven.  When  I  was  in 
Milan,  I  visited  the  church  where  Ambrose  preached  and  where  he  was 
buried  ;  but  I  thought  more  of  his  patroness,  the  pious  Helena,  than  of 
him.  I  thought  of  Augustine,  and  of  that  mother  whose  prayers  perse- 
vered for  his  salvation  ;  and  in  the  oldest  town  on  the  Rhine  I  could  not 
help  being  interested  in  the  legend  of  Ursula  and  her  eleven  thousand 
virgins.  But  greater  than  Helena,  or  Monica,  or  Ursula,  there  lived  a 
woman  in  England,  known  to  all  Methodists,  even  to  children  in  our 
Sunday-scho.ols  in  my  country,  and  of  whom  in  the  presence  of  those  I 
have  mentioned  it  might  be  said,  "  Many  daughters  have  done  virtuously, 
but  thou  hast  excelled  them  all  ;  "  I  mean  the  wife  of  the  rector  of 
Epworth,  and  the  conscientious  mother  of  his  nineteen  children;  she  that 
transmitted  to  her  illustrious  son  her  genius  for  learning,  for  order,  for 
government,  and  I  might  almost  say,  for  godliness;  who  shaped  him  by 
her  counsels,  sustained  him  by  her  prayers ;  and,  in  her  old  age,  like  the 
spirit  of  love  and  purity,  presided  over  his  modest  household  ;  and,  when 
she  was  dying,  said  to  her  children,  "Children,  as  soon  as  the  spirit  leaves 
the  body,  gather  round  my  bedside,  and  sing  a  hymn  of  praise."  We  that 
have  come  from  afar,  who  have  taken  in  Methodism  with  our  earliest 
literature,  may  be  excused  if,  while  we  tread  reverently  about  the  tombs 
of  Watson,  and  of  Clarke,  and  of  Benson,  we  gather  a  few  daisies  and 
ivy  leaves  from  the  tomb  of  Susannah  Wesley.  You  that  have  grown 
to  age  and  to  honour  in  the  midst  of  these  scenes,  can  liardly  con- 
ceive of  the  interest  with  which  they  are  invested  to  us.  I  have  seen, 
sir,  certain  rooms,  where  great  councils  took  place,  and  tables  on  which 
epoch-making  treaties  were  signed,  and  the  Scala  Sancta,  which  Luther 
himself  once  tried  to  climb  on  his  knees  at  Rome  ;  but  of  all  places,  there 
is  one  place  I  should  like  to  see,  and  which  I  have  not  seen  yet  ;  and  if, 
during  your  sessions,  some  of  the  members  are  absent,  j-ou  may  suppose 
they  arc  hunting  up  the  place  where  John  Wesley  was  converted,     I  want 


BISHOP  warren's  address.  31 

to  see  that  place :  it  is  somewhere  in  Fetter  Lane— if  you  have  got  any 
such  lane  at  this  time.     Aldersgate  Street,  too,  we  have  read  about.     We 
ha^'e  conceived  how  the  place  looked — what  sort  of  surroundings.     The 
man  that  had  been  seeking  peace  by  quietism  and  legalism,  and  formalism 
and  ritualism,  that  crossed  land  and   sea,  literally  going  about  to  establish 
his  own  righteousness,  consents,  at  last,  to  be  saved  by  grace ;  and  as  he 
Btood  in  a  prayer-meeting,  and  heard   one  describe  the  change  which  God 
works  in  the  heart  by  faith   in  Jesus  Christ,  he   says,  "  I  felt  my  heart 
strangely  warmed  :  I  felt  I  did  trust  in  Christ  alone  for  salvation,  and  an 
assurance  was  given  to  me  that  He  had  taken  away  my  sins,  even  mine, 
and  saved  me  from  the  law  of  sin  and  death."     More  than  that :  "  What 
I  felt  I  began  to  tell  to  all  present."     Having  believed  with  the  heart  he 
confessed  with  the  mouth.     That  was  the  end  of  legalism  and  formalism 
and  ritualism,  and  that  was  the  genesis  of  Methodism.     The  spirit  of  life 
having  been  given,  then  the  framework  began  to  be  put  up,  the  organism 
to  be  put  on  ;  plans  and  methods  began  to  be  instituted  ;  and  all  those 
plans  and  organisms    and  modes  of  work    are  to  repeat  that  experience 
in  the  hearts  of  men.     As  long  as  Methodism  keeps  to  that  work,  and  as 
long  as  there  are  men  who  need  that  experience,  the  mission  of  Methodism 
will  never  be  ended.     So,  Mr.  President,  when  you  invited  us  to  meet  at 
City  Eoad  Chapel,  we  came,  not  as  strangers  would  come  to  strange  places, 
but  we  came  trooping  up  frOm  all  parts  of  the  world  to  see  the  old  places ; 
and  I  pray  God  that  this  visit  to  first  places  may  be  accompanied  by  the 
revival  of  first  principles.     Here  we  are,  an  Ecumenical  Council    in  fact 
as   well   as  in  name.     Methodism   has   been   called  a  movement,  and  it 
began  to  move  at  once  north  and  south,  and  east  and  west,  and  especially 
west.     Here  we  are,  representatives  of  devout  men  of  every  nation  under 
heaven — Canadians,  and  Texans,  and  Gothamites,  and  the  dwellers  in  the 
valley  of  the  Mississippi,  in  Georgia  and  California,  in  Japan  and  China,  in 
India  and  Australia,  in  Europe  and  the  parts  of  Africa  about  Cape  Town, 
strangers  and  sojourners  in  London,  Caucasian  and  coloured,  Episcopal  and 
Non-Episcopal,  Connexional    and    Congregational— but,  by  the  grace  of 
God,  Wesleyans  all  1     Here  we  are,  sir,  speaking  every  man  in  his  own 
tongue  wherein  he  was  born  of  the  wonderful  work  of  God  accomplished 
by  Methodism  ;  and  I  reciprocate  with  all  my  heart  your  desire  that  God's 
blessing  should  be  upon  this  gathering,  and  that  we  may  take  away  from 
this  Council  and  Conference  great  blessings  for  our  people. 

Rev.  Bishop  Warren  (of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church)  also  re- 
sponded. He  said  :  Mr.  President,  it  hardly  seems  necessary  for  me  to 
speak  at  all  this  afternoon :  first,  because  so  much  has  been  said,  and  so 
well  said  ;  and  secondly,  because  it  seems  to  me  as  if  we  had  all  got  so 
completely  one  that  it  is  no  longer  of  any  use  to  talk  about  diflEerent 
divisions  and  sections.  We  all  saw  this  morning  in  those  fervent  responses 
to  the  prayer  for  good  Queen  Victoria,  what  good  Englishmen  we  all  are. 
We  saw  in  the  responses  this  afternoon  to  the  prayer  for  our  President 


32  OPENING   SERVICES. 

Garfield,  what  good  Americans  we  all  are.     And  if  we  thus  regard  highly 
the  names  of  those  who  rule  over  us,  are  we  not  all  one  in  that  regard  for 
Him  who  is  the  King  of  kings  and  Lord   of   lords,  at  the  mention  of 
whose  name  every  knee  shall  bow  and  every  tongue  confess  ?     We  have 
heard  the  welcome  that  English  Methodism,  standing  in  the  very  home- 
stead and  by  the  cradle,  gives  to  all  her  returning  sons.     That  welcome  is 
broad,  hearty,  earnest,  English,  Christian,  and  we  accept  it  as  such.    It  fell 
from  the  lips  of  one  eminently  entitled  to  give  it ;  for,  did  not  Christian 
modesty  prevent,  he  might  say  what  ^neas  said  of  the  wars  of  Troy, 
Magna  pars  fui.     We  accept  this  cordial  welcome  ;  and,  since  Methodism 
has  been  so  fully  treated  of,  allow  me  to  say  something  else  in  regard  to 
some  other  departments,  of  which  I  will  gladly  speak.     Methodism  is  so 
vast  and  various,  that  no  one  voice  can  make  sufficient  reply.     It  has  so 
many  families  that  it  puts  forward  different  speakers,  else  the  eloquent 
voice  which  preceded  me  would  have  been  enough.     We  are  glad  to  come 
here,  and  yet  those  that  make  the  speeches  are  not  the  only  ones  whose 
voices  are  heard.     I  seem  to  hear  while  I  speak  voices  from  the  bay  where 
the  Mayflower  lay,  voices  fi-om  where  the  Pilgrims  landed,  voices  fi-om 
the  second  London  that  we  call  New  York,  from  that  city  of  brotherly 
love,  where  William  Penn  meditated  quietly  in  his  home  that  has  been 
immortalised  in  the  lines  of  the  poet  Gray.     I  hear  voices  from  the  broad 
savannahs  in  the  South,  from  Florida,  from  California— a  voice  like  many 
waters  of  those  great  waves  of  humanity  that  roll  across  the  prairies  and 
strike  against  the  Eocky  Mountains — I  seem  to  hear  voices  from  India, 
from  China,  from  the  isles  of  the  sea — voices  that  remind  one  of  the  ten 
thousand  times  ten  thousand  and  thousands  of  thousands  of  every  nation 
and  kindred  and  tribe,  giving  thanks  for  the  invitation  and  the  welcome 
they  have  received  to-day  to  this  sacred  place,  from  whence  all  their  bless- 
ings of  a  spiritual  kind  have  flowed.     We  are  glad  to  come  to  England 
and   to   be   thus  welcomed.     In  more  respects  than   those  that  Bishop 
M'Tyeire  indicated  it  is  here  that  we  have  our  history.     Here  are  the  roots 
of  our  being.     Why,  if  you  ask  after  our  literature  we  point  to  Shake- 
speare ;  we  point  to  the  whole  Bodleian  Library  ;  we  call  it  ours  just  as  we 
call  the  men  ours  that  bear  the  names  of  Longfellow,  Lowell,  Motley, 
Bancroft,  and  Irving.     If  you  ask  us  for  our  heraldry,  we  glance  back  to 
every  shield  and  plume  and  banner  that  has  ever  tossed  over  fields  where 
human  rights  have  been  fought  for,  and  where  they  have  been  won  ;  and 
we  call  ours  every  one  who  has  fouglit  in  this  fight  without  fear  and 
without  reproach,  from  good  King  Arthur  to  Havelock.     If  you  ask  us 
concerning  our  relations  to  this  great  literary  outcome  of  the  age — the  new 
version  of  the  New  Testament — we  simply  say  we  have  had  an  excellent 
new  version  of  the  New  Testament  made,  printed,  sold,  read,  believed  in, 
and  preached  for  127  years.     And  if  you  speak  to  us  about  our  theologians, 
and  our  venerable  ecclesiastical  monuments,  wliy  we  speak  of  Wesley, 
and  Fletcher,  and  Whedon,  who  have  revolutionised  the  world's  theology 
on  the  basis  of  Arminius.     We  point  back  for  monuments  to  tlio  ark  of 


BISHOP  warren's  address.  33 

the  first  covenant,  to  the  cross  of  the  second  ;  we  look  to  Westminster 
and  the  rising  temple  of  living  stones  above,  and  then  every  humblest 
preacher  in  the  lowliest  cabin  feels  that  there  is  no  grander  architecture 
than  his,  and  that  from  him,  through  apostles  and  prophets  to  Jesus  Christ, 
the  chief  corner-stone,  runs  a  true  succession.  Yes,  we  are  glad  to  come 
to  England,  because  we  are  glad  to  see  here  the  race  that  has  not  only 
been  religious,  but  that  has  been  allied  to  human  liberty.  We  look  into 
your  faces  and  realise  that  you  have  the  best  chance  of  any  race  on  this 
planet— and  we  belong  to  it.  The  English  have  incorporated  into  them- 
selves the  hardihood  of  the  northmen,  tlie  dash  of  the  Gallic,  the  wit  of 
the  Irish — notwithstanding  the  trouble  it  has  given  them.  They  have  in- 
corporated into  themselves  the  wisdom  of  earth  and  the  piety  that  comes 
from  heaven.  I  look  into  your  faces  and  see  that  you  have  coijibined 
your  roses,  red  and  white,  Lancastrian  and  York,  into  a  blush  more  beauti- 
ful tlian  either.  The  Scotchman  stands  by  and  sees  his  little  rill  of  royal 
blood  in  Edward  VI.  running  into  the  larger  stream  of  royal  blood  in  the 
House  of  Hanover  or  Brunswick,  whose  most  honoured  and  honourable 
representative  sits  upon  the  throne  to-day.  We  come  here,  and  are  glad 
to  look  around  ns  and  see  what  is  to  be  done  in  the  great  fight  for  this 
world's  advantage,  not  only  religious,  but  political.  We  look  around  here 
and  we  find  evidences  on  every  hand  that  there  is  power  in  this  same 
English  race,  and  it  is  fit  just  now,  when  the  race  is  making  iinparalleled 
advances  in  all  Christian  and  in  all  philosophical  departments,  when  the 
thinking  of  the  race  is  turning  out  of  sceptical  into  Christian  channels — it 
is  fitting,  that  those  who  have  the  rpligious  interests  of  this  race  at  heart 
should  meet  and  consider.  So,  gathering  here  together  and  thinking  over 
the  great  fields  in  which  we  have  to  labour,  we  come  together  as  one  to 
study  the  thoughts  that  are  familiar  to  us,  and  to  compare  them  with  one 
another.  We  come  to  England,  partly  because  we  are  anxious  to  see  what 
shall  be  done  with  the  ingathering  of  wealth.  It  is  no  longer  possible  to 
hold  the  world's  fair  in  one  place,  so  vast  and  varied  have  its  industries 
become  ;  we  have  therefore  expositions  of  single  departments,  like  cotton 
in  Georgia,  and  electricity  in  France.  It  is  no  longer  possible  to  gather 
all  the  world's  advancements  under  one  roof,  or  even  in  one  place.  What 
shall  be  done  with  these  great  accumulations  of  wealth  ?  They  have 
caused  every  nation  in  the  past  to  perish.  There  was  no  help  for  Babylon 
but  burial  ;  there  was  none  for  Rome  but  Alaric  and  his  Goths.  And  yet 
the  eye  of  the  physical  geographer,  looking  over  the  world,  sees  the  great 
river  of  the  Gulf  Stream  coming  from  the  equator,  pouring  its  warmth 
and  moisture  to  this  green  field  of  England  ;  but  the  eye  of  the  economist, 
looking  over  the  whole  earth,  sees  not  merely  one  stream  of  wealth  tend- 
ing thereto,  but  many.  They  come  from  every  land.  America  sends  its 
food,  Africa  sends  its  ivory  and  gems,  China  sends  its  tea,  India  sends  its 
Koh-i-noor.  There  is  no  sea  in  the  world  that  has  not  put  its  shoulders 
under  British  keels  to  heave  them  on  their  way.  There  is  no  breeze  in 
the  world  that  is,  not  straining  at  the  sail  at  the  same  time  that  it  is  kissing 

V 


34!  OPEMING    SERVICES. 

the  Union  Jack.  What  shall  be  done  with  these  great  accumulationa  of 
wealth  ?  We  come  here  partly  lo  study  the  outcome  of  such  things. 
History  tells  us  of  no  city  possessed  of  such  wealth  that  has  ever  paused 
in  the  midst  of  its  downward  career  to  turn  back  again  to  permanent 
excellence.  But  we  stand  here  in  the  midst  of  the  one  notable  exception. 
Some  fifteen  years  ago  the  piety,  the  intelligence,  the  wisdom,  and  the 
wealth  of  London  determined  on  its  renovation  and  reformation.  I  am 
free  to  say  that  the  results  of  that  effort  under  God  are  more  worthy  of 
our  study  than  the  whole  British  Museum.  I  am  free  to  say  that  names 
like  Sir  Francis  Lycett — and  I  mention  only  those  that  have  passed  beyond 
the  veil — are  more  worthy  of  esteem  and  honour  than  such  names  as  the 
brave  Duke  ;  they  are  more  nearly  related  to  our  highest  interests  and  the 
highest  interests  of  the  race,  its  present  and  eternal  welfare,  to  give  to 
man  his  best  opportunity  in  this  world  and  his  highest  advantages  and 
development  in  the  world  to  come.  Methodism  not  only  preaches  a  salva- 
tion, not  only  provides  a  literature,  school-houses,  and  worship,  but  it 
compels  their  acceptance.  It  remembers  that  those  who  were  merely  in- 
vited to  the  feast  did  not  come  at  all :  hence  where  it  has  its  true  develop- 
ment it  goes  out  into  the  highways  and  hedges  and  compels  them  to  come 
in  that  they  may  hear  God's  Word.  Methodism  preaches  the  solemn 
Gospel  from  the  tombstone  ;  it  sends  the  Gospel  from  all  fields  of  universal 
experience  to  every  creature,  not  only  for  man's  acceptance,  but  in  such  a 
way  that  he  cannot  avoid  acceptance,  except  by  the  exercise  of  a  sovereign 
free  will.  We  are  glad  to  come  here  and  see  how  it  is  done,  and  going  up 
and  down  this  land  on  separate  occasions,  as  I  have  done,  well-nigh  from 
John-o'-Groats  to  Land's  End,  the  Dan  and  Beersheba  of  this  new  Canaan 
of  the  race,  I  am  free  to  say  that  I  find  very  much  that  pleases  me,  and 
I  sincerely  hope  that  the  Methodism  that  is  not  in  England  is  somewhat 
worthy  to  come  and  stand  by  your  side.  Please  to  remember  that  that 
enormous  wealth  of  churches,  of  schools,  of  libraries,  and  of  all  instruments 
for  saving  men,  has  been  gathered  out  of  the  poor,  that  it  has  taken  and 
raised  up,  aiid  made  to  sit  together,  in  heavenly  places,  in  Christ  Jesus. 
Methodism  opens  its  heart  and  purse  to  the  lowliest.  It  has  lately  gone 
forth  unto  a  race  that  just  begins  to  know  the  full  meaning  of  the  *'  liberty 
wherewith  Christ  maketh  free."  I  am  glad  to  say  that  the  bluest  blood 
of  Boston  culture,  and  the  darkest  blood  of  any  race  on  earth,  find  as  free 
and  glad  welcome  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  as  they  would 
have  found  in  the  Pentecostal  Church.  Indeed  Methodism  has  caught 
I  think,  the  Pentecostal  idea,  and,  as  has  been  represented  here  a  mo- 
ment since,  it  believes  that  "  Parthians  and  Medes,  and  Elamites,  and 
the  dwellers  in  Mesopotamia,  and  in  Judaea,  and  Cappadocia,  in  Pontus  and 
Asia,  Pbrygia,  and  Pamphylia,  in  Egypt,  and  in  the  parts  of  Libya  about 
Cyrene,  and  strangers  of  Rome,  Jews  and  proselytes,  Cretes  and  Arabians," 
not  only  ought  to  "hear  in  their  own  tongue  the  wonderful  works  of 
God,"  but  they  ought  to  be  equally  welcome  in  the  Church.  Thanks  be 
to  God,  they  are.    We  are  glad  to  come  here,  I  say,  because  from  this  place 


REV.   GEORGE  DOUGLAS's  ADDRESS.  S5 

flowed  that  little  stream  which  was  alluded  to  this  morning ;  here  is  ful- 
filled the  A-ision  of  Ezekiel,  from  these  thresholds  went  out  the  Word  of 
Life.     But  it  has  gone  beyond  England  over  the  sea,  and  it  is  filling  the 
whole  world  with  its  glory.     When  we  look  back  to  the  cradles  of  the 
race  in  the  valleys  of  the  Euphrates  and  the  Nile,  the  Elyssus  and  the 
Tiber,  those   cradles  are  all   overturned  and  broken,  but  the  cradle  of 
Methodism  is  still  sending  forth  the  stream  of  living  sons  and  daughters. 
We  are  toiling  in  our  different  fields  of  labour  very  much  as  we  read  of 
your  Cornish  miners;  each  little  gang  is  pushing  its  own  way,  working  in 
its  own  appointed  place.     In  times  of  silence,  perhaps,  they  hear  the  sound 
of  the  hammer  or  the  blast  of  some  adjacent  party  or  gang  working  to  the 
right  or  to  the  left  of  them  ;  and  having  pushed  out  beneath  the  sea  they 
sometimes  hear  the  roll  of  its  waves.    Only  one  man  about  the  mine  knows 
all  about  it — the  chief  engineer.     He  looks  down  and  through  the  soil, 
through  the  rock,  through  the  ocean — sees  where  each  man  is  at  work  ;  he 
knows  the  amount  of  metal  or  coal  sent  into  the  ujjper  world.     So  we  are 
all  working  in  the  darkness  of  the  under  world,  each  of  us  pushing  in  our 
appointed  place  where  the  Master  has  put  us.     In  the  pauses  of  ourlaborr 
perhaps  we  hear  some  one  wielding  the  hammer  of  the  Word  to  th^  right 
or  to  the  left  of  us.     Sometimes  on  occasions  like  this  we  are  enabled  to 
come  up  into  the  light  and  to  study  the  whole  plan  of  the  working,  and 
see  what  has  been  done,  and  what  is  to  be  done,  and  rejoice  in  the  amount 
of  light  and  power  that  is  sent  into  the  world  above.     Tiiis  field  of  labour 
is  so  vast  that  it  occupies  all  our  thoughts,  and  demands  all  our  labour 
Kemembering  the  vast  achievements  over  which   the   English   flag   has 
floated,  remembering  the   vast  achievements  over  which  the   stars  and 
stripes  have  waved,  let  us   remember   that  they   had    to   be  joined  to- 
gether ere  Stanley  or  anybodj'  else  could  go  through  the  "  Dark  Continent." 
So  in  the  great  work  that  we  have  to  do,  when  the  intelligence,  piety, 
wisdom,  and   love  of   all  English-speaking  people  shall  combine  undei' 
the  standard  of  the  cross  they  will  assuredly  go  through  a  whole  dark 
world. 

IB- 

Eev.  George  Douglas  (Methodist  Church  of  Canada):  Mr.  President,  I 
greatly  fear  that  the  time  of  the  Conference  has  expired,  and  I  hardly 
know  whether  it  will  not  be  an  infliction  upon  you  if  I  make  any  extended 
observations  on  this  occasion.  Well,  sir,  in  responding  to  the  words  of 
welcome  pronounced  by  yourself,  words  which  own  the  wisdom  and 
sanctity  of  age,  I  count  myself  happy  in  being  permitted  to  bring  greet- 
ings from  some  2,000  ministers  with  their  flocks,  and  to  present  them  this 
day  before  this  great  historical  Conference.  Although  we  be  but  little 
among  the  thousands,  yea,  millions  of  our  Amerioun  Israel,  yet  we  thank 
God  that  He  hath  given  us  a  place  in  our  Lund  of  the  Lakes  and  of  the 
North  Star,  and  that  he  hath  opened  for  us  a  door  of  resplendent  oppor- 
tunity in  the  immediate  future.  This  great  empire  throughout  all  its 
history  has  been  sending  out  its  intellectual  and  moral  light  over  all  the 

D  2 


36  OPENING   SERVICES. 

earth.  The  history  of  the  great  Eepnblic  to  which  my  honoured  friends 
belong  is  on  the  ascendant,  advancing  with  ever  increasing  power,  and 
combining  its  influence  with  that  of  this  mother  land.  The  history  of  the 
Dominion  of  Canada,  which  indeed  forms  part  of  this  great  empire,  and 
which,  I  think,  sir,  is  perhaps  more  loyal  to  England's  Queen  than 
England  itself — the  history  of  this  dominion  is  but  tipping  the  horizon, 
nevertheless  it  is  full  of  prophecy  and  of  promise  of  noble  development. 
It  is  difficult,  Mr.  President,  to  rise  to  a  conception  of  the  greatness  of  that 
material  heritage,  that  field  for  high  endeavour  which  God  has  given  us. 
Ay,  sir,  from  tlie  sunrise  side  of  our  dominion,  where  the  bold  Atlantic 
tosses  her  crested  billows  against  tl^^  granite  heights  of  Newfoundland,  to 
the  sunset  side,  where  the  broad  Pacific  tells  to  the  beach  her  summer 
dreams  in  sweet  low  murmurs,  faint  and  low,  we  have  a  distance  exceeding 
by  a  thousand  miles  that  between  the  City  of  London  and  the  city  of 
Montreal  in  which  we  dwell,  and  still,  sir,  from  the  imaginary  line  that 
separates  us  from  the  great  Republic,  we  stretch  away  literally  to  the  very 
ends  of  the  earth.  Rich  in  undeveloped  resources  in  our  older  proAdnces, 
the  amazing  development  of  our  great  lone  land  tells  that  our  Hyperion 
of  hope  is  throned  in  the  empire  of  the  flaming  West,  whose  virgin  soil 
will  yet  tremble  to  the  tread  of  freeborn  millions  comprehending  thousands 
of  the  sons  and  daughters  of  our  British  Metliodism.  Now,  sir,  this  'H  the 
great  material  foundation  which  God  hath  given  us,  and  on  which  wt<  are 
building,  thus  raising  the  temple  of  Canadian  Methodism,  which  we 
believe  will  be  a  home  and  an  asylum  of  blessing  to  coming  and  far-off 
generations.  Already,  sir,  God  hath  given  to  us  a  full  measure  of 
encouragement.  Though  confronted  with  the  most  richly  endowed,  the 
roost  aggressive  and  conservative  type  of  Romanism  on  the  face  of  the 
earth,  making  our  province  of  Quebec  the  Thermopyhc  of  conflict  on  the 
continent,  though  we  came  after  the  Anglican  and  Presbyterian  Churches, 
yet,  sir,  this  Conference  will  be  glad  to  learn  that  one  out  of  every  six  of 
the  entire  population,  and  one  out  of  every  four  of  the  Protestant  popula- 
tion, pay  homage  to  the  teachings  and  to  the  institutions  of  Methodism. 
We  lead  the  Protestant  denominations  for  strength  in  this  Dominion  of 
Canada  ;  and,  sir,  we  are  thankful  to  say  further,  that  the  united  Metho- 
dism of  the  Dominion  has  made  its  selection,  and  sworn  its  fealty  to  the 
old  theology  you  so  finely  presented.  We  are  thankful  to  say  that  though 
not  insensible  to  the  conflict  of  thought  that  is  abroad,  to  the  questioning 
and  unrest  of  the  scientific  atheism  of  this  land,  the  transcendental  and 
pantheistical  philosophies  of  New  England,  and  the  so-called  higher 
criticism — we  are  thankful  to  say  that  that  system  of  truth  which  was 
formulated  here,  wiiich  was  propounded  in  this  centre,  is  our  theodicy,  our 
reconciliation  of  God's  ways  with  which  we  confront  all  the  assaults  of 
adversaries.  And,  sir,  we  have  planted  ourselves  upon  this  ground,  and 
have  made  our  solemn  election  in  this  matter.  We  rejoice  that  this 
formula  of  religious  thought  is  rapidly  becoming  the  most  controlling 
form  of  religious  belief  in  the  Dominion,  and  indeed,  sir  (as  our  reverend 


REV.  GEORGE  DOUGLAS'S  ADDRESS.  37 

bishops  can  bear  testimony),  over  the  entire  American  continent.  From 
the  flowery  lands  of  the  Sansketchewan  and  the  Assiniboine  to  the  ever 
green  glades  of  Colorado,  from  the  frozen  regions  of  Labrador  to  the  cane 
brakes  of  Arkansas  and  the  ranches  of  Texas,  from  the  misty  isles  of 
Fundy  to  the  crystal  peaks  of  the  Sierra  Nevadas,  there  is  not  a  city,  there 
is  not  a  town,  there  is  not  a  village,  there  is  not  a  neighbourhood,  where 
the  influence  of  John  Wesley's  theology  is  not  felt  as  a  mental  stimulus 
and  as  a  force  in  our  moral  regeneration.  This,  sir,  I  say  with  thankful- 
ness before  tliis  great  Conference.  And  while  tlie  Methodism  of  the 
Dominion  holds  this  theology  in  its  integrity,  it  is  our  labour  to  incarnate 
it  in  symmetrical  Christian  character.  We  recognise  with  you,  sir,  that 
our  great  mission  is  to  build  up  moral  manhood  and  to  evolve  that  most 
precious  of  all  things  in  the  universe  of  God,  lioliness  of  character  in  its 
integrity.  I  will  not  despise  the  fact,  sir,  that  amidst  the  cry  for  culture 
and  esthetic  development  of  manhood  we  are  old-fashioned  enough  to 
desire  tliat  old  type  of  Christian  manhood  that  marked  the  early 
Methodism  in  all  its  enthusiasm  and  power.  In  common  with  you  here, 
and  in  the  United  States,  we  are  confronted  with  the  emasculating  forces 
of  the  world  ;  j'et  in  the  face  of  much  false  teaching,  and  in  the  face  of 
temptation  to  luxurious  self-indulgence,  we  ring  out  the  cry  of  penitence 
and  ascetic  renunciation  of  the  M'orld.  Against  the  materialistic  tendencies 
of  the  age  which  would  relegate  out  of  the  Church  and  out  of  the  world 
all  supernatural  religion,  we  continue  to  take  our  stand  by  Divine  com- 
munication to  the  souls  of  men,  and  sing>  and,  thank  God,  experience  that 

"  The  Spirit  answers  to  the  blood, 
And  tells  us  we  are  born  of  God." 

And,  sir,  I  rejoice  especially  to  express  my  conviction  that  there  is  a 
growing  sympathy  on  the  part  of  our  rising  ministry  and  membership 
with  that  distinct  trutli  which  slumbered  in  the  quietism  of  Pascal,  and 
the  Port  Royalists  of  France,  and  the  Molinos  of  Spain,  and  which  in 
evangelistic  beauty  and  vigour  it  was  the  glory  of  early  Methodism  to 
give  to  the  Church  and  to  the  world.  I  am  thankful  to  say  that  I  believe 
we  have  maidens  as  beautiful  in  holiness  as  Jane  Cooper,  the  memory  of 
whose  character  moistened  the  eyes  of  Wesley  twenty  years  after  she  had 
gone  to  enrich  the  heavens  ;  and  matrons  as  consecrated  as  Hester  Ann 
Rogers,  who  wept  and  worshipped  in  this  sanctuary ;  while  there  is  a 
growing  conviction  that  the  mission  of  Methodism  is  to  spread  still 
Scriptural  lioliness  over  the  entire  world.  Yes,  sir,  we  have  come  to  this 
great  Conference  that  we  may  catch  a  high  and  holy  inspiration  to  live 
and  labour  and  witness  for  a  sanctification  that  is  entire,  for  a  love  that  is 
perfected  by  grace  Divine,  It  is,  Mr.  President,  the  anxiety  of  Canadian 
Methodism  to  solve  the  difficult  problem,  and  I  confess  that  for  one  I  have 
come  here  to  be  instructed — to  solve  the  difficult  problem  how  to  develop 
a  ministry  consonant  with  the  denuvnds  of  the  age  in  the  breadth  of  its 
culture,  in  the  depth  of  its  scholarship,  in  its  sympathy  with  the  great 


38  OPENING   SERVICES. 

living  issues  of  the  day,  while  that  ministry  shall  retain  that  evangelical 
simplicity,  that  enthusiasm,  that  impassioned  power   of  appeal  that  has 
made  the  ministry  of  Methodism   all   over  the  world  a  force  potential  to 
command  the  intellect,  to  move  the  emotional  nature,  and  to   build  up  a 
regenerated  manhood.      Mr.  President,  we  want  ministers   like   the  un- 
tutored, coloured  brother  who   said  he  would  first  explain  the  text,  and 
then  apply  the  text,  and  then  go  on  to  the  lightning  and  thunder.     We 
want  men  who  can  wield  the  polished  logic  of  Wesley,  the  thunder  of 
Whitefield,  and  the  searching  unction  of  Fletcher  ;  while  at  the  same  time 
they  can  take  hold   of  the  current  science  of  the   age,  and  harmonise   it 
with  the  deepest  intuiticms  of  Christianity.     And  we  trust  that  this  Con- 
ference will  not  close  without  wise,  suggestive,  inspiring  words  to  guide 
us,  but  shall  go  over  the  seas  to  develop  a  ministry  that  shall  promote  the 
enthusiasm  of  Methodism  onwards  to  coming  generations.     Manifold,  sir, 
are  our  shortcomings,  over  which  we  mourn  ;  but  we  rejoice  to  say  that  in 
the  Dominion  of  Canada  we  are  not  degenerate  sons  of  a  noble  ancestry  in 
the  domain  of  missions.     This  day,  in  Greenland  seas,  our  missionaries  are 
following  our  fishermen  among  the  Arctic  ice  ;  this  day  they  are  following 
in  the  trail  of  the  Indian  in  the  Great  Slave  Lake,  and  through  the  waters 
of  the    Mackenzie  ;  this  day  they  join  hands  with   the   missionaries   of 
American  and   British  Methodism  in  the  isles  of  Japan  and  the  Chinese 
seas.     Sir,  while  we  are  loyal  to  every  institution  of  Methodism,  our  chief 
enthusiasm  gathers  around  the  missionary  cause,  and  but  lately  the  Church 
with   which  I  have  the  honour   to    stand  connected,   rose   in  its  might 
and    wiped    out    the    responsibility    of   our    exchequer   that    we   might 
go   forth    freehanded    in    our    labour   to    spread   tlie    glad    Evangel    of 
our  Christianity.     It  has  been   already  asked  why  we  come  to  this  mother 
Church   from  all    over  the  globe — why  we   gather    in  this    consecrated 
centre.     Why?  that  we   may  catch  a  higher  inspiration,    that   we   may 
light  our  altar  fires  with  a  nobler   consecration,  and  go  to  our  different 
fields  of  labour  to   live  and    to  die  for  Christ.      We  remember,  as  my 
honoured  predecessor,  the   Bishop,  intimated,  the  great  traditions  of  this 
land  ;  we  remember   that   God    has   made  this  land  the  theatre    of   the 
grandest  triumph  of  Christianity.     We  remember  that  when   Eome  was 
changed  from   brick    to   marble ;    when   her  power    culminated    in    an 
imperialism  never  surpassed  ;  when  the  eloquence  of  Cicero  still  lingered 
in  her  halls,  and  the  songs  of  Ovid  and  of  Virgil  resounded  in  her  palaces — 
we  remember  that  our  forefathers  were  but  savages,  sunk  in  the  depths  of 
aboriginal  degradation.     We  remember  that   Christianity  came  to   these 
tribes — these  Celtic,  these  Norse,   these   Saxon  tribes — tliat  it  assimilated 
them,  that  it  combined  them,  that  it  consolidated  them,  that  it  built  them 
up  into  that  Anglo-Saxon  race  that  to-day  commands  the  resources  of  the 
financial  and  intellectual  world.     We  remember  that  this  Christianity  woke 
its    slumbering  intellect  which  blossomed  into  that  transcendent  genius 
that  will  for  ever  walk  the  inner  sanctuaries  of  the   soul,  and  flash  the 
torchlight  of  its  revealing  into  the  innermost  chambers  of  emotional  and 


EEV.  GEORGE  DOUGLAS's  ADDRESS.  39 

imaginative  life.  We  remember  that  it  uplifted  the  genius  of  liberty,  and 
the  proud  Plantagenets  and  the  haughty  Tudors,  and  the  powerful  Edwards 
and  the  weak  and  fickle  Stuarts  went  down  before  it,  while  freedom  of 
conscience  and  of  worsliip  became  triumphant.  We  remember  the  brilliant 
array  of  men  that  have  trod  this  soil,  whose  light  and  heat  have  gone  out 
over  all  the  earth.  We  remember  the  man  whose  name  we  bear,  whose 
dust  lies  behind  us,  whose  heart,  as  we  heard  this  morning,  was  "strangely 
warmed "  not  far  from  where  we  stand,  who  became  a  reformer  in 
temperance  a  hundred  years  before  the  Maine  Law  and  the  Kansas  Con- 
stitution were  formed,  whose  great  soul  was  fired  with  the  enthusiasm 
of  missions  while  it  was  as  yet  a  Utopian  idea,  whose  fires  many  waters 
could  not  quench,  who,  being  dead,  speaks  to-day  in  ten  thousand  tongues, 
who  more  than  any  man  that  ever  lived  has  woke  this  sin-cursed  world 
into  the  melodies  and  jubilees  of  song,  whose  line  has  gone  out  into  all 
the  earth,  and  his  words  into  the  ends  of  the  world.  Yes,  Mr.  President, 
millions,  I  believe  some  twenty  millions,  this  day  sit  under  the  shadow  of 
that  vine  and  fig-tree  which  the  right  hand  of  the  ministry  of  Methodism 
planted  in  this  consecrated  spot.  We  remember  this,  and  as  we  shall  go 
forth  to  our  continental  homes,  we  trust  to  go  with  a  higher  confidence  in 
the  Divinity  of  our  Christianity,  to  build  up  a  Christian  civilisation,  to  secure 
the  redemption  of  humanity,  and  to  lift  them  to  the  skies.  Mr.  President,  I 
have  stood  on  the  high  banks  of  the  Lower  St.  Lawrence  and  watched  the 
closing  of  the  day.  It  opens  with  promise,  it  advances  with  usefulness 
into  splendour,  it  closes  with  shadows  as  the  dew  weepeth  for  the  departed 
day  ;  but  over  the  river  the  departing  sun  sent  up  its  silvery  light,  which 
silvered  into  amber,  which  ambered  into  gold,  and  goldened  into  purple, 
which  filled  the  heavens  until  every  cloudlet  became  as  a  cliariot — 
festooned  with  purple,  and  burnished  with  gold  ;  and  then  began  the 
triumphant  march  away  and  away  to  the  orient  gateway's  of  the  morning. 
Gloriously,  like  the  departing  day,  has  the  Conference  begun  ;  the  unction 
and  inspiration  of  its  opening  will  abide  with  us.  I  believe  it  will 
advance  in  usefulness,  and  will  become  historically  influential.  When  the 
shadows  fall,  as  they  will  do  at  its  close,  when  we  clasp  hands  that  will  be 
parted  for  ever  upon  earth,  it  will  be  only  for  a  little,  to  mount 
the  chariots  of  God,  and  then  away  and  away  to  the  everlasting  gateways 
of  the  morning.  Weshiy,  with  thy  thousands  of  sleeping  saints  around  us, 
and  the  millions  that  lie  in  these  islands;  Case,  with  thy  ten  thousands  in 
our  Dominion  of  Canada  ;  Asbury,  with  thy  millions  in  the  great  Republic; 
John  Hunt,  with  tiiy  dusky  sons  from  the  far-oil"  isles  of  the  South  ;  Leigh, 
and  Waterhouse,  and  Draper,  with  your  sons  from  beneath  the  Southern 
Cross,  the  sable  sons  of  Africa  ; — they  look  on  us  to-day  :  may  we  catch 
their  spirit  ;  may  we  emulate  their  laboin-s  ;  may  we  follow  their  example 
till  the  isles  shall  cry  to  the  continent,  tlie  %-alleys  to  the  mountain.  We 
wait  for  Thy  law.  We  thank  you,  Mr.  President,  on  behalf  of  the  great 
.mother  Church  for  the  welcome  you  have  tendered  us.  We  trust  that 
blessing  will  attend  you   in  the  subsufiuunt  pilgrimage  of  life,  and  that 


40  OPENING   SERVICES. 

this  great  C(^nference  will  be  a  new  epoch  from  which  Methodism  shall 
rise  renewed,  and  go  forth  conquering  and  to  conquer. 


The  President  :  Our  programme  is  now  exhausted.  I  apprehend 
that  the  course  of  business  will  scarcely  allow  us  to  hear  other 
brethren  who  have  intimated  their  wish  to  respond  still  further,  or 
who  have  been  privately  requested  to  respond ;  but  before  we 
separate,  a  resolution  will  be  proposed  by  the  Eev.  J.  S.  Withington. 

Rev.  J.  S.  Withington  :  At  this  late  hour  I  will  not  attempt  to 
make  any  observations,  but  will  simply  submit  to  you  the  resolution 
which  I  hold  in  my  hand  :  "  We,  the  Methodists  assembled  in 
Ecumenical  Conference,  express  our  very  deep  sympathy  with  the 
President  of  the  United  States  and  Mrs.  Garfield,  in  their  great 
trouble ;  and  earnestly  pray  that  Almighty  God  may  speedily  restore 
the  President  to  entire  health." 

Mr.  S.  D.  Waddy,  Q.C.  :  I  have  very  great  pleasure  in  seconding 
the  resolution.  At  any  reasonable  time  I  should  have  been  happy 
to  say  a  few  words ;  but  I  hope  I  have  too  much  grace  and  wisdom 
to  say  anything  now.     I  second  the  resolution  with  all  my  heart. 

General  Clinton  B.  Fisk  :  I  have  sincere  pleasure  in  further 
supporting  this  resolution,  and  I  would  be  glad,  if  .the  hour  would 
permit  me,  to  say  half  what  my  heart  would  prompt,  but  I  will  not 
occupy  a  moment  in  preventing  the  hearty  response  which  I  know 
will  be  made  by  this  throng  in  City  Road  Chapel. 

Eev.  Dr.  Rigg  :  I  should  not  like  our  own  large  body  to  be  without 
a  ministerial  representative  in  expressing  our  own  earnest  sympathy 
in  the  vote  which  has  just  been  proposed.  This  is  a  vote  in  which 
not  so  much  Americans  as  those  that  are  not  Americans  should  take 
the  opportunity  of  expressing,  on  behalf  of  the  whole  Christian 
world  outside  America,  its  deep  and  tender  sympathy  with  General 
Garfield  and  Mrs.  Garfield,  and  with  all  the  good  Christian  people 
of  America  under  the  terrible  trials  and  sufferings  of  the  past  few 
weeks.  Having  had  some  connection  myself  with  America  for  many 
years  past,  I  could  not  let  this  opportunity  pass  without  supporting 
the  vote. 

The  resolution  was  unanimously  agreed  to,  and  it  was  decided  to 
cable  it  at  once  to  America. 

The  President  then  pronouuced  the  benediction,  and  the  Con- 
ference adjourned. 


SECOND  DAY,  Thursday,  September  Stk. 


PrciiuIcnt—JiiSHOP  Jesse  T.  Peck,  D.D.,  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 


Subject  : 
••METHODISM:    ITS    HISTORY   AND    RESULTS." 


rpHE  CONFEREXCE  resumed    at  Ten    o'clock,  the  Devotional 
-*-      Services  being  conducted  by  the  Rev.  Dri.  DewaPwT,  of  the 
Methodist  Church  of  Canada. 

The  President  drew  the  attention  of  the  Conference  to  the 
7th  Rule,  which  regulates  the  time  to  which  papers  and  speeches  are 
to  be  limited.  He  assumed  that  the  discretion  of  all  brethren 
claiming  the  floor  would  render  it  entirely  unnecessary  to  remind 
them  that  there  was  a  bell  on  the  table. 

Rev.  a.  C.  George,  D.D.,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
brought  forward  a  resolution  respecting  special  committees, 
signed  by  himself  and  the  Rev.  S.  B.  Southerland.  He  said  he 
understood  the  rule  to  mean  that  no  motion  was  necessary  to 
refer  it  to  the  Business  Committee,  but  only  the  statement  of  the 
chair. 

Rev.  John  Bond  said  the  Committee  on  this  side  thought  it 
desirable  that  all  resolutions  should  in  the  first  place  go  to  the 
Business  Committee,  to  be  reported  by  them  at  the  end  of  the  day. 
They  had  slightly  altered  the  recommendations  which  were  sent  to 
them  from  America. 

Rev.  E.  E.  Jenkins  asked  whether  the  Rev.  Dr.  George  had 
corresponded  with  Mr.  Bond,  approving  of  the  amendment  made 
in  England. 


42  METHODISM  :     ITS   HISTORY    AND    RESULTS. 

Rev.  Dr.  George  said  it  was  true  that  Eegulation  No.  6  was 
modified  by  the  Eastern  Section  after  having  been  sent  from  the 
Western  Section,  where  it  originated.  Some  matter  was  struck  out. 
For  instance,  there  was  a  clause  specially  describing  this  as  the 
morning  hour,  and  giving  to  a  speaker  three  minutes  in  which  to 
explain  the  object  of  his  resolution.  It  was  difficult  to  send  sugges- 
tions and  hints  backwards  and  forwards  rapidly,  and  therefore 
some  things  were  taken  for  granted.  His  idea  was  precisely 
as  expressed  in  the  second  regulation :  '*  All  questions,  proposals, 
resolutions,  communications,  or  other  matters,  not  included  in 
the  regular  programme  of  exercises,  which  are  intended  to  be 
brought  before  the  Conference,  shall  be  sent  first  to  the  Business 
Committee."  He  never  supposed  that  there  was  any  other  body 
which  could  send  a  matter  before  the  Business  Committee  except 
the  Conference. 

Mr.  H.  J.  Atkinson  said  he  had  understood  that  any  member 
of  the  body  might  in  his  individual  capacity  send  a  copy  of  a 
proposed  resolution  direct  to  the  Business  Committee. 

The  President  ruled  that  when  any  member  had  anything  for 
the  Business  Committee,  he  should  be  expected  to  name  it  to  the 
Conference. 

Mr.  H.  J.  Atkinson  presented  a  resolution  on  Woman's  Work, 
which  the  President  stated  would  go  to  the  Business  Committee 
under  the  rule. 

Eev.  Dr.  Todd  proposed,  and  the  Rev.  Dr.  Payne  seconded, 
that  the  roll  of  absentees  reported  yesterday  should  be  called.  The 
resolution  was  agreed  to ;  but  on  the  suggestion  of  the  Secretary  the 
calling  of  the  roll  was  postponed. 

Rev.  a.  MgAulay  proposed  ;  "  That,  as  this  day  has  been  set 
apart,  to  a  large  extent,  in  the  United  States  as  a  day  of  intercession 
for  the  recovery  of  President  Garfield,  this  Conference  employ 
the  remaining  part  of  this  hour  in  humbly  asking  the  Divine 
blessing  upon  him,  and  in  submissively  imploring  his  restoration 
to  health." 

Rev.  Dr.  Newman  seconded  the  resolution,  which  was  agreed 
to. 

On  the  invitation  of  the  President  the  Rev.  A.  McAulay  con- 
ducted the  service,  prayer  being  offered  by  Mr.  Shepherd  Allen, 
M.P.,  the  Rev.  Dr.  NewmaU;  the  Rev.  G.  Bowden,  and  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Pope. 


KEV.    WILLIAM   COOKE's   ADDRESS,  43 

The  Rev.  William  Cooke,  D.D.  (Methodist  New  Connexion  of 
Great  Britain),  then  read  the  following  paper,  entitled  The  Grateful 
Becognition  of  the  Hand  of  God  in  the  Origin,  and  Progress  of 
Methodism. 

What  a  scene  before  us  this  day  I  Four  hundred  men  of  piety,  many 
of  learning  and  eloquence,  from  different  and  distant  countries,  yet  all 
of  one  family,  the  mother  and  her  childi'cn,  assembled  here  in  our 
Father's  house,  the  revered  and  honoured  home  of  illustrious  and 
precious  memories ;  and  assembled  not  to  pronounce  anathemas,  for 
we  are  united  by  the  bonds  of  Christian  love  ;  not  to  settle  some  dis- 
puted doctrine,  for  we  are  of  one  faith  ;  but  to  reciprocate  fraternal 
affection,  to  survey  the  past  with  gratitude,  blended  with  humiliation, 
and  to  stimulate  each  other  to  more  holiness  of  heart  and  life,  and  to 
hasten  the  conversion  of  the  world. 

What  a  glorious  fact !  Methodisin,  which  144  years  ago  had  no 
existence,  now  numbering,  according  to  Dr.  Clarke,  of  Savannah, 
4,688,093  members,  and,  including  adherents,  a  Methodist  population 
of  nearly  23,500,000  souls,  and  besides  these  many  millions  of  glorified 
spu-its  in  heaven.  This  is  the  Lord's  doing,  and  it  is  marvellous 
in  our  eyes. 

But  how  did  this  wonderful  work  arise  ?  Did  a  number  of  ecclesi- 
astical magnates  meet  in  council  to  devise  it  by  their  wisdom,  and 
sustaiu  it  by  their  influence  and  power  ?  Nay  ;  it  derived  its  existence 
from  no  human  device.  It  sj)rang,  like  primitive  Christianity,  solely 
from  Divine  influence,  for  even  its  founders,  like  the  apostles  them- 
selves on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  had  no  preconceived  system  of  opera- 
tion, and,  indeed,  no  motive  but  one — to  glorify  God  in  the  salvation 
of  souls.  And  now,  looking  back  upon  its  origin,  we  clearly  see  the 
hand  of  God.  Look  at  the  country  where  it  took  its  rise — this  little 
island.  Its  migratory  population,  its  extensive  commerce,  its  wide- 
spread colonies,  and  its  vast  resources  rendered  Britain  the  fittest 
place  on  earth  for  the  birth  of  Methodism ;  and  we  see  equally  as  clear 
the  hand  of  God  in  making  the  great  continent  of  America,  at  so  early 
a  period,  the  fertile  soil  where  the  scion  was  planted  for  yet  more 
rapid  growth  and  a  more  abundant  harvest. 

Look  now  at  the  period  selected  for  this  great  work.  While  England 
was  the  fittest  jilace,  the  eighteenth  century  was  the  fittest  time  for  its 
origin.  For  then  the  great  work  of  preparation  had  been  accomijlished. 
The  geographical  discoveries  begun  by  Columbus  were  about  to  be 
completed  by  Captain  Cook,  bringing  unknown  regions  of  vast  extent 
into  view  for  the  dominion  of  Christ.  The  Reformers  and  Martyrs  had 
broken  the  iron  yoke  of  Popery,  had  exhumed  the  jirecious  treasure  of 
sacred  truth  from  beneath  a  putrid  heap  of  superstitions,  and  liad 
given  back  the  Bible  to  the  world.    In  the  seventeenth  century  God 


4i  METHODISM  :    ITS   HISTORY   AND   RESULTS. 

raised  up  another  valiant  host — the  Nonconformists — who  by  their 
magnanimous  toils  and  heroic  sufferings  won  for  us  the  priceless  boon 
of  civil  and  religious  liberty,  and  left  behind  them,  as  a  legacy  to 
posterity,  massive  treasures  of  sacred  literature  in  defence  of  Christian 
truth.  And  yet,  after  all  this  providential  preparation,  the  eighteenth 
century  dawned  upon  a  state  of  sad  degeneracy.  The  holy  zeal  of  the 
martyrs  had  cooled  down,  the  vigorous  piety  of  the  Nonconformists 
had  awfully  declined,  and  the  doctrines  of  the  cross  had  become 
obscured  by  ignorance,  or  forgotten  by  indifference,  or  denied  by 
false  teachers.  There  was  a  slumbering  Church  and  a  perishing 
world,  and  the  exceptions  were  rare.  Meanwhile  a  bold  infidelity 
had  come.  Hobbes  and  Rochester  were  dead;  but  BoHngbroke,  and 
Hume,  and  Gibbon,  and  Paine,  and  Voltaire,  and  Rousseau,  and 
Diderot,  and  D'Alembert,  and  Mirabeau  were  the  champions  of  scep- 
ticism in  the  eigliteenth  century.  The  enemy  had  become  bold  and 
defiant,  and  it  was  time  for  God  to  work  ;  and  now  the  gracious  work 
began. 

Already,  indeed,  the  Holy  Sjiirit  had  been  poured  out  in  Moravia, 
under  Christian  David  ;  in  New  England,  under  Jonathan  Edwards. 
Holy  yearnings  for  the  salvation  of  men  were  stirring  in  the  bosom  of 
the  Rev.  James  Robe,  of  Kilsyth.  There  were  also  the  fifteen  young 
men  at  Oxford,  satirically  called  Methodists,  but  sincere,  devout,  and 
prayerful,  though  in  error  ;  and  here  and  there  a  few  other  pious  souls, 
who  wept  in  secret  over  the  errors,  the  worldliness,  the  voluptuousness, 
and  the  infidelity  of  the  age,  and  pleaded  with  God  to  raise  up  some 
Elijahs  and  Elishas  to  rouse  the  dormant  churches  and  penetrate  the 
ignorant  and  vicious  masses  with  the  light  of  Gospel  truth.  Now  the 
prayers  were  answered,  and  the  heralds  of  salvation  appeared — Howell 
Harris  for  Wales,  the  Wesleys  and  Whitefield  for  England  ;  and,  as  a 
providential  coincidence,  these  apostles  of  truth  and  salvation  were 
contemporaneous  with  the  notorious  champions  of  infideUty.  God's 
antidote  was  sent  when  the  poison  was  most  virulent.  It  was  at  the 
right  time  as  well  as  the  right  place  that  God  began  His  glorious 
work. 

Look  now  at  the  qualifications  of  God's  chosen  agents.  John 
Wesley's  mind,  vigorous  and  acute,  and  enriched  with  learning, 
qualified  him  to  define  and  defend  the  great  doctrines  he  had  to  preach. 
This  wonderful  man,  too,  when  a  child,  was  literally  plucked  as  a 
brand  from  the  fire,  even  as  the  prophet  Moses  when  a  child  was 
rescued  from  a  watery  grave;  and  both  the  prophet  of  Israel  and  the 
evangelist  of  England  were  preserved  to  a  grand  old  age  that  each 
might  finish  the  great  work  which  God  had  given  him  to  do.  Verily 
the  hand  of  God  was  here.  Charles  Wesley,  in  addition  to  learning 
and  eloquence,  was  insijired  with  the  gift  of  poetry,  enabling  him  to 
depict  and  express  in  golden  numbers,  as  no  other  man  could,  the 
glowing  fervours  of  the  Methodist  heart.     Verily  the  hand  of  God  was 


KEV.    WILLIAM   COOKE'S   ADDRESS.  45 

here.  George  Whitefield,  with  his  impressive  mien,  his  musical  yet 
po-werful  voice,  and  his  unrivalled  eloquence,  was  the  prince  of 
preachers,  fitted  to  address,  in  words  that  hum  and  thoughts  that 
hreathe,  the  elite  in  the  crowded  church  or  the  motley  thousands 
assembled  in  the  open  air.  Never  were  three  evangehsts  more  com- 
pletely fitted,  physically  and  mentally,  for  their  work.  And  to  these 
natural  qualifications  there  was  added  another  equally  important — 
namely,  a  firm  orthodox  faith  in  the  iusi)iration  of  the  Bible  and  in  the 
essential  verities  of  the  Christian  religion.  Doubt  and  vacillation  liere 
would  have  neutralised  the  highest  attributes  of  mind.  But  their  firm 
and  uncompromising  confidence  prej^ared  them  to  resist  with  adaman- 
tine steadfastness  all  the  scepticism,  the  Arianism,  the  Pelagianism, 
the  Antinomianism,  and  every  other  heresy  of  the  age,  and  to  proclaim 
•with  unfaltering  voice,  and  with  all  the  energy  of  full  conviction,  the 
eternal  verities  of  God's  Word. 

One  qualification  more  these  gifted  men  needed,  and  that  one  the 
most  important  of  all,  namely,  a  clear  experimental  knowledge  of 
personal  salvation  by  the  witness  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  They  fasted, 
they  mortified  the  flesh,  they  gave  alms  of  all  they  possessed;  but  they 
had  not  peace  with  God,  because  they  sought  it  partly  by  works,  and 
not  by  simple  faith  in  Christ  alone.  They  understood  not  the  sinner's 
short  way  of  coming  unto  God.  But  they  were  led  by  the  Divine  hand 
to  the  cross.  Whitefield  first,  after  distressing  agony  of  mind  while  in 
the  college  at  Oxford,  cast  his  soul  on  Christ  and  received  salvation, 
turning  his  sorrow  into  joy  unspeakable  and  full  of  glory.  The  Wesleys, 
a  few  months  after,  through  the  simple  instructions  of  Peter  Bohler, 
the  plain  Moravian,  were  led  into  the  way  of  truth.  At  first  they 
disputed,  but  they  examined  the  Scriptures  and  their  own  homilies,  and 
were  convinced.  Now  they  cast  all  their  self -righteousness  aside,  and 
sought  mercy  by  faith  in  Christ  alone,  and  they  found  the  blessing; 
fixst  Charles,  who  was  tilled  with  joy  and  peace  in  believing  on  May 
21st,  1738,  and  three  days  after  John  entered  into  the  glorious  hberty 
of  the  sons  of  God.  At  once  John  declared  before  all  the  peoijle  what 
God  had  done  for  his  soul ;  and  at  ten  the  same  night,  he  says,  a  troop 
of  friends  took  him  joyously  to  his  brother  Charles,  where  they  sang  a 
hymn  of  praise  and  parted  with  prayer.  Here  again  was  the  hand  of 
God  leading  these  gifted  men  from  bondage  into  liberty,  from  doubt 
and  fear  into  joyous  assurance,  from  formahsm  into  high  spiritual 
religion  and  tilial  communion  with  God, 

Now  these  holy  men,  glowing  with  the  love  of  God  and  precious 
souls,  preached  the  Word  under  a  new  inspiration,  proclaiming  the 
necessity  of  being  bom  again,  and  the  blessings  of  a  full,  free,  and 
present  salvation.  There  was  intense  excitement ;  peoj)le  of  all  classes 
and  creeds  came  to  hear  ;  the  churches  were  densely  crowded  ;  many 
souls  were  converted,  and  God  was  glorified.  But  the  clergy  became 
alarmed;  and  curiosity  :-oon  changed  into  persecution.     The  doctrines 


46  METHODISM:     ITS   HISTORY   AND   RESULTS. 

preached,  tliongh  old  as  Christianity  itself,  were  denied  and  denounced 
as  irrational,  fanatical,  and  absurd,  and  now  the  churches  -were  closed 
against  these  faithful  ministers,  with  the  emphatic  rejjulse,  "  Sirs,  you 
must  preach  here  no  more."  So  said  feeble  man,  thinking  to  arrest 
the  work  of  God  ;  and  for  a  moment  so  it  seemed.  For  so  strict  had 
been  the  views  of  Wesley  on  church  order  that  "he  at  one  time 
thought  it  almost  a  sin  for  souls  to  be  saved  outside  a  church.''  But 
was  it  possible  for  either  these  contracted  and  erroneous  views  or  the 
determined  opposition  of  adversaries  to  frustrate  the  purposes  of  God  ? 
Nay.  As  the  diamond  acquires  brightness  by  friction,  and  as  rivers 
become  more  deep,  broad,  and  majestic  when  their  course  is  for  a 
moment  impeded  by  artificial  mounds,  so  the  opposition  of  man  only 
made  the  truth  shine  all  the  brighter,  and  diffused  more  widely  its 
saving  and  enriching  blessings.  "  You  shall  not  preach  here,"  said 
man.  "  Go,"  said  God,  "  into  the  open  air,  and  preach  to  the  neglected 
masses  there.  Churches  have  walls,  and  shut  out  thousands ;  the 
temple  of  the  universe  is  open  to  all ;  go,  and  proclaim  there  the  words 
of  eternal  life."  They  went  forth  obedient  to  the  voice  of  conscience 
and  of  God.  Whitefield  first,  Feb.  17,  1739,  when  he  preached  to  the 
colliers  at  Ivingswood  ;  and  on  May  2,  only  a  few  weeks  after,  Wesley 
followed  bis  example  at  Bristol.  In  a  few  days  he  stood  up  again,  and 
proclaimed  to  a  crowd  of  5,000  people,  "  Ho,  every  one  that  thirsteth, 
come  ye  to  the  waters,"  &c.  Verily  here  was  the  hand  of  God  leading 
back  His  Church  to  the  usage  of  primitive  times,  when  the  wilderness 
echoed  with  the  voice  of  John,  the  mountain  side  with  the  voice  of 
Jesus,  and  the  open  space  in  Jerusalem  to  the  apostles  on  the  day 
of  Pentecost,  when  thousands  heard  in  the  open  universe  the  first 
sermon  of  the  Christian  dispensation.  As  God  owned  the  preaching  of 
that  day  in  the  open  air  by  the  conversion  of  thousands,  so  did  He  fix 
the  seal  of  His  ajjproval  on  the  sermons  of  Wesley  and  Whitefield 
proclaimed  in  Moorfields,  Blackheath  Common,  Rose  Green,  Gwenup- 
pit,  Smithfield,  and  elsewhere,  for  thousands  were  converted,  sceptics 
being  confounded,  formalists  awakened,  and  licentious  profligates  trans- 
formed into  eminent  examples  and  powerful  advocates  of  Christian 
holiness.  The  word  of  the  Lord  had  free  course  and  was  glorified. 
Are  we  thankful  for  this  return  to  primitive  usage  ?  Then  let  us  prize 
it  and  practise  it  for  God's  glory. 

The  lay  ministry  for  141  years  has  been  a  powerful  agency  in 
Methodism;  but,  like  other  means,  it  came  unlooked  for.  It  arose 
spontaneously  from  the  very  life  of  Methodism.  In  the  nation  there 
were  masses  of  neglected  people  enveloped  in  darkness  and  guilt,  and 
the  Wesleys  and  Whitefield,  with  their  utmost  labours,  could  not  reach 
them ;  were  those  myriads  of  immortal  souls  to  be  left  to  perish  ?  In 
Methodism  there  were  already  genuine  converts,  intelligent  and  earnest 
men,  filled  with  the  Spirit  of  God,  and  fired  with  zeal  for  the  salvation 
of   souls.     Must  these   men   be   doomed   to   silence  ?     In   tlie   Divine 


REV.   WILLIAM   COOKE'S   ADDRESS.  47 

prescience,  too,  "wliicli  sees  the  future  as  the  present,  there  were 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  such  holy  and  gifted  men  coming  on ;  and 
among  them  there  were  to  be  the  brightest  luminaries  and  the  most 
eloquent  preachers  of  the  age — such  as  the  Nelsons,  the  Walshes,  the 
Bradburns,  the  Bram wells,  the  Adam  Clarkes,  the  Newtons,  the  Thomas 
Allins,  the  Buntings,  the  Richard  Watsons,  the  Francis  Asburys,  the 
Morley  Punshons,  and  a  host  of  others.  Were  these  burning  and 
shining  lights  to  be  forbidden  to  pour  forth  their  benevolent  and  holy 
splendour  ?  Were  these  vast  resources  of  God- given,  intellectual,  and 
spiritual  power  to  be  buried  in  oblivion,  while  the  wants  of  the  world 
were  crying  aloud  for  help  ?  Nay  !  Reason  said  it  ought  not ;  God  said 
it  shall  not  be  !  Yet  there  was  a  little  filmy  cloud  of  prejudice,  which 
for  a  moment  bedimmed  the  light  of  heaven.  Both  John  and  Charles 
Wesley,  and  Whitefield,  too,  misled  by  High  Church  notions,  were 
averse  to  lay  preaching  as  unauthorised  and  kregular,  and  though  the 
fervent  and  soul-saving  Welshman,  Howell  Harris,  was  unordained, 
and  though  Humphreys  and  Cennick  were  not  forbidden  to  exercise 
their  gifts  as  exhorters,  yet  when  John  Wesley  heard  that  plain 
Thomas  Maxfield  had  turned  preacher,  he  hastened  to  London  to  -pnt 
down  the  astounding  irregularity.  But  Wesley's  mother  said,  "John, 
take  care  what*  you  do  with  respect  to  that  young  man,  for  he  is  as 
surely  called  of  God  as  you  are.  Hear  him  for  yourself."  He  heard, 
was  convinced,  and  reverently  said,  "  It  is  the  Lord  ;  let  Him  do  what 
seemeth  to  Him  good."  Henceforth  prejudice  vanished,  and  lay 
preaching  became  an  institution  of  Methodism.  Here,  again,  we  see 
the  hand  of  God,  and  that  hand  leading  back  the  Church  to  primi- 
tive usage ;  for  in  the  best  and  brightest  days  of  the  Church,  even 
in  the  very  siJendOlir  of  apostolic  inspiration,  "  the  brethren,"  not 
the  twelve  apostles,  not  the  seventy  discii^les,  nor  the  elected 
deacons  or  evangelists,  but  "  the  brethren  that  were  scattered  abroad 
went  everywhere  preaching  the  Word;"  and  so  it  was  in  Metho- 
dism. The  Lord  gave  the  Word,  and  great  became  the  company  of 
them  that  published  it.  Great,  indeed ;  for  since  Thomas  Maxfield's 
day  the  number  of  lay  preachers  has  swelled  to  myriads ;  it  is  now 
85,4G0;  and  from  this  array  of  labourers  has  been  supplied  the 
31,242  regular  Methodist  ministers  of  the  present  day.  Are  we 
thankful  for  this  return  to  primitive  usage  ?  Then  let  us  faithfully 
adhere  to  it. 

The  class-meeting  is  an  important  means  of  grace;  but  this,  like 
other  elements  in  Methodist  economy,  arose  unexpectedly  and  grew 
spontaneously  from  an  exigency.  In  1740  Mr.  Wesley  had  built  a 
chapel  in  Bristol,  and  he  was  made  responsible  for  the  debt ;  but  he 
had  no  money,  being  accustomed  to  give  away  all  he  had,  except  the 
scanty  amount  of  £28  a  year  necessary  for  his  own  subsistence.  So 
he  called  a  meeting  of  the  Bristol  Society,  when  it  was  agreed  that 
the  members  should  give  to  liquidate  this  chapel  debt  at  the  rate  of 


48  METHODISM  :    ITS   HISTORY   AND   RESULTS. 

one  penny  each  per  week,  and  the  society,  divided  into  classes  of 
twelve  persons,  one  was  made  responsible  for  seeing  all  the  members 
of  one  class,  and  collecting  their  weekly  contributions ;  and  so  for  each 
class  respectively.  This  method  of  personal  visitation,  however,  was 
found  inconvenient,  and  therefore  it  was  resolved  that  each  class 
should  meet  weekly,  and  the  meeting  be  sanctified  by  religious  ex- 
perience, exhortation,  and  prayer.  The  class-meeting  became  thus 
transformed  into  a  means  of  grace,  and  the  same  was  soon  extended 
to  London,  and,  in  time,  to  the  whole  body.  "  This,"  says  Mr. 
Wesley,  "  was  the  origin  of  our  classes,  for  which  I  can  never  sufficiently 
praise  God,  the  unspeakable  usefulness  of  the  institution  having  ever 
since  been  more  and  more  manifest.  Here,,  again,  we  see  the  hand 
of  God  by  these  means,  and  by  love-feasts,  subsequently  adopted, 
leading  back  His  Church  to  primitive  Christianity,  when  "the  dis- 
ciples continued  steadfastly  in  the  apostles'  doctrine  and  fellow- 
ship, and  in  breaking  of  bread,  and  in  prayers."  Are  we  thankful 
for  this  return  to  primitive  usage?  Then  let  us  faithfully  abide 
therein. 

Time  would  fail  to  dwell  upon  the  charitable  organisations  which 
grew  out  of  Methodism, — the  Sabbath  School,  a  Religious  Society, 
a  Dispensary,  a  Strangers'  Friend  Society,  and  the  NaVal  and  Military 
Bible  Society,  all  of  which  spontaneously  sprang  from  the  benevolent 
spirit  of  Methodism  at  an  early  period  of  its  existence,  and  many  years 
before  their  great  congeners  were  founded  and  sustained  by  public 
philanthropy.  But,  while  passing  by  these,  we  must  just  glance  at 
the  progress  of  Methodism,  for  here  we  see  conspicuously  the  hand 
of  God. 

Methodism  is  essentially  aggressive — a  missidhary  institution.  It 
was  made  such  by  the  hand  of  God,  and  that  without  previous  organi- 
sation or  any  human  device;  and,  indeed,  contrary  to  the  early  views 
and  prejudices  of  its  founder.  For  Mr.  Wesley  tells  us  that  even  after 
his  ordination  he  longed  to  bury  himself  in  the  secluded  duties  of  his 
fellowship  at  Oxford,  and  when  it  was  proposed  that  he  should  succeed 
his  father  at  Epworth  he  shrunk  from  the  responsibilities,  alleging  that 
the  care  of  two  thousand  souls  would  crush  him.  But  when  the  soul 
of  this  same  man  was  enlarged  by  the  love  of  God,  he  exclaimed, 
"  The  whole  world  is  my  parish,"  and  here  was  the  hand  of  God 
leading  back  the  Church  to  its  original  duty  and  primitive  condition 
when  it  received  and  obeyed  the  command,  "  Go  into  all  the  world  and 
preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature." 

Missions  sprang  up  spontaneously  in  Methodism  long  before  any 
minister  was  sent  out  by  the  Conference.  Thus,  Nathaniel  Gilbert, 
converted  in  England,  carried  the  Gospel  to  the  Negro  population  in 
the  West  Indies;  and  after  him  the  zealous  John  Baxter,  the  ship 
carpenter ;  and  so  of  Philip  Embury,  and  Barbary  Heck,  and  Captain 
Webb,  in  New  York  ;  and  soon  after  by  other  lay  agency  in  Canada, 


EEV.   WILLIAM   COOKERS   ADDRESS.  49 

Ne-wfonncllancl,  Nova  Scotia,  and  Gibraltar,  where  societies  were 
formed  by  pious  emigrants,  or  devout  merchants,  and  soldiers,  who 
had  been  converted  in  Britain  or  Ireland,  and,  constrained  by  the 
love  of  Christ,  scattered  the  seeds  of  the  Kingdom  in  new  and  distant 
climes. 

In  the  year  1771  Francis  Asbury  was  sent  to  America,  and  about  the 
same  time  the  notorious  Thomas  Paine,  advised  by  a  celebrated  politi- 
cian, went  also  to  that  continent.  In  Paine  there  was  a  deadly  poison  ; 
in  Asbury  there  was  a  powerful  antidote  sent  by  the  hand  of  God  at 
the  right  time.  In  Asbury  what  an  example  of  holiness,  self-denial, 
and  labour  continued  for  forty-five  years,  during  which  period  he  is 
said  to  have  travelled  270,000  mdes,  preached  10,500  sermons,  presided 
over  224  annual  conferences,  ordained  more  than  4,000  preachers, 
and  witnessed  an  increase  of  more  than  196,000  members.  Verily  a 
bishop  of  the  primitive  type  was  he,  with  a  salary  of  sixty-four  dollars 
a  year,  and  who  might  truly  say,  "  Silver  and  gold  have  I  none."  We 
thank  God  for  such  a  man,  and  for  the  noble  army  that  laboured  with 
him,  and  for  the  glorious  success  which  crowned  their  zealous  labours. 
All  glory  be  to  God. 

In  1777  Dr.  Thomas  Coke,  expelled  from  his  parish  because  of  his 
evangelical  doctrines  and  labours,  united  with  the  Methodist  body,  and 
his  soul  was  all  on  fire  for  missions.  In  the  ardour  of  his  zeal  he 
exclaimed,  "  I  want  the  wings  of  an  angel,  and  the  voice  of  a  trumpet, 
that  I  may  proclaim  the  Gospel  through  the  East  and  West,  the  North 
and  South."  And  he  proved  his  sincerity  by  his  deeds.  For  he  crossed 
the  Atlantic  ocean  eighteen  times  at  his  own  expense,  five  times  more 
than  Whitetield;  he  begged  for  Missions  from  door  to  door,  he  urged 
ministers  to  give  themselves  up  for  the  foreign  work  ;  he  projected  the 
mission  to  India,  and  embarked  himself  for  that  country  at  the  advanced 
age  of  near  70,  and  died  on  his  passage,  doubtless  a  martyr  to  the  work. 
From  this  time  Methodist  missions  spread  rapidly,  and  now  where 
shaU  we  not  find  them  ?  They  are  in  every  latitude,  from  Norway, 
Sweden,  and  Denmark  in  the  North,  to  New  Zealand  in  the  South,  and 
in  almost  every  longitude,  from  the  savages  of  Fiji  in  the  West,  to  the 
Chinese  and  Japanese  in  the  East;  and  in  every  region  God  has 
crowned  them  with  His  blessing. 

Here,  then,  in  this  brief  survey  of  Methodism,  we  see  the  har.d  of 
God  most  clearly,  powerfully,  and  beneficently  displayed;  and  the 
claim  on  our  gratitude  is  immense.  How  shall  -w'e  show  it  ?  By  our 
united  thanksgiving  and  praise.  Lot  the  whole  Methodist  world  sinrf 
aloud,  "  Thine,  O  Lord,  is  the  greatness,  and  the  power,  and  Iho  g'ory, 
and  the  victory,  and  the  majesty ;  for  all  that  is  in  the  heaven  and  the 
earth  is  Thine.  Therefore  blessed  be  the  Lord  God,  the  God  of  J.iracl, 
who  only  doeth  wondrous  things,  and  blessed  be  His  glorious  vpsue  for 
ever,  and  let  the  whole  earth  be  filled  with  His  glory.  Aineu  and 
Amen."     This  is  a  prediction  as  weU  as  a  prayer.     How  shall  we  turn 

E 


50  METHODISM:    ITS    HISTORY   AND   RESULTS. 

the  prophecy  into  history  ?  By  personal  holiness,  by  zealous  labour, 
by  beneficence,  and  prayer,  for  this  is  the  way  our  fathers  trod,  and 
these  the  -weapons  our  fathers  used,  and  by  which  they  have  won  the 
victories  over  which  we  rejoice  this  day.  Let  the  motto  of  Howard's 
consecration  be  ours :  "  Health,  time,  worldly  possessions,  powers  of 
body  and  of  mind,  and  life  itself,  are  all  from  God,  Do  I  devote  them 
all  to  His  glory:  so  help  me,  O  my  God."  All  are  too  little  for  God 
and  His  holy  cause,  and  for  dying  men.  O  for  the  zeal  of  the  seraphic 
Whitefield,  when  he  exclaimed,  "  O  f or  more  tongues,  more  souls,  more 
bodies  for  the  Lord  Jesus.  Had  I  ten  thousand  He  should  have  them 
all.  0  for  power  equal  to  my  will.  I  would  fly  from  pole  to  pole, 
preaching  the  everlasting  Gospel  of  the  blessed  God."  Or  as  the  same 
sentiment  is  breathed  in  Wesley's  poetic  prayer ; — 

**  If  so  i:)oor  a  worm  as  I 

May  to  Thy  great  glory  live, 
All  my  actions  sanctify, 

All  my  words  and  thoughts  receive. 
Claim  me  for  Thy  service,  claim 

All  I  have  and  all  I  am." 

Rev.  W.  X.  NiNDE,  D.D.   (of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church),  said : 
The  recognition  of  God's  hand   in  our  denominational   history  is   to   be 
esteemed   not  so  much   an   obligation   as  a  distinguished  privilege.     We 
gladly  heed  the  apostle's  admonition,  "  He  that  glorieth  let  him  glory  in 
the  Lord."     When  Methodism  was  a  "  little  one  "  it  was  the  joy  of  the 
fathers  that  they  had  been  thrust  out  to  raise  up  a  holy  people  ;  but  now 
that  the  little  one  has  become  a  thousand,  and  the  small  one  a  strong 
nation,  the  fear  is  that  we  shall  be  tempted  to  self-complacency,  if  not  to 
wicked  self-adulation.     God  forbid  that  in  the  day  of  our  prosperity  we 
shall  be  unmindful  of  Him !     As  I  listened  to  the  stirring  address  which 
has  just  been  given  my  heart  was  strongly  moved.     Surely  Methodism  has 
had  a  wonderful  history.     It  is  not  my  purpose  to  comment  on  the  points 
of  the  address,  nor  would  it  be  wise  in  the  limited  time  allotted  to  pass 
even  superficially  over  the  whole  field  of  view.     I  trust  I  shall  not  seem 
unoecumenical  if  I  limit  myself  to  that  land  with  which  I  am  most  familiar 
— and  where  Methodism  has  had  a  wonderful  field,  and  a  no  less  wonderful 
development.     We  who  live  on  the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic  are  disposed 
to  look  upon  our  national  history  as  possessing  a  strikingly  providential 
aspect.     We  can  see  a  providential  agency  in  the  veiling  of  those  Western 
continents  till  they  were  opportunely  revealed  at  the  full  ripening  of  the 
Divine  purpose.     We  think  it  a  providence  that  what  has  become  the  pre- 
dominant power  of  the  New  World  was  settled,  not  by  Peninsular  Papists, 
but  by  French  Huguenots  and  Scotch  Covenanters  and  Dutch  Calvinists, 
and  especially  the  Pilgrim  Fathers  of  sturdy  English  stock.      And  we 
are  sure  we  can  see  the  hand  of  God  strikingly  manifest  in  the  advent 
to  our  shores  of  those  Wesleyan  pioneers,  whose  successors  have  kept 


REV.    W.    X.    NIXDES   ADDRESS.  51 

pace  with  the  advancing  population,  ringing  out  tJie  tidings  of  free 
grace  in  the  remotest  cabins  of  our  fi-ontier.  Methodism  has  proved  her 
adaptation  to  every  class  and  to  every  part  of  the  American  Union ;  yet 
perhaps  her  influence  has  been  most  signal!}^  beneficent  in  what  we  call  the 
great  West  of  our  country.  Here  our  cause  in  earlier  days  had  the  sweep 
of  the  field,  and  here  to  this  hour  in  large  measure  lies  our  numerical  and 
,  social  strength.  It  is  worthy  of  note  that  a  distinguished  personage,  not 
a  Methodist,  had  the  frankness  to  assert  publicly  that  the  force  which  saved 
the  Western  States  of  the  American  Union,  not  only  from  the  destructive 
flood  of  French  infidelity,  but  from  barbarism  itself,  was  the  pioneer 
preachers  of  the  Methodist  Church.  In  the  briefest  manner  possible  let 
me  call  your  attention  to  two  features  of  Methodism  which,  under  God, 
have  contributed  very  largely  to  her  success  in  our  Western  Hemisphere. 
The  first  is  her  itinerating  ministry  with  the  principle  of  voluntary  support. 
"Whether  adapted  or  unadapted  to  historic  communities,  our  travelling 
ministry  is  the  only  system  which  could  have  gospelised  those  populating 
tides  which  moved  with  steady  advance  from  the  seaboard  to  the 
Alleghenies,  from  the  Alleghenies  to  the  Mississippi,  and  more  recently 
have  crossed  the  Sierras,  and  found  their  only  check  on  the  golden  strand 
of  the  Pacific.  God's  messengers  waited  for  no  human  call  ;  they  tarried 
not  in  those  urgent  earlier  times  for  a  preparatory  literary  training  ;  they 
heeded  a  Macedonian  cry,  and  sought  learning  amid  forest  solitudes  and  by 
cabin  fires.  And  they  have  built  their  monument  in  the  fair  Christian 
civilisation  of  our  Western  States.  The  other  feature  to  which  I  refer  is 
the  remarkable  adaptation  of  Methodism  to  the  peculiar  tastes  of  our  people. 
Our  economy  has  sometimes  been  reproached  as  out  of  harmony  with  the 
genius  of  our  Government ;  but  no  polity  can  be  justly  obnoxious  to  such 
a  charge  which  commands  the  unwavering  support  of  an  intelligent  liberty- 
loving  community,  who  are  closely  related  to  it.  Our  economy  is  not 
undemocratic,  but  it  is  thoroughly  militant,  and  herein  lies  its  superior 
efficiency.  Without  detracting  from  the  influence  of  kindred  Christian 
bodies,  the  fact  is  undeniable  that  in  Republican  America  Methodism  has 
proved  the  most  pervasively  popular  of  any  ecclesiastical  system  known  in 
the  land  ;  and  this  is  so  thoroughly  true  that  in  cases  vital  to  good  morals 
or  to  the  life  of  a  nation,  Methodism  has  exerted  indirectly  a  commanding 
political  influence  which  the  evil-disposed  have  dreaded,  and  which  good 
men  of  all  parties  and  Churches  have  confessed  and  hailed.  The  simplicity 
of  her  forms,  the  vigour  of  her  evangelising  movements,  the  freedom  she 
allows  to  spiritual  development,  as  well  as  her  faithful  ministry  to  the  poor, 
have  given  her  in  our  country  an  unrivalled  hold  on  tbe  popular  heart.  Sir, 
I  will  close  as  I  began,  by  saying  that  Methodism  has  had  indeed  a 
wonderful  providential  origin  r.nd  history  ;  but  I  cannot  join  with  those 
who,  admitting  all  we  may  say  of  lier  past,  insist  that  lier  special  mission 
is  virtually  ended.  We  believe  she  has  opportunities  which  may  make 
her  future  radiant  like  her  past.  If  at  every  onward  step  we  gratefully 
recognise  God's  hand,  our  destiny  of  continued  usefulness  is  assured.     One 

E  2 


52  METHODISM  :    ITS   HISTORY   AND   RESULTS. 

of  the  first  places  which  we  of  Saxon  lineage  have  been  disposed  to  visit 
is  that  venerable  pile  which  is  at  once  a  temple  of  religion  and  a  shrine  of 
the  storied  dead.  As  I  stood  the  other  day  and  looked  upon  the  monumental 
slab  which  no  follower  of  Wesley,  wherever  his  home,  can  look  upon 
without  emotion,  the  very  place  seemed  tonic  with  sacred  memories  ;  but, 
just  then,  a  graven  sentence  caught  my  eye,  and  riveted  itself  upon  my 
heart  with  an  impressiveness  never  felt  before.  The  words  were  these  : — 
"  God  buries  His  workmen,  but  carries  on  His  \vork."  That  pregnant 
sentence  broke  my  reverie,  and  lifted  me  out  of  the  past  into  the  dreadful 
present  and  the  ever-hopeful  future. 

Rev.  J.  Gardiner,  D.C.L.  (of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in 
Canada),  said  :  I  rise,  sir,  in  the  spirit  of  the  topic  now  before  us — namely, 
grateful  recognition  of  the  hand  of  God.  I  shall  not  repeat  history  ;  for  in 
so  doing  I  could  not  inform  or  edify  many  of  the  people  or  any  of  the 
delegates  before  me  to-day.  From  the  country  to  which  I  am  now  specially 
indebted,  we  have  history  opening  at  the  death  of  the  venerable  founder  of 
Methodism,  from  '91  forward.  Of  the  absolute  desolation  of  that  country, 
the  great  want  of  religious  agency,  I  need  not  speak.  Methodism  — 
active,  vigorous,  trusting  in  God — opened  its  agencies  through  a  few  efficient, 
ardent  men  of  faith — men  devoted  to  their  work.  The  result  is  replete  with 
pleasure  and  instruction  and  inspiration  to  us  who  are  specially  familiar 
therewith.  For  more  than  thirty  years  there  were  comparatively  few.  At 
the  expiration  of  that  date  large  territories,  where  settlements  were  com- 
paratively thick,  found  no  convenience  whatever.  May  I  particularise  ? 
At  the  time  of  my  own  early  boyhood  in  that  country,  iiity-four  years  ago, 
in  one  of  the  best  populated  sections,  an  entire  township  had  no  religious 
convenience  but  one  school-house  ;  no  Methodist  preaching  but  in  that 
school- house  or  in  the  houses  of  settlers.  The  first  ministration  I  ever 
listened  to  was  in  a  beautiful  forest  on  the  morning  of  the  Lord's-day.  The 
speakers  were  not  all  even  dignified  with  the  title  of  preacher.  The  first 
was  of  a  character  and  in  a  position  that  I  am  sorry  in  some  degree  has 
faded  from  Methodism,  namely  the  "  exhorter ; "  and  the  first  religious 
impression  made  upon  ray  young  heart  was  from  the  lips  of  that  man  of 
God.  The  Lord  Jehovah,  the  great  mercy  of  God,  the  provisions  of  salva- 
tion, were  set  forth  in  his  exhortation  ;  and  the  presence  of  the  Maker 
greatly  surpassed  the  eloquence  but  not  the  earnestness  of  the  man.  Now, 
spreading  from  that  period  over  the  vast  extent  of  British  North  America, 
"  What  hath  God  wrought  !  "  In  all  our  activities  the  hand  of  God  has  led 
and  guided  and  defended  :  for  that  defence  was  needed.  I  shall  not  state 
history,  but  there  is  one  fact  which  I  ought  here  to  mention.  So  far  as  my 
personal  knowledge  extends,  the  first  Methodist  ministry  that  ever  took 
place  in  connection  with  legislatures,  or  the  work  of  legislation,  in  any  of 
the  countries,  occurred  in  the  town  of  Little  York.  When  at  the  call  of  the 
House  the  ministers  of  the  town  were  invited  to  serve  as  chaplains,  one  of 
the  first  in  that  department  was  the  well-kuown  and  honoured  Franklin 
Metcalf,  who  performed  that  service.  I  advert  to  this  fact  in  seeing  the 
hand  of  God  leading  our  Methodism,  and  in  seeing  the  manifestations  of 
His  love  increase.  In  view  of  it  all,  though  somewhat  sub-divided,  we  are 
imited,  we  are  vigorous,  and  we  are  growing  with  wondrous  strength.  Now 
I  think  the  hand  of  God  is  traceable  in  the  only  supply  that  has  been  avail- 
able in  all  these  ranges  of  moral  destitution.     [The  bell  was  here  rung.] 

Eev.  Dr.  J.  0.  A.  Clark  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South),  said :  The 
subject  is  the  grateful  recognition  of  the  hand  of  God  in  the  origin  and 
progress  of  Methodism.     I  should  like  to  speak  one  word  of  special  gratitude 


GENERAL   BEMAEKS.  53 

to  God  for  the  work  which  He  has  wrought  through  the  Wesleys  and  the 
Methodists.  I  wouhi  therefore  propose  that  we  should  pause  a  moment  and 
praise  God  for  what  He  has  done.  Let  each  one  say  with  the  Psahnist, 
"  Bless  the  Lord,  O  my  soul,  aiad  all  that  is  within  me  bless  His  holy 
name."  Let  us  remember,  brethren,  that  the  sole  return  God  doth  require 
is,  that  we  a«k  for  more.  Shall  we  not,  then,  open  our  hearts  this  morninrr, 
and  ask  for  more,  so  that,  glorious  and  precious  as  have  been  the  results  (jf 
Methodism  in  the  past,  they  may  be  more  glorious  in  the  future  ?  (Hear, 
hear.) 

Eev.  Dr.  Kynett  (Secretary  of  the  Board  of  Church  Extension  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church)  :  As  others  hesitate  to  speak,  I  take  this 
opportunity  of  saying  that  it  seems  to  me  in  nothing  in  our  history  has 
the  providence  of  God  been  more  manifest  than  in  this,  that  He  has  led  His 
servants  so  to  organise  the  work  of  Methodism  as  that  it  is  perpetuated 
from  generation  to  generation.  It  is  to  the  organising  power  of  John 
Wesley  that  we  owe  the  Methodism  of  to-day,  as  well  as  the  work  it  has 
accomplished  in  the  past.  And  in  connection  with  this  subject  I  wish  to 
direct  the  attention  of  the  Conference  to  the  fact  that  a  variety  of  organised 
forms  of  Christian  work  have  come  into  existence  in  our  Methodism  which, 
selecting  special  fields  of  labour,  have  accomplished  marvellous  results.  I 
have  the  honour  to  stand  connected  with  one  of  these — that  of  the  Board  of 
Church  Extension  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  the  United  States, 
organised,  under  Divine  providence,  by  direction  of  our  General  Conference 
in  1864.  I  think  I  may  say  that  it  is  regarded  by  Methodists  beyond  the 
water  as  the  most  remarkable  work  of  Methodism  in  the  New  World  during 
the  last  decade.  God  has  so  united  the  hearts  and  directed  the  liberality  of 
the  Church  in  this  work  that  we  are  now  aiding  in  the  erection  of  a  church 
a  day — (hear,  hear) — chiefly  in  the  destitute  fields  we  occupy  along  the  lines 
of  the  frontier.  During  the  year  1880  we  not  only  had  a  new  church 
dedicated  every  time  the  sun  rose,  but  we  had  twenty  to  credit  to  the  year 
1881,  and  this  year  we  hope  to  exceed  that  number.  (Hear,  hear)  We 
did  indulge  the  hope  that  we  should  hear,  on  the  floor  of  this  Conference, 
of  the  great  work  accomplished  by  the  Wesleyan  Chapel  Fund  Committee, 
on  this  side  of  the  water,  and  by  the  Metiopolitan  Chapel  Fund  Committee, 
in  this  great  city  of  London  ;  for  we  have  been  led  to  believe  on  the  other 
side  that  no  work  of  JNIethodism  in  Great  Britain  has  more  clearly  indicated 
the  good  providence  of  God  than  the  work  accomplished  through  these 
organised  agencies  here.  We  shall  rejoice  to  witness  the  increased  prosperity 
of  this  and  every  department  of  the  work  of  God  in  the  Methodist  Churches 
throughout  the  world. 

Mr.  H.  J.  Atkinson,  J. P.  :  It  is  only  because  there  is  so  much  room  that 
I  present  myself  at  all,  but  there  is  one  point  upon  which  I  feel  so  strongly, 
that  I  take  one  minute  of  the  time  of  this  Conference  to  express  it.  The 
point  before  us  is  the  grateful  recognition  of  (rod's  hand  in  the  origin  of 
Methodism.  I  wish  to  say  that  I  consider  it  was  a  most  providential  thintr 
that  the  origin  of  Methodism  was  such  that  it  was  free  entirely  from  all 
political  party  bias,  and  I  believe  the  blessing  of  God  has  been  upiui  it 
in  great  measure  through  that  circumstance.  We  go  on,  not  only  dealing 
■with  the  origin,  but  the  progress  of  INIethodism.  I  wish  to  say  that  it  is  my 
most  solemn  conviction  that  the  blessing  of  God,  so  far  as  the  progress 
of  Methodism  is  concerned,  is  in  some  measure  dependent — so  far  as  it  can 
be  depended  upon  anything  that  is  merely  human — upon  our  keeping  to  that 
point,  and  not  mixing  up  political  and  party  bias  with  anything  that  afiects 
the  work  of  God  in  connection  with  Methodism. 

Eev,  Colin  C.  M'Kechnie  :  There  is  one  thing  in  connection  with  this 
very  important  subject,  which  I  think  the  Conference  ought  to  look  at, 
and  that  is  the  hand  of  God  in  the  divisions  of  Methodism.     I  am  glad  to 


54  METHODISM  :    ITS   HISTORY  AND   RESULTS. 

• 

find  that  the  Conference  can  look  at  such  a  subject  with  good-humour. 
(Hear,  hear.)  This  proves  that  we  have  advanced  considerably.  Just 
as  storms  are  designed  to  purify  the  atmosphere,  so,  in  my  humble  opinion, 
have  the  vaiious  divisions  of  Methodism  tended  to  purify  us.  I  am 
afraid  we  have  looked  at  the  question  of  divisions  too  much  from  another 
standpoint,  not  as  seeing  the  hand  of  God  in  them,  but  as  seeing  the  hand  of 
something  woi-se  than  man.  Therefore  I  thought  I  would  moot  this  point 
for  your  consideration.  By  those  divisions  we  have  all  been  learning  some- 
thing. (Hear,  hear.)  Those  that  have  not  divided  have  been  learning 
something,  and  those  that  have  divided  have  been  learning  much.  The 
other  point  in  which  I  see  the  hand  of  God  is  in  this  fact,  that  the  several 
divisions  of  Methodism  have  all  been  brought  together,  if  I  may  so  say, 
in  this  great  CEcumenical  Conference  for  brotherly  consultation  on  subjects 
of  deepest  importance  to  each  and  all. 

Rev.  Bishop  Brown  (of  the  African  Methodist  Episcopal  Church) :  After 
the  remarks  of  the  last  brother  I  felt  that  I  had  something  to  say  in  this 
experience  meeting.  I  understood  him  to  say  that  divisions  are  most 
excellent  things.  That  was  the  idea  I  understood  him  to  express,  and 
he  said  also  that  those  who  have  divided  and  those  who  have  not  divided 
were  learning  something.  Possibly  that  is  so.  I  shall  say  nothing  particular 
about  that.  However,  I  belong  to  one  of  the  offshoots  from  the  great 
Methodist  family,  and  my  good  friend  who  notified  me  some  weeks  ago  that 
he  would  want  me  to  say  a  word  here,  told  me  I  must  say  this  word  for  the 
African  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  I  wish  to  say  that  the  African 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  represented  here  to-day  by  her  ten  delegates, 
comes  to  you  with  warm  hearts,  with  an  earnest  spirit,  and  with  the 
fire  of  enthusiasm  that  has  fired  up  and  stirred  up  otiier  branches  of  the 
Methodist  family  for  the  salvation  of  the  world.  God  moved  our  fathers 
years  and  years  ago  to  plant  this  branch  of  the  Church.  It  has  gone 
on  steadily  and  quietly,  and  now  there  are  400,000  who  are  united  with 
us,  and  we  are  hard  at  work.  We  can  see  God  in  all  this  movement ; 
we  bless  His  name,  and  praise  Him  for  His  goodness.  We  thank  Him 
for  the  utterances  which  we  have  heard,  and  we  shall  go,  I  trust,  from  these 
meetings  strengthened  and  encouraged.  The  African  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  is  not  opposed  to  Methodism  in  any  particular  ;  she  is  Episcopal,  she 
adheres  to  her  class-meetings,  love-feasts,  experience-meetings.  Conferences, 
annual  and  general,  and  to  all  the  paraphernalia  which  has  given  Methodism 
such  grand  success  on  our  side  of  the  water  and  everywhere.  To  God  be 
all  the  praise  for  that  Providence  which  has  guided  us  all  these  years.  My 
wish  is  that  He  may  continue  His'  watchful  care  over  us. 

The  Doxology  was  then  sung. 


The  Rev.  Arthur  Edwards,  D.D.  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church), 
then  read  an  essay  on  Statistics  of  Methodism  Rep-eseiited  in  the 
Conference. 

John  Wesley  abided  in  Christ,  and,  therefore,  as  an  inspired  man,  he 
has  brought  forth  abundant  fruit.  That  Methodism,  which  Luke 
Tyerman  calls  the  gi-eatest  fact  in  the  history  of  Christ's  Church,  and 
which  begun  to  unfold  yonder  in  that  college  town,  in  our  Lord's 
precious  year,  1729,  has  been  borne,  hke  a  benediction,  upon  the  wings 
of  the  Holy  Spirit,  until  it  has  become,  Hke  unto  the  Spirit,  well-nigh 
omnipresent.     That  greatest  "fact"  and  force,  whose  genesis  seems 


EEV.  ARTHUR  EDWARDS's  ADDRESS.  65 

but  of  yesterday,  at  this  moment  is  ministering  blessings  and  conscious 
salvation  to  Africa,  Australia,  Bulgaria,  Canada,  the  Channel  Islands, 
China,  Denmark,  the  East  and  West  Indies,  England,  France, 
Germany,  India,  Ireland,  Italy,  Japan,  Mexico,  New  Zealand,  Norway, ' 
Scotland,  South  America,  Sweden,  Switzerland,  the  Sandwich  Islands, 
Turkey,  the  United  States,  Wales,  and  stiU.  looks  for  other  lands  to 
conquer  by  and  for  the  sake  of  the  love  of  Christ.  Our  Di\'inely- 
ordaiued  leader,  aheady  within  the  gleam  and  glory,  as  he  lay  dying 
in  yonder  room,  triumphantly  said.  The  best  of  all  is,  "  God  is  with  us." 
He  has  never  "passed  away;  "  he  has  simply  entered  into  a  perpetual 
present  tense ;  he  was  ;  he  is.  I  beUeve  reverently  that  John 
Wesley,  as  a  seer,  beheld  these  later  days,  and  knew  that  God  would 
remain  ^^dth  us.  From  another  Pisgah,  he  saw  the  triumph  from  afar ; 
by  fait/h  he  brought  it  nigh. 

The  Church  we  represent  began  a  little  more  than  a  century  ago 
without  one  penny  of  endowment,  but  it  has  garnered  material  millions 
of  money  which  no  Government  seeks  to  sequester.  Our  chief  solici- 
tude is — lest  rulers  may  force  treasures  upon  us  and  thereby  place  us 
in  bonds.  Our  best  record  is  in  the  souls  we  have  garnered.  Begin- 
ning under  the  ban  of  unchurchliuess,  we  have  a  constituency  of 
nearly  five  millions  to  whom  the  pure  Word  is  preached,  and  unto 
whom  the  sacraments  are  duly  ministered.  To  God  alone  be  all  the 
glory  !  There  was  Divine  philosophy  in  prohibiting  the  "  numbering 
of  Israel."  I  fear  that  the  celebration  of  both  the  EngHsh  and  the 
American  centenary  years  of  Wesley anism,  respectively  in  1839  and 
1866,  while  it  stimulated  grand  giving  and  glorious  gratitude,  yet  made 
the  impression  upon  too  many  in  the  Church  that  Methodism  was  a 
comi)lete  engine  which  of  its  own  working  would  carry  forward  God's 
redemption  while  the  happy  saints  might  stand  stUl  and  see  the  sal- 
vation of  the  Lord,  and  expend  their  energies  in  shouts  of  praise.  It 
is  proper,  however,  to  thankfully  estimate  our  harvest  in  order  that 
our  gi-ateful  tithes  may  be  f uU. 

Were  I  asked  to  express  graphically  the  progress  of  Methodism,  I 
should  draw  three  concentric  circles,  with  radii  passing  from  the 
common  centre  to  the  outer,  third  cu'cumference.  The  inner  circle 
should  contain  the  words,  "Wesley  and  Ms  inspired  methods."  The 
radii  should  represent  the  respective  elements  in  Wesley's  method  of 
work.  The  inner  circular  ring,  next  to  the  inner  circle,  should  represent 
results  during  Wesley's  life  ;  and  the  outer  circular  ring  should  express 
our  Church  progress  during  the  last  eighty-nine  years,  since  our 
founder's  death.  The  sum  of  these  results  along  these  radiant  Hues  of 
influence  accounts  for  the  Methodism  of  1881.  That  inner  circle  in  my 
drawing  encloses  in  embryo,  like  a  capsule,  all  legitimate  germs  and 
results  in  our  Church  history.  Wherever  the  Church  has  followed 
faithfully  along  a  gleaming  radius  of  power  designated  and  inaugnrated 
by  Wesley,  Methodism  has  been  successful.     Whenever  and  wherever 


56  METHODISM:   ITS   HISTORY  AND   RESULTS. 

a  radius  has  been  abandoned,  Wesleyanism  has  been  shorn  of  power. 
Conversely,  whenever  a  new  method  or  a  new  element  in  method  has 
been  interpolated,  the  Divinely-constructed  system  has  been  shocked 
and  obstructed  by  the  foreign  and  non-correlated  presence.  In  doctrine 
and  polity  we  have  constant  right  and  bounden  duty  to  ask,  "/*  it 
Wesleyan  ?  " 

My  first  graphic  radius  respects  the  people.    The  emergency  respected 
not  the  altar,  but  the  outer  courts  where  besotted  souls  had  hunger. 
The  world  was  in  sad  need  when  God  raised  up  the  Wesleys.     The 
restoration  of  King  Charles  Second  seemed  too  much  like  an  endorse- 
ment of  the  i)ublic  profligacy,    aside   from    political   questions,   that 
precipitated  his  father's  violent  death.     As  to  the  state  of  things  in 
Church  and  State,  a  cloud  of  witnesses  in  the  Established  Church  bear 
terrible  testimony.     The  personal  history  of  scores  of  scampish  noble- 
men, the  writings  and  avowed  philosophy  of  more  scores  of  indifferent, 
deistical  and  atheistic  scholars,  and  the  condition  of  the  masses,  confirm 
horribly  that  terrible  testimony.     The  descent  of  Moses  from  God's 
mount  to  rebuke  idolatrous  Israel  was  the  general  prototype  of  the 
Divine  mission    for   which   John   Wesley  was   born   at  Ep worth,   in 
Lincolnshire,  in  1703,  and  was  Divinely  prepared  in  his  precious  home 
and  at  Oxford.     He  was  of  a  Westley  or  Wesley  Levite  family.     His 
great-grandfather  and  grandfather  were  both  ejected  ministers.     His 
grandfather  John  was  at  first  commissioned  to  preach  the  Gospel  at 
large,  and,  significantly,  was  sent  at  first  to  preach  to  neglected  seamen 
near  Weymouth.     He  then  became  more  of  a  refugee  than  our  John 
Wesley  ever  was,  and  our  founder  had  grandly  patient  blood  in  his 
veins  that  flowed  down  to  him  through  his  grand,  and  in  all  senses 
great-grandparents.     Samuel   Wesley,  the   father,  was  brought  up  a 
Dissenter,  but  was  made  a  Churchman  through  his  candour  in  con- 
troversy.    John   Wesley,  therefore,   had   a  doubly  just  view  of  the 
coming  battle  from  the  two   standpoints  of  Dissent   and  the  Estab- 
lishment.    Like  the  apostles  in  the  upper  chamber,  the  two  Wesleys, 
with  others,  in  1729,  began  preparation  for  their  mission  of  redeeming 
England  and  the  world.     John  Wesley  finally  went  to  Georgia,  and 
soon  after  his  return  God's  Spirit  taught  him  the  secret  of  instan- 
taneous  conversion — his  brother   Charles  preceding  him  three  days 
into  this  kingdom  of  personal  experience.     Then  began  the  work  in 
earnest.     He  went  "  unto  his  own,"  but  his  own  received  him  not ; 
they  thrust  him  out  of  their  churches.     Wesley  was  thus  ordained  for 
work  among  those  who  do   not   go  to  the  churches.     In   Moorfields, 
among  the  Stafford  potters,  the  Kingswood  colliers,  and  the  neglected 
of  the  United  Kingdom,  he  went  like  a  blazing  herald  and  in  the  King's 
name.     Think  of  a  crowd  of  from  20,000  to  30,000   in  the  open  air 
hearing  him  who,  like  his  Master,  went  up  into  a  mountain  to  find  a 
pulpit.     Darius   or    Alexander   or   Xenophon    never    penned    such    a 
journal.     Reverently  still,  we  declare  that  these  pictures  are  almost  as 


REV.    AllTHUR   EDWARDS'S   ADDRESS.  67 

impressive  as  Cluist's  open-air  preaching  in  Palestine,  since  John 
Wesley  was  loyal  to  that  heavenly  call  to  feed  the  multitude.  In  both 
cases  priestly  oppressors  assailed  the  teachers,  and  thereby  demon- 
strated that  those  who  had  neglected  the  people  had  also  made  their 
temples  houses  of  merchandise.  This  open-air  evangelism  in  both 
cases  implies  helpers  glad  to  enlist  under  the  white  banner  of  the 
Gospel.  Myles's  Chronological  History  in  England,  Jesse  Lee's  in  the 
United  States,  and  Tyerman's  Modem  Estimate,  give  us  541  preachers 
and  134,549  members  of  our  Church  at  about  the  date  of  Wesley's 
death.  Wesley's  energy  is  historic,  and  a  legacy  to  all  continents. 
American  Methodists  caught  his  spirit,  and  Asbury  was  Hke  him.  It  is 
quite  curious  what  even  pace  our  American  figures  kept  Tvith  those  in 
England  proper.  At  the  Conference  before  Wesley's  death  England 
had  195  preachers,  and  the  United  States  198 ;  England  had  53,000 
members,  and  the  United  States  63,000.  The  American  sheep  were 
more  widely  scattered,  and  only  an  Asbury  could  find  them. 

Lay  preaching  was  in  Wesley's  original  plan.  When  it  began  to 
develop  he  faltered,  but  his  dear  old  mother  brought  the  Divine  thought 
into  focus.  The  converted  soul  testifies.  The  converted  soul,  in- 
structed, begins  to  teach  on  a  plane,  perhaps  below  that  committed  to 
the  regular  pastor ;  but  you  may  as  well  attempt  to  stifle  individual 
testimony  as  to  strangle  the  minor  hortation  of  laymen,  who  have  come 
fully  into  the  light.  Hence  the  genuineness  of  Wesleyan  work  for  the 
masses  was  sanctioned  and  ratified  by  the  resurrection  of  men  who,  as 
laymen,  sought  to  edify  their  humble  brethren.  The  continued  sanction 
in  current  and  contemporary  Methodism  is  proven  by  the  numbers  of 
her  lay  ministry. 

Attention  was,  of  course,  next  turned  to  the  neglected  children  of  the 
neglected  and  neglectful  parents.  Kobert  Raikes  shall  wear  his  un- 
contested crown,  but  the  Sunday-school  movement  began  in  a  conver- 
sation betw-een  Raikes  and  a  Miss  Cook,  who,  later,  became  the  wife  of 
Samuel  Bradburn,  of  precious  Wesleyan  memory.  Mary  Fletcher  also 
began  in  the  work,  and  John  Weslej'  conjectured  that  "  these  schools 
may  become  nurseries  for  Christians."  In  1787  he  said  more  con- 
fidently-, "  These  [schools]  will  be  one  great  means  of  reviving  rehgion 
throughout  the  nation."  Mylcs  says  that  a  few  years  after  Wesley's 
death  30,000  children  were  being  "instructed  by  the  Methodists  of  Great 
Britain  on  the  Lord's-day."  The  American  Conference  in  1790  resolved 
to  establish  Sunday-schools,  and  did  so.  The  universal  prescription, 
by  every  form  of  modern  Methodist  discipUne,  secures  a  Sunday-school 
■wherever  you  can  find  ten  children,  and  often  before  a  church  class  is 
formed.  You  may  generally  infer  the  membership  in  an  individual 
*'  Societj' "  from  the  numbers  in  the  Sunday-school,  and  vice  versa. 
Present  figures  give  results  as  follows ;  — 

15,000,000  cliildreu  in  Protestant  Sunday-schools;  of  these  7,500,000  are  within 
the  United  States  and  Cauada. 


58  METHODISM:    ITS   HISTORY   AND   RESULTS. 

Missions  are  the  body,  soul,  and  spirit  of  Methodism.      A   "mis- 
sionary "  is  one  who  is  "  sent.''    "Wesley  was  thrust  out  from  the  organised 
Enghsh  Church.     The  man  who,  in  God's  work,  is  "  thrust  out "  is 
provideutially  "sent"  to  those  who  are  already  out,  since  they  never 
were  in,  and  are  therefore  "  neglected."     The  old  cry,  "  The  heathen 
are  at  your  doors,"  is  no  satire  upon  a  true  Church.     Her  heart  aches 
because  of  the  home  heathen  and  the  foreign  pagan.     The  facts  justify 
the  independent  labours  of  Wesley  and  the  separate  organisation  of  the 
Wesleyan  Church  after  Wesley's  death.     Wesleyanism  is  demonstrably 
a  Church,  because  of  the  work  placed  near  her  hand.     Wesleyanism 
for  ever  remains  a  Church  so  long   as  she  does  missionary  'work  at 
home  and  abroad,     She  will  inevitably  and  instantly  and  unpardonably 
degenerate  into  a  schism  the  moment  she  remits  labour  in  foreign  or 
domestic  missions.      Hsr  call  is  for  ever  among  the  masses  of  the 
peofde,  and  John  Wesley  would  say  "Amen,"  and  perhaps  "alas!" 
were  he  here  this  hour.     Wesley  was  in  person  the  first  Methodist 
missionary  when  he  went  out  of   Oxford'  as  a  home  missionaiy  to 
preach  the  Word,  and  first   Methodist  foreign  missionary  when  he 
went  to  Georgia.     His  spirit  was  contagious.     Calvinistic   Methodist 
influence  begat  the  London  Missionary  Society,  and  the  son  of  the 
Methodist  Venn  projected  the  Church  Missionary  Society,  in  which 
there  is  Calvinistic  and  Arminie  n  Methodist  blood.     Our  first  American 
bishop.  Coke,  superintended  the  first  foreign  Wesleyan  workers  who 
were  sent  out  in  1786.      American   Methodism   began  to  take  shape 
when  Richard  Boardman  and  Joseph  Pilmoor  were  formally  sent  out 
as  missionaries  from  England  in  1769  to  formulate  that  wliich  the  lay 
preachers  Barbara   Heck,   Philip   Embury,    and  Captain   Webb   had 
brought  to  pass  because  of  the  missionary  fire  which  these  Wesleyans 
could  not  quench  out  of  their  bosoms.     It  was  not  mere  poetic,  but 
providential  justice  that  gave  us  the  missionary  Coke  and  Asbury 
and  \Vhatcoat  as  the  earliest  oishops  for  the  foreign  work  in  America. 

The  totals  of  Church  membership,  already  given,  express  the  status 
of  missions  at  the  date  of  Wesley's  death,  for  all  that  membership  was 
missionary  fruit.  To  that  date  Methodism  was  nothing  if  not  mis- 
sionary, and  at  about  that  date  the  two  branches  of  Methodism,  in 
England  and  America,  were  formally  organised  as  Churches.  We 
rejoice  that  the  body  in  England  did  not  "wi'eck  by  sinking,  back  into 
the  Establishment,  and  that  the  informal  negotiations  between  Coke 
as  representative  of  the  oldest  Episcopal  Church  in  America,  and 
Bishop  White  of  the  second  oldest  (the  Protestant  Episcopal),  did  not 
result  in  a  union  yonder.  ♦ 

I  omit  estimates  of  fruits  of  modern  Methodist  missions,  since  Dr. 
J.  M.  Reid  will,  Sept.  17,  present  his  paper  on  "  The  Results  of 
Methodist  Missions  in  Foreign  Lands."  As  a  rule,  our  home  churches 
are  domestic  missions— but  our  work  is  only  begun.  The  topic  will  be 
discussed   Sept.  IGth,  and  methods  and  results  will  be  then  stated. 


REV.    ARTHUR   EDWARDS'S  ADDRESS,  59 

That  the  subject  is  vital,  an  illustration  will  show : — I  am  told  that  in 
my  own  city  (Chicago),  70,000  persons,  aged  from  five  to  twenty-one, 
are  without  religious  instruction.  Our  city  population  is  500,000,  and 
this  astounding  statement  (omitting  reference  to  the  thousands  over 
twenty-one)  if  apphed  to  London  would  give  us  607,000  between  the 
ages  of  five  and  twenty-one  who  are  without  religious  instruction. 
The  aggregate  for  all  the  great  cities  in  civilisation  is  appalling.  Yet, 
when  I  say  that,  nobody  can  apical  us  by  the  cry,  "  The  heathen  are 
at  your  doors."  We  reply,  "  The  Church  knows  the  facts  and  essays 
to  convert  both  these  and  those  abroad."  It  is  not  just  to  say  of  our 
cities  that  all  these  hundreds  of  thousands  are  neglected  by  the 
Gospel,  but,  rather,  that  they  reject  the  Gospel.  Wesleyanism  should 
and  will  do  her  part  in  compelling  them  in  love,  and  by  love,  to  come 
to  the  feast. 

As  a  son,  a  husband,  and  a  father  of  daughters,  I  should  be  a  traitor 
did  I  not  bear  honouring  testimony  to  the  mothers,  wives,  and 
daughters  in  our  Israel.  John  Wesley's  conservatism  on  woman's 
province  in  Church  work  received  a  check  from  his  sainted  mother, 
whose  gi'ave  is  to-day  as  historic  as  that  of  her  son  John.  There  is  no 
"  gender  "  in  honest,  hard  work  for  Christ.  When  to  work  we  would 
add  the  higher  instinct  that  leads  workmen  to  wait,  endure,  and 
triumph  in  quiet,  we  must  go  to  woman  for  our  very  alphabet.  Behind 
the  throne  in  every  conquering  parsonage,  pulpit,  conference,  and 
church  at  large,  we  may,  nay,  must,  look  for  the  power  greater  than 
even  our  masculine  human  thrones — the  saintly  women  who  bore  us — 
those  who  bear  with  us,  and  all  the  shining  host  who  bear  us  v.p  before 
the  higher  throne  !  !  God  bless  the  women  of  Methodism !  !  Quietly, 
heroically,  saintlily,  persistently,  divinely,  they  do  two-thirds  of  our 
work,  and  are  patient  while  we  chafe  over  our  own  simple  third. 
Besides  aiding  us,  and  proving  themselves  indispensable  to  us,  they 
are  exclusively  behind  and  beneath  about  forty  missionary  societies  of 
their  own.  She  was  "  last  at  the  Cross  and  first  at  the  Sepulchre" — 
and  she  will  be  first  and  foremost,  and  radiantly  present  and  precedent 
when  Christ  reascends  His  throne  1  ! 

Another  radius  of  power  relates  to  the  schools  of  Methodism.  The 
walls  of  Oxford,  and  its  scholarly  atmosphere,  are  not  forgotten  by 
modern  Methodists.  English  colleges  and  schools  are  protected  from 
the  rationalistic  virus  that  revolutionises  the  educational  question  in 
newer  countries.  The  same  is  measurably  true  in  the  present  colonies 
of  England.  Other  Governments  afford  wider  scope  for  the  evil  against 
which  the  Wesleyan  Churches  under  those  Governments  are  battling. 
The  United  States,  for  instance,  has  State  schools  with  whose  religious 
influences  the  Evangelical  Churches  are  not  content. 

Alleged  political  "  fair  play  "  in  schools  supported  from  the  common 
public  treasury  permits  any  and  aU  views  of  the  person  of  Jesus  Christ, 
and  all  statements  concerning  the  origin  and  sovereignty  of  "  the  things 


60  METHODISM:    ITS   HISTORY  AND   RESULTS. 

that  appear."  Such  unavoidable  toleration  generally  results  in  perpetual 
conflict  that  emasculates  conscience  and  destroys  Divine  authority. 
The  Evangelical  Churclies,  therefore,  have  their  own  schools,  which 
are  loyal  to  Christ.  The  quality  of  the  public  college  has  an  illustra- 
tion in  the  fact  that  Infidelity  cannot,  or  does  not,  think  it  necessary  to 
try  to  support  a  single  college  of  its  own. 

I  have  depended  for  specific  statements  upon  a  gentleman  who  has 
been  trying  for  years  to  collect  definite  statistics  relating  to  Methodist 
higher  education.  He  has  not  yet  succeeded  in  obtaining  returns,  and 
I  therefore  cannot  be  expected  to  extemporise  the  facts.  Be  it  said, 
however,  that  Wesleyanism  is  alive  to  the  vital  problem,  and  that  her 
educational  institutions  stand  everywhere  as  an  adjunct  to  her  work  in 
the  world.  I  regret  the  physical  impossibility  that  prevents  the  colla- 
tion of  these  figures.  Their  value  is  illustrated  by  the  glimpse  we 
obtain  from  a  specimen  fact  or  two.  The  Methodist  Church  South  has 
about  ninety-five  colleges  and  seminaries  under  its  care.  The  Board 
of  Education  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  reports  eleven  theo- 
logical seminaries,  forty-four  colleges  and  universities,  and  one  hundred- 
and-thirty  seminaries  and  ladies'  colleges.  The  number  of  students  is 
21,000,  and  the  total  value  is  near  12,000,000  dollars.  The  value  of 
other  church  property  would  reach  an  impressive  total.  The  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  has  invested  in  church  and  parsonage  property  alone 
about  80,000,000  dollars.  I  wish  there  were  materials  to  construct  a 
corresponding  statement  respecting  our  entire  Church. 

Space  remains  to  mention  but  one  more  strong  arm  of  Wesleyan 
power.  Printer's  ink  was  early  pressed  by  Wesley  into  Methodist 
service,  and  it  has  been  an  unfailing  ally  ever  since.  Hundi-eds  of 
thousands  of  volumes  and  hundreds  of  newspapers  carry  forward  the 
work  of  evangelisation  even  when  nature  compels  the  pastor  to  sleep. 
While  giving  all  honour  to  others,  I  yet  believe  that  Methodist  editors 
of  books  and  periodicals  are  among  the  Gospel's  chief  field-marshals. 
Their  readers  abound  in  every  hamlet  and  home,  and  their  quiet  words 
gain  assent  when  a  living  presence  might  incite  to  controversy  or 
rebellion.  People,  ministers,  children,  woman,  schools,  press,  all  remain 
as  potent,  vital,  Wesleyan  elements.  All  are  movements  and  digits  in 
our  economy,  which,  prayerfully  correlated  and  industriously  energised, 
will  bring  tliis  world  into  subjection  to  Him  whose  right  it  is  to  reign. 

At  various  points  in  his  essay  Dr.  Edwards  referred  to  the 
statistical  tables  which  follow. 


REV.   ARTHUR   EDWARDS  S  ADDRESS. 


61 


METHODISM  EEPRESENTED  IN  THE  CONFERENCE. 
I.— BRITISH  WESLEYAN. 


Branches. 

Local 
Preachers. 

Itinerant 
Preachers. 

Members. 

Sunday 
Schools. 

Teachers. 

Scliolars. 

Knglanii     

Irt'laml       

.•Australia 

France       ...     -~     

24.400 
1,800 
3,800 

2.571 

250 

476 

29 

501.300 

24.237 

69,147 

1,844 

6,426 

309 

2,500 

GO 

121,493 

2,760 

13,650 

340 

810,280 

24,500 

131,500 

2,900 

30,000 

3,326 

596,528 

£,295 

138,243 

972,180 

II.— OTHER  BRITISH  METHODISTS. 


Primitive 

15,600 

1,150 

185,316 

4,050 

5,801 

372,570 

United  Free     

3,403 

432 

79.756 

1.315 

27,1)1)0 

189,500 

New  Connexion      

1,205 

183 

31.652 

450 

ll.OUO 

77,500 

Bible  Christian        

1,874 

302 

31,542 

. — 

9.S75 

53,500 

Kef urm  Union 

562 

18 

7,745 

185 

3,:ioo 

19,000 

22,644 

2,085 

336,011 

6,U30 

56,975 

712,070 

III.— UNITED  STATES  AND  CANADA  (EPISCOPAL). 

Methodist  Episcopal      

12.555 

12,096 

1,743,000 

21,093 

222  374 

1,602.334 

„               „            South 

5.832 

4,004 

840,000 

9,000 

68,600 

4  21. .500 

*  African  Meth.  Episcopal    

7,928 

1,717 

391,044 

2,345 

15,454 

154,549 

t        „           „           „         Zion  ... 

2,981 

1,579 

323,921 

3,104 

18,000 

151,329 

United  Brethren     

— 

2,200 

158,1)00 

3,050 

26,900 

159,200 

Coloured  Methodist  Episcopal    ... 

683 

640 

112,300 

— 

— 

Evangelical  Association       

600 

893 

112.200 

1,750 

19.300 

106,350 

Methodist  Episcopal,  Canada 

300 

282 

28.000 

423 

3.600 

25,200 

Union  American  Meth.  Episcopal 

22 

110 

2,600 

40 

300 

2,200 

British  Methodist  Episcopal 

20 

45 

2,200 

35 

220 

2.000 

30,921 

23,586 

3,713,265 

40,840 

364,748 

2,824,662 

IV.— UNITED  STATES  AND  CANADA  (NON-EPISCOPAL). 


Methodist  Church,  Canada 

3,540 

1,200 

123,013 

1,850 

16,300 

127,000 

Methodist  Protestant    

925 

1,314 

113,405 

— 

— 

105,000 

American  Wesleyan  Association... 

200 

250 

25,000 

550 

3,100 

14,500 

Independent  Methodist 

— 

24 

12.550 

— 



Free  Methodists      

233 

313 

12.600 

350 

2,200 

11,400 

Bible  Christians      

197 

^      81 

8,000 



1,250 

9,000 

Primitive  Methodist  (Canada)    ... 

270 

97 

8.307 

165 

1,500 

S.SOO 

(U.S.)        ... 

162 

196 

3.210 

40 

580 

3,400 

t  Congregational  Methodists 

200 

200 

15,000 

140 

— 

15,000 

5,727 

3,675 

321,085 

3,095 

24,930 

294,100 

Summary  I 

30.000 

3.326 

596.528 

9,295 

1.38.243 

972.180 

.,       n 

22,644 

2,085 

336.011 

6.030 

56,975 

712,070 

„     in 

30.921 

23.566 

3,713,265 

40,840 

304,748 

2,824,662 

»      IV 

5,727 

3,675 

321,085 

3,095 

24,930 

294,100 

Total      

89,292 

32.652 

4,966.889 

59,260 

581,896 

4,803,012 

Add 

rravelliug 

Preachers. 

32,652 

4,999,541 

GROUPS, 


I.,  TI.,  and  IV.,  Non-Episcopal 
III.,  Episcopal 


58,371 
30,921 


9.086 
23,566 


1.253.624 
3,713.265 


18,420 
40,840 


220,148 
364,748 


1,978,350 
2,824,662 


'Figures  given  to  me  .at  Council  by  John  M.  Brown  and  J.  M.  Townscnd. 
t  Figures  given  to  me  at  Council  by  J.  W.  Hood. 
X  Figures  estimated  by  me. 


62  METHODISM:    ITS   HISTORY  AND   RESULTS. 

Rev.  M.  C.  OsBORN  (British  Wesleyan  Conference) :  Since  I  undertook 
tlie  duty  of  addressing  this  Conference  I  have  been  sick  nigh  unto  death, 
and  did  not  at  all  expect  that  I  should  have  been  able  to  fulfil  this  duty 
to-day.     I  have  done  my  very  best  to  get  some  person  else  to  undertake  it, 
and  it  was  not  until  this  morning  that  I  was  compelled  to  abandon  the  hope 
that  some  other  person  would  take  my  place.     Notwithstanding  my  unfit- 
ness for  the  task,  I  feel  that  it  is  only  respectful  to  the  Conference  that  I 
should  put  in  an  appearance,  and  say  a  few  words.     During  the  address  of 
Dr.  Osborn  yesterday  afternoon,  in  which   he  asked  and  answered  two 
questions,  a  third  occurred  to  my  own  mind.     Dr.  Osborn  asked,  ''  What 
hath  God  wrought?"  and  proceeded  to  answer  that  question.     He  then 
asked  a  second  question,  "  What  will  God  do  in  the  future  if  we  do  not 
hinder  Him  ?"    A  tliird  suggests  itself  to  my  mind— What  would  God  have 
wrought  in  the  course  of  the  past  years  if  we  had  been  faithful,  and  there 
had   been    no   hindering   thing   amongst   us  ?      We   are    very    thankful, 
of  course,  for  the  success  which  has  been  reported,  and  for  those  large 
figures  wdiich  have  been  quoted  tKis  morning,  in  respect  of  which  I  hope 
every   gentleman   present   will    be  able  to  pass  a  good   examination  to- 
morrow at  any  rate.     But  we  are  by  no   means   satisfied,  or  we  ought 
not    to     be.      In    connection    with    the    British     Methodist    Conference 
during    the    last   hundred   years    our    numbiTS    have    in. Teased   tenfold. 
In   the    year    1780    we    were    about    37,000,   in    1880    about    370,000, 
and    the   numbers  have    increased   still   further   since   then.      But   when 
we   think   of  our   opportunities,   of    our   facilities,    of    our   organisation, 
and   of    the   wonderful  possibilities  that   have   been  before   us,  I    think 
Ave  should  scarcely  be  satisfied  with  these  results.     We  speak  from  time  to 
time  of  our  wonderful  organisation  ;  we  are  complimented  upon  it  outside  ; 
we  are  said  to  be  the  most  highly  organised  Church  in  the  world,  with  the 
exception,  perhaps,  of  the  Papacy  ;  we  have  from  time  to  time  spoken  very 
thankfully  of   our  uninqjaired    orthodoxy — that   we  continue   to   preach 
evangelical  doctrine,  on  the  old  lines  and  after  the  old  fashion.     We  have 
men   forthcoming   from   time   to   time — more    indeed    than    we    British 
Methodists  can  at  present  employ  ;  our  means  are  abundant,  and  the  gifts 
are  cast  into  the  treasury  in  no  stinted  style  ;  but  yet  I  think  we  must  be 
compelled  to  confess  that,  having  regard  to  all  these  things,  we  do  not 
realise  all  the  results  we  are  entitled  to  expect.     When  we  think  of  85,000 
teachers  in  different  parts  of  the  Methodistworld, 31,000  regularly-appointed 
ministers,  775,000  Sunday-schoolteachers,  and  all  other  agencies  and  appli- 
ances on  the  same  scale  ;  and  then  when  we  look  at  the  returns  of  our  mem- 
bership from  time  to  time  presented,  I  am  quite  sure  that  we  shall  agree  that 
we  do  not  realise  an  adequate  resultfor  all  this  organisation  and  effort.     In 
view  of  this  we  should  go  back  to  first  principles,  and  indulge  in  very 
great  searchings  of  heart,  in  order  to  ascertain  what  the  cause  really  is. 
We  should  inquire  to  what  extent  our  apatlij',  our  cupidity,  our  worldliness, 
our  unbelief,  and  our  self-complacency  have  grieved  the  Holy  Spirit  of 
God  and  hindered  the  work.     The  topic  of  the  preceding  paper  was  the 


GENERAL   REMARKS.  G3 

recognition  of  the  hand  of  God  in  the  origin  and  progress  of  Methodism. 
I  am  afraid  we  very  frequently  forget  God.  That  is  the  tendency  of  the 
times  in  which  we  live.  Science  of  late  has  made  such  rapid  strides — the 
triumphs  of  human  ingenuity  and  skill  have  been  so  marvellous  and 
magnificent — that  men  have  come  to  think  that  they  can  do  anything  in  the 
world  they  please.  When  any  great  and  startling  enterprise  is  projected, 
if  you  say  it  is  difficult,  they  smile  at  you  ;  if  you  pronounce  it  impossible, 
they  will  laugh  you  to  scorn.  Very  likely  they  will  admit  that  in  the  first 
instance  it  did  require  a  stupendous  effort  of  God's  Almighty  power 
to  bring  the  work  into  being  and  give  things  a  start,  but  now  that 
the  world  is  here,  and  things  have  got  a  start,  they  are  kept  a-going,  and 
will  keep  on  going,  very  well  without  God,  and  He  is  left  out  of  the 
calculation.  In  connection  with  this  tendency  of  modern  thought,  there  is 
danger  in  respect  to  the  evangelical  enterprise  of  the  Church.  We  are  apt 
to  suppose  that  what  is  true  in  physics  is  true  in  religion — that  what  is  true 
in  mechanical  science  is  true  in  regard  to  the  Church.  Given  a  certain 
apparatus  of  means  and  we  can  depend  with  almost  mathematical  and 
absolute  certainty  upon  the  production  of  the  desired  result ;  and  if  we  do 
not  succeed  in  the  first  instance  we  have  only  to  check  the  figures,  revise 
the  plans,  put  on  more  power,  and  we  are  certain  to  succeed  in  the  long 
run.  And  we  are  disposed  to  think  that  all  that  is  true  of  the  Church — 
that  the  conversion  of  the  world  is  a  qiiestion  of  figures — that  you  only 
want  so  many  more  churches  and  chapels,  ministers,  missionaries,  schools, 
and  teachers,  and  the  conversion  of  the  world  will  infallibly  follow  ;  and  if 
in  any  given  department  you  do  not  realise  all  the  results  you  contemplate 
in  the  first  instance,  you  have  only  to  improve  your  appliances  and  further 
elaborate  your  organisations,  and  the  results  will  infallibly  follow — and 
Almighty  God  is  left  out  of  the  reckoning.  Now,  sir,  we  cannot  too 
solemnly  ponder  the  fact  that  our  men  may  be  all  that  men  can  be  ;  our 
means  may  be  all  that  means  can  be  made  ;  our  organisation  may  be 
perfect ;  we  may  have  all  the  appliances  and  facilities  that  we  can  by 
possibility  require  in  the  prosecution  of  our  work  ;  but  unless  we  recognise 
God,  it  will  all  be  less  than  nothing  and  vanity :  no  blind  eye  will  be 
opened,  no  deaf  ear  will  be  unstopped,  no  dead  souls  will  be  quickened 
into  newness  of  life — there  will  be  no  shaking  amongst  the  dry  bones. 
"  Except  the  Lord  build  the  house,  they  labour  in  vain  that  built  it :  except 
the  Lord  keep  the  city,  the  watchman  waketh  but  in  vain."  It  is  *'  not  by 
might  nor  by  power,  but  by  My  Spirit,  saith  the  Lord." 

Eev.  J.  M.  Buckley,  D.  D.  (M.  E.  Church):  If  the  subject  of  statistics, 
so  far  as  the  statement  of  results  is  concerned,  had  alone  been  brought  before 
us,  it  would  be  difficult  to  speak  to  edification  upon  the  topic  ;  but  since  the 
philosophy  of  the  statistics  is  inseparably  connected  with  the  facts  them- 
selves, a  field  of  thoujrht  is  opened  to  which  I  suppose  most  of  us  would 
be  able  to  contribute  something.  The  remarks  which  I  shall  make  will 
be  necessarily  brief,  an  arrangement  made  before  it  was  known  I  would 
speak,  and  consequently  not  at  all  embarrassini^  to  me.  Five  minutes 
is  a  short  time.     The  first  remark  I  have  to  make  is  that  these  statiatics, 


64  METHODISM  :   ITS   HISTORY  AND   RESULTS. 

in  order  to  teach  us  what  we  need  to  know,  must  be  carefully  analysed. 
For  example,  the  Wesleyan  Connexion  is  much  more  strict  in  the  class- 
meeting;  test  than  most  of  the  Churches  reporting  such  large  figures  from  the 
United  States.  If,  sir,  the  same  principles  which  are  applied  by  the 
Wesleyan  Church  or  Connexion  upon  the  class-meeting  were  applied  to  our 
statistics,  but  a  short  period  of  time  would  elapse  before  many  of  them 
would  shrink  in  a  maiwellous  manner.  That  is  an  important  fact  that  must 
be  understood  in  order  to  place  a  proper  estimate  upon  these  statistics.  As 
to  the  wisdom  of  the  course  which  we  pursue,  or  which  pursues  itself  in 
the  United  States,  in  comparison  with  the  course  which  has  always  existed 
here,  that  is  not  a  matter  which  can  be  discussed  at  this  time.  In  the  next 
place,  the  essiiyist  stated  to  us  that  we  could  learn  a  very  great  lesson  from 
the  fact  that  non-episcopal  churches  employ  many  more  local  preachers 
proportionately  than  episcopal  churches.  Upon  that  I  beg  to  submit 
the  statement  that  the  different  mode  of  working  the  circuits  and  carrying 
on  the  whole  denominational  work  in  the  episcopal  and  non-episcopal 
churches  reflects  much  light  upon  tliat  subject.  Local  preachers  are 
far  more  important  to  the  efficient  working  of  some  non-episcopal  churches 
than  to  the  efficient  working  of  episcopal  churches :  therefore  whether 
we  can  learn  a  lesson  from  that  is  a  question  to  be  most  carefully  inv^tignted, 
and  is  not  as  obvious  as  it  might  at  first  appear  to  be.  Further,  it  is  to  be 
admitted  that  the  increase  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  the  United 
States,  and,  so  far  as  I  can  judge,  the  increase  of  every  branch  of  Methodism 
throughout  the  world,  is  at  the  present  time  not  of  such  a  character  as 
to  indicate  the  amount  of  moral  power  employed  in  the  work  ;  and  it 
is  a  sad  fact  that  while  we  do  not,  in  most  parts  of  the  world,  battle  with  the 
sceptic  and  the  profane  and  irreligious  as  our  fathers  did,  we  do  not  hold  all 
our  children  by  any  means  ;  consequently,  if  we  look  narrowly  into  this 
matter,  we  shall  find  that  these  vast  figures  that  are  rolling  up  are  not  to  be 
taken  as  exponents  of  moral  power  without  careful  consideration  of  the 
ao-e  and  circumstances.  Statistics  are  the  most  delusive  of  all  modes  of 
investigating  a  moral  question.  Numbering  Israel  in  the  ancient  times  was 
a  snare:  numbering  Israel  in  all  times  requires  much  caution.  The 
individual  pastor  who  reports  a  large  number  of  converts  is  naturally 
flattered,  and  feels  that  he  has  made  his  great  commission  known.  Mr. 
Wesley  found  occasion,  before  he  passed  away,  to  declare  that  that  was 
no  true  test  of  success.  If  it  be  no  true  and  infallible  test  in  the  case  of 
the  individual  pastor,  it  may  be  none  in  the  case  of  the  denomination. 

Rev.  Bishop  Wood  (of  the  African  Methodist  Episcopal  Zion  Church) 
said  :  When  the  first  subject  was  before  us  I  thought  a  young  man  of  only 
fifty-one  summers  ought  not  to  thrust  himself  forward  so  soon,  hence  I  lost 
the  opportunity.  I  think  now  I  had  better  get  in  while  I  may  lest  "slighted 
once,  the  moment  fair  may  not  return  again."  The  statistical  results  of 
Methodism  is  the  question  upon  which  I  wish  to  say  a  word  at  this  time, 
and  I  think  I  can  present  a  statement  respecting  it  that  will  not  be  surpassed 
by  any  that  you  will  hear.  The  Church  I  represent— the  African  Methodist 
Episcopal  zion  Church— is  an  ofishoot  from  John  Street  Church,  in  New 
York.  I  believe  that  was  the  first  Methodist  church  that  was  organised  in 
America.  In  1796  the  coloured  members  of  that  church  separated  from  it, 
and  formed  what  was  then  called  the  African  INIethodist  Episcopal  Church. 
Their  first  church  was  called  Zion,  and  from  that  the  Connexion  has  been 
known  as  the  Zion  Connexion.  Owing  to  the  small  number  of  coloured 
people  in  the  eastern  portion  of  the  United  States  in  which  our  church  was 
organised,  up  to  1864,  we  had  not  more  than  15,000  members  all  told. 
About  that  time  we  commenced  work  in  the  south,  and  to-day  we  report  in 
that  section  alone  over  200,000  members.  (Hear,  hear.)  You  may  speak  of 
reports  not  always  being  correct,  and  I  think  they  are  not  always  correct, 


GENERAL    REMARKS.  65 

anfl  tTierefore  I  will  not  vouch  for  the  entire  correctness  of  all  reports  ;  I 
will  say  this,  however,  that  in  my  own  district  I  have  been  exceedinirly 
careful,  and  I  can  speak  for  North  Carolina  from  the  book  when  I  s-ay  that 
we  number  in  that  State  over  40,000  members.  We  have  erected  in  the 
Episcopal  district  over  which  I  pieside  during  the  last  fifteen  years  nearly 
500  churches.  That  has  been  done  by  a  pcoi)le  recently  freed  from  slavery 
— a  people,  the  adult  population  ot  which  have  not  only  themselves  to 
care  for,  but  they  have  their  fathers  and  their  mothers  to  care  for  who 
came  from  slavery  with  nothing.  Therefore,  when  I  say  they  have,  not- 
with.standing  their  difficulties,  erected  nearly  500  churches  in  that  districD 
within  so  short  a  period,  I  think  you  will  have  nothing  to  exceed  it.  I  d'> 
not  wish  to  take  up  the  time  of  the  Conference  :  I  only  wished  to  state  the.-e 
facts. 

The  TJev.  W.Crook,  D.D.  (of  the  Irish  Methodist  Church),  said  :  It  li.i^ 
been  said  that  statistics  are  delusive,  but  1  chiim  that  we  have  notliing  e]t^.- 
to    depend    upon.     Figures  may   lie,  but  if  they  are  properly  made  out 
they  will  tell  the   truth  ;  and  when  they  are  summed  up,  and   the  total 
record  made,  it  is  better  than  a   million  conjectures.     I   believe  that  the 
Methodist  statistics  are  made  with  a  great  deal  of  care,  and  I  am  in  tlu- 
habit  of  depending  upon  them.     Although  I  do  not  regard  the  statistics  ot 
Methodism  as  any  adequate  measure  of  its  moral  power,  yet  I  do  consider 
them  to  be  suggestive  to   us  of  -what  nKiral  jniwer  lias  done.     They  tell 
a  tale  which  is  only  true  on  the  supposition  ((f  a  great  interior  religious 
energy,  and  therefore  I  beg  slightly  to  differ  from  the  sentiment  of  my 
much-respected  friend.  Dr.  Buckley,  in  regard  to  the  value  of  Methodist 
statistics.     There  may  be  errors — vve  are  all  liable  to  err— yet  I  think  w^e 
can  depend  upon  results  with  considerable  conHdence.     Bat,  Mr.  President, 
when  we    attempt   to    estimate   iMethoilist    populations,    we   ought  to   be 
particularly  cftreful  as  to  the  ratios  that  we  apply.     I  hold  in  my  hand 
this  morning's  paper,  and  it  states  the  Methodist  population  of  the  world 
to  be  from  2;', ,000,000  to  25,000,000.     I  liad  in  my  iiands  a  few  days  ago 
the  London  Almanack  for  1879,  and  it  stated  the  Methodist  population  of 
the  world  to  be  14,000,000,  and  the  Anglican  jiopulation  of  the  world  to  be 
17,000,000.     I  opened  Tyerman's  most  valuable  Life  of  Wesley  as  soon  as 
I  could  get  it,  and  I  found  there  the  Metliodist  population   set  down  at 
23,000,000.     1  believe  honestly  that  when  we  make  these  large  figures  we 
somewhat  exaggerate  the  facts  £yom  the  application  of  a  ratio  of  popu- 
lation to  memi)ersliip,    which    is    beyond    the  rule    applied    by   the    best 
statisticians.     Where  mendjers  are  received  upon  a  profession  of  faith,  I 
think  the  safest  rule  of  statistics  is  to  estimate  the  population  at  two  and 
a  half  to  each  conmiiimcant.     If  we  go  beyond  that,  we  are  very  apt  to 
become  excessive  and   extravagant.     Applying  that  ratio  to  the  4,000,000 
and  more  of  Methodism,  I  think  it  will  be  found  that  the  Methodist  popu- 
lation  of  the    world   is  somewhere    between  16,000,000   and    17,000,000. 
But  if  you  apply  three  or  four  as  the  ratio,  you  get  larger  results.     My 
friend  Dr.  Edwards  did  not  read  to  you  his  statement  of  the  estimated 
Methodist  population  of  the  world.     He  applies  a  ratio  of  four  adherents 
to  each  communicant,  and  makes  the  total  19,000,000.     Mr.  President,  we 
can  afford  to  take  the  most  modest  figures  ;  we  can  very  well  afford  to 
take  the  lower  estimate  ;  we  can  very  well  alford  to  have  the  statement 
of  the  British  authority  that  the  relative    proportions  of    the  ^lethodist 
populations  of  the  world  to  the  Anglican  are  14,000,000  to  17,000,000,  and 
I  think  our  Anglican  brethren  will  be  very  ready  to  say,  "Well  done  for 
this,  daughter  of  the  great  English  Churcli." 

Dr.  C.  H.  Payne  (Methodist  Episcopal  Churcii) :  I  wish  to  nnike  one 
or  two  explanatory'  remarks  which,  I  think,  may  correct  a  false  impression 
that  unintentionally  may  have  been  received  by  our  brethren  on  this  side 

F 


66  METHODISM  :    ITS   HISTORY  AND    RESULTS. 

of  the  water  with  reference  to  our  statistics  on  the  other  side.  I 
think  statistics  do  not  lie,  but  the  conclusions  which  we  draw  from  them 
may  be  A'ery  false.  With  reference  to  edncational  work  in  our  country, 
the  brethren  on  this  side  may  think  we  are  in  a  very  bad  way  across  the 
ocean.  The  simple  fact  is  this,  the  trouble  lies  not  in  getting  statistics 
ffom  the  schools,  but  in  classifying  them.  It  is  difficult  to  secure  a 
uniform  and  rigid  rule  of  classification  in  reporting  the  number  of  students 
in  our  various  schools  of  learning.  The  terms  "college"  and  "univer- 
sity "  do  not,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  convey  a  very  clear  idea  of  the  character 
of  an  institution,  and  great  injustice  has  sometimes  been  done  to  insti- 
tutions of  the  highest  order  by  r^iorts  from  inferior  schools.  One  school 
may  report  all  its  students,  several  hundred,  and  yet  they  may  be 
in,  as  collegiate  students,  the  secondary  or  primary  departments  ;  and 
another  reports  only  those  pursuing  the  regular  collegiate  studies  ;  and  so 
some  of  our  colleges  have  felt  themselves  misrepresented  and  misunder- 
stood by  this  jumble  of  statistics,  and  we  thought  it  better  to  have  omitted 
them  altogether,  rather  than  to  have  any  such  misrepresentation.  But  I 
think,  upon  the  whole,  we  may  truthfully  say  that  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church,  and  all  branches  of  Methodism,  are  doing  grand  educational 
work,  and  are  not  ashamed  to  have  the  statistics  read  when  they  can  be 
fairly  classified.  There  is  one  other  explanatory  remark  I  wish  to  make 
with  regard  to  the  keeping  of  the  statistics  on  the  other  side.  I  think  my 
friend  Dr.  Buckley  did  not  mean  to  make  the  impression  which  he  did. 
He  knows  that  the  officers  of  our  Government  and  others  who  have 
been  engaged  in  publishing  statistical  reports,  have  publicly  stated  that 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  have  kept  their  statistics  better  than  any 
other  branch  of  Christ's  Church  ;  and  I  believe,  if  you  scan  them  closely, 
you  will  find  they  do  truthfully  represent  the  state  of  the  case.  Each 
pastor  is  required  to  make  accurate  returns  of  the  membership  under  his 
charge,  and  anybody  whom  he  cannot  find  to  put  in  a  separate  list  that 
is  to  be  kept  in  the  back  part  of  the  Church  Eecord,  and  not  reported  ; 
we  are  supposed  only  to  report  living  members  that  the  pastor  can  lay 
his  hands  on  ;  and  I  believe  that  the  statistics  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church  can  be  relied  upon  as  a  fair  report  of  the  actual  number 
of  communicants.  There  are  also  always  a  large  number — thousands  of 
members — who  hold  in  their  hands  certificates  that  are  never  reported, 
but  they  are  really  members  of  the  Church,  and  if  reported  would  swell 
the  numbers  to  larger  proportions. 

Eev.  Dk.  Eigg  :  I  have  not  myself  been  made  aware  of  any  difference 
between  what  was  said  by  my  friend  Dr.  Buckley  and  what  was  said  by 
my  friend  Dr.  Crook.  I  believe  the  two  statements  were  directly  in 
harmony  with  each  other ;  nor  do  I  think  there  is  any  difference  whatever 
between  what  was  said  by  Dr.  Buckley  and  what  has  just  now  been  said 
by  Dr.  Payne,  Dr.  Buckley  was  not  speaking  of  a  dishonest  keeping  of 
records,  but  of  a  difference  in  the  test  of  membership.  I  am  very  much 
obliged  to  Dr.  Buckley  for  the  statements  he  made.  I  think  it  is  neces- 
sary that  some  statements  should  be  made  when  illustrating  the  statistics 
which  we  have  heard.  If  you  were  to  go  by  the  superficial  inference  that 
would  be  drawn  from  these  statistics  you  would  come  to  this  conclusion, 
that  the  increase  of  the  churches  would  be  likely  to  be  in  proiDortion  as 
you  have  more  bishops  and  fewer  local  preachers.  I  do  not  myself  believe 
that  any  such  inference  could  be  sustained  for  a  moment.  It  is  of  the 
utmost  importance  that  we  should  bear  in  mind  that  one  question,  at  all 
events,  that  we  have  to  look  at  is  that  of  distinctive  evangelical  jDOwer  in 
the  way  of  converting  those  who  have  had  no  influences  to  predispose 
them  to  join  any  particular  church.  Now,  if  we  could  separate  hereditary 
influences,  predisposing  family  connections,  and  business  convenience  pre- 


GENERAL   REMARKS,  67 

dispoRing,  and  if  we  could  see  the  problem  of  evangelical  power,  really 
grappling  in  the  way  of  direct  application,  often  for  the  first  time,  with 
those  who  had  not  previously  had  any  such  advantages,  I  think  we  should 
come  to  the  conclusion  that  lay  preacliing  is  a  necessary  element,  and  a 
most  important  element,  in  order  to  spread  the  Gospel  widely  in  fields 
where  tlie  Gospel  has  not  been  spread  before — I  mean  not  abroad  amongst 
the  heathens,  but  at  home.  I  believe  that  if  we  are  really  to  grapple  with 
the  necessities  of  our  towns  at  home,  and  tlie  vast  masses  who,  notwith- 
standing enormous  emigration,  still  increase  and  nniltiply  themselves 
around  our  churches,  that  can  only  be  done  by  means  of  lay  agencies  in 
the  spirit  and  on  the  principles  of  primitive  Methodism.  I  therefore  think 
that  those  statistics  which  we  have  just  heard,  unless  illustrated,  elucidated, 
and  interpreted  truly,  miglit  verj'  easily  be  understood  to  teach  a  lesson 
which  it  would  be  very  unfortunate  for  us  to  be  learning  at  this  time. 
The  expe'rience,  at  all  events  so  far  as  I  am  able  to  understand,  on  this  side 
of  the  water,  is  that  the  difficulty  of  the  problem  of  grappling  with  the 
mass  of  the  people  who  have  not  been  in  any  way,  privately  or  by  family 
life,  evangelised  or  predisposed  by  such  influences  as  I  have  spoken  of — 
that  the  difficulty  is  very,  very  great,  and  that  the  extent  and  the  power 
of  work  among  such  people  are  not  measured  at  all  by  the  actual  returns 
of  the  churches  ;  and  that  the  pressing  need  is  only  to  be  met  by  means  of 
a  most  energetic  and  highly  organised  use  of  lay  agency.  And  I  deplore 
that  in  our  own  large  towns  where  Methodism  has  been  longest  established, 
and  where  there  is  the  greatest  amount  of  hereditary  and  family  influence, 
and,  so  to  speak,  business  connection,  we  have  not  more  of  the  primitive 
lay  work,  which  I  take  to  be  of  the  very  life  and  essence  of  our  Methodism. 
I  would  also  say  I  agree  with  my  friend,  Mr.  Osborn,  that  we  have  to 
lament  that  the  actual  amount  of  evangelical  results  to-day,  so  far  as  we 
can  judge  it  in  this  country,  is  far  less  in  proportion  than  it  ought  to  be, 
far  less  in  proportion  than  it  was  sixty,  seventy,  or  eighty  years  ago.  Only 
one  word  more,  sir.  In  the  statistics  which  were  read  by  my  old  friend — 
I  think  I  may  call  him  so  now — Dr.  Edwards,  there  was  a  reference  to  the 
schools,  and  he  spoke  of  grammar  schools.  Perhaps  I  maybe  allowed  to 
say  that  by  grammar  schools  he  did  not  mean  what  we  understand  by 
grammar  schools.  He  means  schools  at  which  English  grammar  is  taught-— 
what  we  should  call  the  upper  grades  of  our  public  elementary  schools  in 
this  country,  as  compared  with  the  high  schools  of  which  he  was  speaking, 
and  which  would  compare  most  accurately  with  the  grammar  schools  of  this 
country. 

The  Rev.  J.  Wood,  M.A.  (Primitive  Methodist  Cliurch)  :  I  represent 
rather  a  numerous  branch  of  tlie  great  Methodist  family — numerous  that 
is  to  say  for  this  country.  We  cannot  compare  with  our  brethren  in 
America.  We  have  to  do  things  in  a  much  smaller  way  so  far  as  counting 
up  is  concerned.  In  saying  a  word  about  the  statistics  of  our  own 
Connexion  I  may  be  permitted  to  say  that  we  have  not  recruited  our  ranks 
at  all  by  secessions  from  any  other  Methodist  body.  Our  increases  have 
been  derived  from  purely  evangelistic  work  amongst  the  lowest  classes  in 
this  country.  We  consider  it,  sir,  providential  tliat  we  were  born  out  of 
doors.  From  the  beginning  Ave  have  been  an  ont-door  people,  and  we 
reckon  that  tlie  Methodists  of  our  branch,  as  soon  as  they  arc  born  again, 
should  go  into  the  open  air  as  naturall}'  as  a  young  duck,  as  soon  as  it  is 
out  of  tlio  shell,  waddles  off  to  the  pool.  Now,  I  may  say  that  we  take 
our  statistics  very  carefully  not  only  once  a  year,  but  once  a  quarter.  Wo 
have  onr  quarterly  leaders'  meetings,  and  our  roll  books  are  strictly 
investigated,  the  name  of  every  member  being  called,  and  such  as  are 
known  to  be  wilfully  absenting  themselves  from  class  are  removed  from 
the  list.     I  may  say  further,  that  we  do  not  count  any  persons  meeting  in 

F  2 


68  METHODISM  :   ITS   HISTOEY   AND  RESULTS. 


I 


class  with  us  as  members  who  are  under  fourteen  years  of  age  ;  that  is, 
perhaps,  a  mistake  on  our  part  ;  but  those  are  put  down  now  in  anotlier 
list.  Still,  we  consider  they  are  members  of  our  Church.  Though  we 
have  been  in  existence  as  a  separate  branch  of  Methodism  for  seventy 
years,  our  numbers  at  the  last  Conference  were  185,312,  being  an  increase 
of  2,800  members  annually.  We  have  had  seasons  of  declension  and 
depression,  but  we  praise  God  that  our  success  has  been  so  great.  Our 
scholars  are  now  increasing  on  our  hands  at  the  rate  of  15,000  every  year, 
so  that  we  have  very  great  responsibilities  in  connection  with  them. 

Rev.  J.  M.  Reid,  D.  D.  (M.  E.  Church) :  I  have  but  a  word  to  say.  I 
am  glad  we  are  studying  statistics,  not  for  the  sake  of  gratifying  ourselves 
by  contemplating  the  greatness  of  our  numbers,  but  for  the  sake  of 
learning  where  we  are,  and  what  we  are  accomplishing.  I  desire  to  say 
that  I  do  not  conclude  that  there  is  less  power  in  Methodism,  because 
perchance  its  growth  is  relatively  not  as  great  as  it  was  in  former  times. 
Taking  into  account  our  numbers  and  our  machinery,  doubtless  we  should 
have  a  larger  increase  than  we  have  from  year  to  year  ;  but,  sir,  I  think 
we  ought  to  take  into  account  the  fact  that  when  iirst  we  presented  our 
doctrines,  when  we  appeared  as  we  did  before  the  early  communities,  the 
doctrines .  we  proclaimed  were  new,  and  our  usages  were  very  startling, 
and  the  impression  made  was  correspondingly  greater.  I  know  very  well 
that  in  some  outlying  branches  of  our  Churches,  even  within  a  single 
decade,  the  seeming  success  of  the  Church  w;is  much  greater  than  it  is 
now  ;  but  I  know  from  actnal  observation  that  the  zeal  is  not  less  now, 
that  the  spiritual  earnestness  is  not  less  now..  There  is  a  change  in  the 
community  around  these  Churches.  The  men  that  a  decade  ago  denied  the 
witness  of  the  Spirit,  felt  no  interest  in  the  doctrine  of  sanctification,  had 
no  Sunday-schools,  were  in  no  way  evangelical,  have  heard  these 
Methodist  preachers  that  you  have  sent  into  these  fields,  and  have  found 
the  blessed  life  for  themselves.  Consequently  they  are  now  establishing 
their  Sabbath-schools,  opening  their  chapels  for  prayer  meetings,  and  doing 
a  great  work  among  their  own  people  that  our  preachers  at  first  had  to  do 
for  the  entire  comnumity.  As  a  natural  result  they  now  keep  their  own 
people,  and  I  rejoice  in  the  fact  that  our  successes  and  triumphs  in  these 
fields,  and  perhaps  in  all  fields,  have  made  it  less  possible  for  us  to  grow 
as  rapidly  as  we  did  a  while  ago.  This  thought  should  be  borne  in  mind 
when  we  are  studying  our  statistics  ;  I  will  nut  take  time  to  elaborate  it, 
but  there  is  a  point  here  to  be  very  carefully  considered.  Our  success 
sometimes,  notwichstanding  we  may  have  the  same  resident  power,  leads 
to  a  state  of  the  case  that  makes  us  fail  to  show  such  great  results  as 
formerly. 


The  President  :  I  beg  leave  to  state  to  the  Conference  that  we 
have  received  a  dispatch  that  bears  a  very  honoured  name.  There 
is  some  confusion  in  the  manner  in  which  it  has  been  remitted  to 
us,  and  I  therefore  pass  this  dispatch  from  America  to  the  Business 
Committee.  I  have  no  doubt  that  they  Avill  find  it  out,  so  that  they 
can  report  to  us. 

The  Doxology  having  been  sung,  the  Conference  adjourned. 


EEV.    WM.   ARTHURS   ADDRESS.  69 


In  iHE  Afternoon  the  Conference  reassembled  at  Half-past 
Two,  Bishop  Peck  occupying  the  chair.  The  Introductory  Devo- 
tional Service  was  conducted  by  E,EV.  John  Watsford,  of  tlie 
Australasian  Methodist  Church. 

The  first  topic  for  discussion  was  Methodism,  a  Power  Purifi/ing 
and.  Elevating  Society.  The  Rev.  Wm.  Authur  read  the  following 
paper : — 

I  take  it  for  granted  that  in  the  title  of  this  paper  the  term  society 
is  meant  to  include  all  groups  whatever  of  human  beings  in  which  man 
has  to  live  and  act  in  common  with  his  fellow-men.  We  have  here  to 
do  with  somewhat  other  than  the  butterfly  notion  of  society,  wliich 
regards  only  the  drawing-room,  the  dining-room,  and  the  ball-room. 
Society,  in  our  view,  embraces  at  one  extreme  the  most  intimate 
relation  —and,  at  the  same  time,  that  affecting  the  smallest  number — 
existing  between  human  beings,  that,  namely,  of  the  wedded  pair,  who 
are  but  one ;  and  embraces  at  the  other  extreme  that  relation  which  is 
at  one  and  the  same  time  the  most  distant,  and  yet  the  one  involving 
stupendous  moral  issues  to  the  greatest  number,  namely,  the  relation 
of  nation  to  nation,  or  of  one  nation  to  all  the  rest.  In  the  bond  that 
unites  into  one  a  man  and  a  woman  we  have  the  germ  of  all  human 
society  ;  and  in  the  relations  that  bind  nation  to  nation  we  have  its 
ultimate  development. 

When,  therefore,  we  speak  of  purifying  and  elevating  society,  we 
must  take  into  our  view  the  social  duties  arising  out  of  the  conjugal 
relation,  and  out  of  those  other  domestic  relations  which  flow  from  it, 
namely,  the  parental,  the  filial,  and  the  fraternal  relation.  We  must 
further  take  into  view  all  the  social  duties  which  arise  out  of  such 
relations  as  in  the  system  of  Christianity  are  but  extensions  of  the 
fraternal  relation — the  relations,  namely,  of  neighbour,  of  fellow- 
townsman,  of  fellow-countryman,  of  fellow  in  craft  or  calling,  and, 
finally,  of  fellow-man.  We  are  not  permitted  by  the  Gosj)el  to  hold 
that  any  man,  however  separated  from  us  in  nation,  religion,  or 
manners,  is  a  person  with  whom  we  have  no  tie  of  Idndred,  We  are 
not,  indeed,  permitted  to  regard  him,  however  far  removed,  as  further 
removed  than  a  brother  fallen  and  in  a  far  country,  a  brother  over 
whose  character  we  may  mourn,  but  over  whose  recovery  we  should 
be  bound  to  rejoice. 

We  find  society,  then,  in  the  carriage  where  the  young  couple  sit  for 
the  first  time  side  by  side  as  man  and  wife.  We  find  society  again  in 
the  nursery,  where  brothers  dwell  and  sisters  meet.  We  find  society 
on  the  lawn  or  on  the  village-green  where  children  romp.  We  find  it 
wliere  the  school  hums,  and  the  fair  dazzles  the  boys  and  diverts  tlio 


70  METHODISM  :   ITS   HISTORY  AND   RESULTS. 

upgrown.  *We  find  it  at  the  family  table,  in  the  friendly  party,  in  tlie 
great  reception,  in  the  national  gala.  We  find  it  in  the  knot  of  cronies 
around  the  smithy  fire  or  the  ale-bench.  We  find  it  in  the  barrack- 
room,  the  ship's  forecastle,  and  the  ship's  cabin.  We  find  it,  too,  in 
the  market,  the  exchange,  the  shareholders'  meeting,  the  chamber  of 
commerce,  and  the  directors'  board.  We  find  it  in  the  gambling-den, 
in  the  prayer-meeting,  and  in  the  public  sports.  We  find  it  in  the  hall 
of  legislature,  in  the  court  of  justice,  in  the  congress  of  diplomatists, 
in  the  conclave  of  the  Vatican,  in  the  meetings  of  potentates  and 
kings.  In  all  these  several  positions  a  human  being  stands  to  human 
being  in  relations  wherein,  by  his  mode  of  dealing  with  his  fellows,  he 
may  make  them  happier  or  less  ha^ipy ;  often  may  make  them  better 
or  less  good  ;  while,  at  the  same  time,  by  the  same  dealing,  he  may 
make  himself  either  better  or  worse. 

The  association  of  two  children  for  a  single  day  involves  a  relation 
out  of  which  may  arise  a  lifelong  friendship  or  a  spite  durable  as  their 
days.  The  association  of  two  nations  in  a  single  transaction,  or  at  one 
point  of  territory,  involves  a  relation  out  of  which  may  arise  all  the 
unspeakable  moral  issues  involved  in  a  war. 

When,  therefore,  we  speak  of  purifying  and  elevating  society,  the 
terms  are  so  large  that  they  lead  us  to  think  of  a  purified  and  elevated 
discharge  of  every  duty  arising  out  of  any  social  relation  whatever, 
from  the  relations  of  wedlock  up  to  those  of  empire  with  empire.  It  is 
the  mission  of  the  Christian  Church,  viewed  on  its  social  side,  to  bring 
about  a  purified  and  elevated  discharge  of  all  such  duties.  And  as  a 
portion  of  that  Church  Methodism  has  been  called  to  do  its  part  in 
fulfilment  of  this  benign  mission. 

It  is  admitted  on  all  hands  that  the  age  in  which  Methodism  took  its 
rise  was  one  in  which  society,  taken  in  every  sense,  abounded  in  moral 
evils.  The  mode  in  which  the  new  form  of  Christian  energy  grappled 
with  those  evils  was  not  by  special  organisations  directed  against  this 
or  that  vice.  It  aimed  at  making  good  men  and  good  women,  assured 
that  every  one  of  these  would  become  the  centre  of  moral  forces, 
repelling  evil  in  society  and  attracting  good.  It  loudly  called  on  every 
wrong-doer  to  repent.  Even  where  this  call  was  unheeded  it  awoke  a 
consciousness  of  liability  to  rebuke  ;  often  a  consciousness  that  the 
rebuke  was  well  merited.  But  wherever  it  was  obeyed  the  turning 
from  his  ways  of  one  evil-doer  conveyed  a  rebuke  to  his  fellow-sinners 
— a  rebuke  more  penetrating  than  words  could  give,  and  one  which 
coupled  condemnation  of  sin  with  an  example  of  emancipation  from  its 
thraldom.  In  the  society  to  which  every  converted  sinner  belonged  his 
new  life  operated  as  a  lever  for  its  purification  and  elevation.  And  the 
total  purifying  and  elevating  force  exerted  in  any  one  neighbourhood 
by  Methodism  would  always  be  closely  proportioned,  first  to  the 
numbers  who  were  converted  by  its  instrumentality,  and,  secondly, 
to  the  degree  of  holy  living  attained  to  by  such  converts. 


EEV.   WM,   ARTHUR'S   ADDRESS.  71 

All  the  miners  in  a  gang,  all  the  colliers  in  a  pit,  all  the  soldiers  in  a 
company,  all  the  labourers  on  a  farm,  witnessing  the  new  life  of  one  or 
two  comrades,  would  be  conscious  of  a  new  sort  of  moral  appeal 
addressing  itself  to  their  sense  of  right  and  wrong.  And  so  in  any 
group  of  men  in  business,  or  professions,  or  in  any  social  circle,  the 
change  of  some  acquaintances  from  a  vicious  life  to  a  godly  one  would 
send  rebukes  shooting  into  many  consciences ;  and  even  if  these  rebukes 
were  resented  they  would  tend  to  form  a  moral  sentiment  higher  than 
would  have  existed  had  they  never  been  felt. 

In  joroportion  to  the  frequency  of  conversions  would  always  be  the 
iteration  of  such  practical  appeals  to  conscience,  and  in  proportion  also 
would  be  their  cumulative  effect  in  creating  a  higher  moral  tone.  But 
one  man  pre-eminent  for  righteousness,  one  whose  happy,  blameless, 
benevolent,  useful  living  rose  far  above  the  common  level  even  of 
religious  people,  would  in  tLis  respect  produce  more  impression  on  a 
neighbourhood  than  would  a  considerable  number  of  sincere  but 
stumbling  Christians.  Of  such  bright  and  warm-hearted  servants  of  God 
and  man  the  Methodist  revival  ever  and  anon  raised  up  examples  which 
were  fair  to  look  upon  ;  men  who  made  their  careless  neighbours  say  in 
their  hearts.  If  there  be  little  in  other  people's  religion,  there  is  reality 
in  his.  And  this  effect  once  produced  in  any  mind,  not  only  are  the  ideas 
of  duty  and  virtue  arrayed  to  that  mind  in  new  forms,  but  they  are 
connected  with  the  supreme  spring  of  motive,  the  remembrance  of 
God.  The  great  sinner,  converted  into  a  believer,  was,  in  popular 
language,  the  monument  of  grace.  But  a  still  greater  monument — one 
whose  long-sustained  influence  commemorated  the  sufficiency  of  grace 
in  all  the  changes  of  life — was  the  man  whom  the  young  had  always 
known  as  a  saint,  whom  the  old  hardly  remembered  as  a  worldly  man, 
and  whom  old  and  young  would  trust  as  the  friend  of  all,  the  enemy  of 
none  ;  a  man  whose  presence  made  goodness  appear  sweet,  and  made  a 
sinful  action  appear  as  something  which  could  not  be  just  then  done. 
Doubtless  there  were  to  be  found  among  the  Methodists  examples  of 
the  sour  mor:ilist,  or,  perhaps,  by  exception  exceedingly  rare,  of  the 
cynical  one ;  but  such  men  were  not  of  the  Methodist  type,  and  rather 
limited  than  extended  the  moral  effect  of  the  movement.  It  was  the 
men  and  women  who  were  happy  in  their  hohness  and  holy  in  their 
happiness  who  among  the  Methodists,  as  in  every  branch  of  the 
Chm-ch,  effectively  fulfilled  their  mission  in  purifying  and  elevating 
society. 

"When  the  spectacle  opposed  to  daily  observation  in  a  neighbourhood 
became  that  not  only  of  a  holy  man,  or  of  a  holy  woman,  but  of  a 
couple  walldng  together  in  holiness ;  and  ordering  their  house  so  as  to 
make  it  to  their  own  children  the  brightest  spot  on  earth,  and  a  spot 
from  which  it  seemed  not  hard  to  go  to  heaven  ;  and  to  make  it  to  the 
common  conscience  of  the  neighbourliood  an  example  of  such  a  home 
as  if,  were  it  coxjied  everywhere,  would  make  earth  the  trau<j[uil  abode 


72  METHODISM  :  ITS   HISTORY  AND   RESULTS. 

of  a  happy  household  ;  when  the  spectacle  took  this  form,  the  moral 
sentiment  of  the  neighbourhood  was  insensibly,  but  in  a  very  high 
degree,  purified  and  elevated.  Homes  where  family  affections,  family 
virtues,  family  instruction,  family  training,  are  animated  by  the  love 
of  God  and  man;  homes  where  all  these  bask  in  the  warmth  of 
a  domestic  hearth,  which,  hghted  by  fire  from  heaven,  is  fed  with  fuel 
drawn  from  all  the  accessible  fields  of  earth,  easily  become  generating 
centres  of  social  power,  centres  where  is  generated  that  kind  of  power 
that  purifies  and  elevates.  Of  all  the  good  soldiers  who  in  the 
Methodist  ranks  have  fought  against  sin,  fought  for  righteousness  and 
peace,  how  large  has  been  the  proportion  who  traced  back  their 
impulse  and  decision  so  to  spend  their  days  to  the  happy  influence  of 
home,  sweet,  sweet  home.  In  that  one  community  wherein  meet 
together  parents  and  children,  brothers  and  sisters,  masters  and 
servants,  lies  the  germ  of  all  institutions  whereof  the  ruling  elements 
are  authority,  law,  order,  obedience,  equal  rights,  and  a  common 
loyalty  to  a  common  interest.  Methodist  moral  influence  was  first  and 
most  largely  personal,  it  was  also  domestic ;  but  from  the  first  it 
further,  and  in  a  form  altogether  its  own,  became  social. 

Even  in  Christendom,  what  men  call  company  had  been  generally 
devoted  only  to  eating,  drinking,  and  amusements.  If  men,  when  they 
met  in  company,  abstained  from  trying  to  make  one  another  silly  or 
wicked,  if  they  did  not  either  stimulate  themselves  or  tempt  others  to 
conduct  and  speech  of  questionable  tendency,  if  they  avoided  profanitj^, 
gambling,  intemperance  and  indecorum,  they  were  taken  to  have 
carried  social  morals  to  a  high  level.  In  fact,  one  of  the  most  frequent 
and  most  accepted  pleas  in  mitigation  of  blame  for  misconduct  was 
"  company."  For  men  to  meet  in  company,  in  order  to  make  one 
another  wiser  and  better,  was  looked  upon  as  belonging  rather  to  the 
exotic  culture  of  a  few  philosophers  or  ascetics  than  to  every-day 
institutions  for  ^common  men  and  women. 

Early  amid  the  movements  of  the  Methodist  revival  sprang  up  a  new 
form  of  company.  Common  men  and  women,  common  youths  and 
maidens,  met  together  in  small  companies  on  purpose  to  help  one 
another  to  love  God  more  and  serve  Him  better,  to  help  one  another  to 
bear  their  burdens  cheerfully,  to  do  their  daily  tasks  thoroughly,  to 
fight  a  good  fight  against  all  sin,  to  love  their  neighbours,  and  to  spread 
on  earth  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  This  fellowship  brought  out  the  best 
ideas  of  the  thoughtful,  the  most  practical  maxims  of  the  prudent,  the 
holiest  aspirations  of  the  devout,  and  the  instructive  experiences  of  all. 
It  thus  cleared  and  broadened  for  each  person  his  ideal  of  his  individual 
religious  life,  and  at  the  same  time  gave  him  a  high  conception  of  what 
human  intercourse  might  be.  It  marvellously  augmented  the  self- 
diffusing  force  of  Methodist  moral  influence.  From  the  weekly  class- 
jneeting  went  out  often,  as  live  coals  from  the  altar,  souls  intent  on 
kindling  a  fire  which  earth  and  hell  might  strive  to  quench,  and  strive 


REV.   WM.   ARTHUR  S   ADDRESS.  73 

in  vain.  For,  in  feeling  on  the  one  hand  what  a  l)lessing  human 
fellowship  might  be  made,  and  remembering,  on  the  other  hand,  how 
frequently  society  wrought  the  ruin  of  the  young  and  capable,  the 
Methodist  did  not  regard  his  own  happier  lot  as  due  either  to  personal 
merit  on  his  part,  or  to  a  partiality  on  the  part  of  God  for  him  above 
other  men.  He  beheved  that  he,  a  sinner,  had  found  gi-ace,  and  that 
similar  grace,  without  price  and  without  stint,  was  free  for  all  sinners. 

This  persuasion  of  the  freeness  of  grace  for  all  was  one  important 
limb  of  that  compound  lever  which  Methodist  moral  influence  brought 
to  bear  for  the  elevation  of  society.  A  related  limb  of  the  same 
compound  lever  was  the  persuasion  that  the  laws  and  precepts  of 
Christianity  were  all  intended  to  be  practically  carried  into  life  and 
action ;  and  that  the  grace  of  God  was  of  sufficiency  equal  to  that 
practical  end.  No  man  was  so  far  fallen  as  to  be  bcluw  the  reach  of 
the  grace  of  God  No  precept  was  so  high  up  as  to  be  above  the  reach 
of  the  grace  of  God.  Therefore  did  the  Methodist  aim  at  purifying  not 
here  and  there  a  few,  but  the  whole  human  race ;  and  aimed  also  at 
elevating  it  even  to  the  stature  of  a  perfect  man  in  Christ. 

And  the  work  of  forwarding  this  purification  and  elevation  was  not 
merely  i^rofessional  or  official.  Each  member  who  had  the  fire  in  him 
found  his  o^^^l  sphere  for  action  somehow.  The  work  of  the  pastor 
and  teacher  was  one ;  that  of  the  private  member  another.  The 
spontaneous  action  of  private  members  was  the  measure  of  the  diffusive 
force  of  the  central  power. 

Another  agent  was  the  itinerant  character  of  the  ministry,  by  meats 
of  which  an  influence  intense  at  any  one  point  was  carried  over  wide 
surfaces.  The  j)eriodical  appearance  in  a  quiet  country  town,  in  a  lone 
farmhouse,  or  among  pioneer  settlers  in  newly-opened  tracts,  of  a  bold 
witness  against  j)revalent  sins,  and  a  fervent  advocate  of  every  neglected 
virtue,  was  a  social  power  of  no  small  account.  The  homes  into  which 
these  travellers  were  received  on  their  rounds  were  often  of  the 
humblest ;  and  not  unfrequently  were  they  the  first  in  their  neighbour- 
hood to  rise  out  of  the  level  of  their  class  and  begin  a  movement 
upward.  In  homes  of  a  different  class  it  often  hai^pened  that  the  one 
which  received  the  preacher  on  his  round  was  the  one  where  first 
hosi)itality  ceased  to  be  connected  with  intemperance,  and  whence  first 
there  went  out  through  the  vicinity  an  influence  in  favour  of  purer 
family  life. 

Another  element  of  moral  influence  that  operated  silently  but  pro- 
foundly was  the  discipline  exercised  in  the  Methodist  Churches  over 
both  ministers  and  members.  Men  will  fall,  and  the  common  con- 
science, recognising  this  fact,  does  not  condemn  a  system  merely  on 
account  of  lapses  on  the  part  of  some  adherents,  unless  the  system 
covers  them.  But  so  often  had  the  spectacle  been  exhibited — one 
directly  tending  to  demoralise  a  commuuitj* — the  spectacle  of  a  minister 
fallen  from  Cli    stian  morals,  and  yet  ui)held  bj-  Church  authority  iu 


74«  METHODISM  :   ITS   HISTORY  AND   RESULTS. 

charge  of  tlie  sonls  and  morals  of  a  community — so  common,  indeed, 
had  this  spectacle  long  been  in  the  non-reformed  Chnrches,  and  so 
frequent  had  it  become  in  the  reformed  ones,  that  the  public  conscience, 
though  never  at  rest  on  the  subject,  had  almost  ceased  to  revolt.  The 
evidence,  which  soon  came  to  light,  that  if  in  the  Methodist  Churches 
a  minister  fell  he  could,  by  a  discipline  of  easy  procedure  and  prompt 
issue,  be  deposed,  was  in  itself  no  small  contribution  towards  forming 
a  conscience  on  the  consistency  of  public  men.  And  as  to  private 
members,  when  the  neighbours  of  a  man  found  that  his  life  no  longer 
responded  to  his  profession,  and  began  to  think  ill  of  the  Church,  they 
sometimes  learned  that  she  had  required  him  to  choose  between  his 
sins  and  her  fellowship,  and  that  on  giving  proof  that  he  adhered  to 
his  sins  he  had  been  severed  from  that  fellowship;  whereupon  they 
began  to  feel  a  new  moral  impression,  an  impression  that  with  some 
Christianity  was  in  earnest. 

Methodist  moral  influence  has  always  been  essentially  personal.  By 
no  means  ignoring  the  value  of  good  institutions,  much  less  of  good 
laws,  it  has  all  along  assumed  that  both  institutions  and  laws  are  fruits 
of  the  moral  qualities  of  the  people  among  whom  they  spring  up,  and 
has  all  along  heard  behind  it  a  voice  saying,  "  Make  the  tree  good  and 
the  fruit  will  be  good  also."  It  has  assumed  that  good  men  and  women 
will  call  for  and  originate  good  institutions  and  good  laws ;  and  that, 
when  worked  by  bad  men  and  women,  the  best  institutions  become 
corrupt,  and  when  guarded  by  such  the  best  laws  lapse  into  dead  letter. 
Methodism  has  not  so  much  concerned  itself  with  settling  the  lines  of 
the  structure  as  with  furnishing  the  living  stones  out  of  which  on  one 
set  of  lines  or  another  could  be  built  an  habitation  of  God  through  the 
Spirit. 

But,  in  developing  personal  activity,  institutions  lapsed,  or  even  lost, 
rose  in  one  case  out  of  defaced  if  not  crumbling  remains,  in  others  out 
of  their  embers.  The  ministry  of  the  Gospel,  laden  witli  titles,  raiment, 
and  fatness  of  earthly  good,  had  come  to  be  generally  regarded  as  a 
profession  with  many  prizes,  and  calhng  for  slender  qualifications  and 
next  to  no  self-sacrifice.  A  ministry  arose,  subsisting  on  a  pittance 
and  toiling  as  workmen  toil;  a. ministry  in  which  eminence  led  to  no 
worldly  position  or  political  rank,  a  ministry  in  which  the  return  for 
great  services  rendered  was  with  greater  love  and  respect  only  the 
demand  for  more  service.  Out  of  this  ministry  sprang  a  branch  reach- 
ing forth  to  foreign  missions,  and  whether  men  of  the  world  hated  or 
liked  the  object  of  the  worker  at  home,  of  the  adventurer  abroad,  they 
often  felt  that  he  was  a  man  giving  to  a  public  interest  talents  and  an 
amount  of  tod  which,  if  only  given  to  his  private  interests,  would  raise 
him  to  prosj)erity.  The  effect  of  this  spectacle  was  not  small  on  men 
in  secular  pursuits ;  its  eifect  on  the  Christian  ministry,  viewed  as  a 
whole,  in  all  nations,  was  exceedingly  great.  It  would  be  hard  to 
describe,  in  the  course  of  time,  a  purification  and  elevation  more  signal 


KEV.    WM.   ARTHUll'S   ADDRESS.  75 

than  that  which  characterises  the  Christian  ministry  all  over  the 
world  at  this  moment,  as  comijared  with  its  character  and  repute  when 
first  the  cliurches  were  shut  against  John  Wesley. 

Out  of  the  merest  embers  of  the  primitive  Christian  order — embers 
hardly  allowed  to  live  by  clerical  assumptions — arose  the  old  institu- 
tion of  what  is  called  lay  agency.  This  big  word  only  means  that  it 
was  not  considered  in  Methodism  that  the  ordinary  particles  of  leaven 
should  leave  all  fermenting  and  spreading  to  certain  dignified  particles 
selected  in  proportions  of  one  in  a  thousand,  or  one  in  ten  thousand. 
So  the  ordinary  particles  began  to  move,  instinct  with  a  Ufe  that  gave 
no  reasons  and  that  heeded  no  rebukes,  to  move  because  the  mass 
in  which  they  lay  hidden  was  capable  of  being  leavened  and  of  becom- 
ing one  whole  and  wholesome  lump ;  to  move,  because  the  life  was  in 
them,  the  inert  mass  around  them,  and  they  must  move ;  to  move,  not 
by  the  rules  and  successions  of  a  carnal  commandment — a  thing  of 
orders  and  genealogies — but  by  the  power  of  an  endless  life,  of  that 
endless  life  which,  from  its  point  of  fulness  in  the  great  High  Priest, 
overflows  into  aU  His  members. 

Out  of  this  recovered  life  sprang  a  vast  and  multiform  activity, 
personal,  yet  often  grou^ied ;  local,  yet  everywhere  reproduced ;  sj)on- 
taneous,  yet  speedily  making  its  own  organisation ;  and  after  a  long 
while  the  world  awoke  and  called  it  laiy  agency.  But  during  the  whole 
time  the  effect  had  been  silently  going  on  upon  the  general  mind  of  a 
sipectacle  in  which  swarms  were  seen  aU  astir,  running  to  and  fro, 
preaching,  teaching,  visiting  tlie  sick,  gathering  in  children  off  the 
streets,  making  books,  lending  them,  giving  them  away,  rearing  build- 
ings, making  garments,  sitting  in  committees,  breaking  out  in  new  and 
unexpected  j)laces  and  forms  of  activity ;  swarms  that  not  only  improved 
the  sunny  hour,  but  faced  the  east  wind  and  the  snowstorm  ;  swarms 
which,  when  then*  cells  were  built  and  their  honey  gathered,  had  plainly 
toiled  not  to  load  their  o-mi  board  with  sweets,  but  to  sweeten  the 
lifebread  of  others.  When  men  of  the  world  saw  the  stonemason  and 
the  shopkeeper,  the  doctor  and  the  merchant^  the  attorney  and  the 
manufacturer,  devote  the  strength  left  from  daily  toil  to  toil  for  others 
without  fee  or  reward,  just  doing  the  work  for  love  of  it,  and  not  only 
doing  it,  but  si^ending  on  it  much  of  their  own  hardly-earned  money, 
the  observers  might  dislike  the  men,  they  might  despise  the  work,  but . 
they  could  not  help  seeing,  in  this  prodigious  outlay  of  unpaid  labour 
for  the  building  of  a  living  temple,  the  healthj'  sjjectacle  of  effort 
(•levated  by  an  idea,  and  that  idea  one  tending  lj  the  purification  of 
society. 

"A  power,"  says  the  title  of  the  paper — a  power!  Power  often 
transmits  itself  by  hidden  shafts,  and  stril<es  out  at  a  distance,  even 
within  enclosures  walled  off  from  the  sight  of  the  filing  process  by 
which  the  power  is  generated.  How  often  have  walls,  high  and  thick, 
been  put  up  to  prevent  the  polite  XJublic  from  learning  that  this  highly- 


7G  METHODISM  :   ITS   HISTORY   AND  RESULTS. 

lauded  worker,  and  that  beneficent  worli,  though  operating  within  un- 
objectionable enclosures,  were  debtors  to  the  vulgar  Methodist  firing- 
house  for  the  power.  All  that  we  have  to  do  in  iiresence  of  such  weak- 
nesses is  to  smile  and  to  overcome  by  carefully  noting  and  confessing 
our  own  debts,  whether  as  individuals  or  whether  as  denominations,  to 
all  the  servants  of  our  blessed  Lord  who  bear  other  names,  and  to  all 
branches  of  His  universal  Church,  no  matter  of  what  nation  or  of  what 
rites.  We  are,  in  very  truth,  debtors  to  all,  to  some  debtors  in  much 
and  immensely,  and  we  shall  always  do  more  for  the  purifying  and 
elevating  of  society  by  showing  a  ready  mind  in  acknowledging  our 
debts  to  our  fellow-servants  than  by  seizing  them  by  the  throat  if 
they  appear  disposed  to  deny  their  debts  to  us. 

When  society  in  Africa  underwent  for  all  future  time  that  pregnant 
change  which  took  place  when  the  flag  of  England,  from  being  the 
banner  of  the  slaver,  became  the  pavilion  of  the  captive,  how  much  of 
the  power  beliind  Wilberforce  was  contributed  by  Methodism '?  When 
society  in  Asia  underwent  the  pregnant  change  which  took  place  when 
the  flag  of  England  from  being  the  protection  of  the  suttee  pile,  became 
the  protection  of  the  widow,  some  part  of  the  power  behind  Lord  William 
Bentinck  was  lent  by  Methodism.  And  so  in  all  efforts,  whether  by 
pure  hterature  or  good  schooling,  by  kindly,  upward  associations,  by 
generous  international  sentiment,  by  city  missions,  by  Bible-women  or 
by  sick  visiting,  much  of  the  power,  first  in  the  form  of  the  life-impulse, 
then  m  that  of  the  tentative  efforts,  and  always  in  that  of  willing 
workers,  has  been  contributed  by  Methodism. 

But  on  these  ijoints  I  do  not  dwell^  They  are  not  to  be  forgotten  in 
history,  but  their  value  to  us  would  be  worse  than  lost  if  we  referred 
to  them  either  as  boasting  of  ourselves  or  as  abating  one  jot  of  the  just 
praise  due  to  our  fellow-Christians.  The  value  of  these  facts  to  us  is 
this,  and  that  value  is  great — they  show  us  that  when  power  from  on 
high  is  received  into  humble  hearts,  the  reach  of  its  operation  is  not 
bounded  by  fences  either  social  or  ecclesiastic.  They  show  us  that  if 
with  our  present  numbers — -and  numbers  are  the  measure  of  the  fuel, 
though  not  of  the  power — we  receive  from  the  flame  that  burns  before 
the  Throne  as  much  fire  as  did  our  fathers,  the  power  generated  will 
travel  into  the  inmost  courts  of  citadels  walled  up  to  heaven,  and 
there,  in  one  form  or  in  another,  work  wonders  to  the  praise  of  God. 

Methodist  moral  influence  has,  in  some  measure,  affected  many  races 
of  men.  Some  of  the  master  races  it  has  scarcely  approached.  The 
potent  old  Arab  race  has  barely  felt  its  touch ;  the  widespread  and 
even  yet  mighty  old  Berber  race  we  may  say  not  at  all ;  the  Slav  and 
the  Tartar  races  in  only  indirect  ways,  or  in  the  measure  of  a  mere 
commencement ;  the  Greek  race  only  indirectly ;  what  is  absurdly 
enough  called  the  Latin  race,  to  an  extent  directly  which  is  already 
traceable,  and  indirectly  to  a  much  greater  degree,  though  to  one 
which  as  yet  is  really  nought  in  the  eye  of  the  poUtician  or  of  those 


REV.  WM.  Arthur's  address.  77 

philosophers  whose  wisdom  estimates  actual  processes  only  by  the 
test  of  long  manifest  results. 

On  the  Hindu  and  the  Chinese  races  the  action  of  Methodism  directly 
is  still  both  of  recent  origin  and  limited  extent.  The  fields  on  which 
its  operation  has  been  most  powerful  have  been  among  three  races  of 
wide  diffusion,  and  gigantic  capabilities — the  Anglo-Saxon  race,  the 
African  race,  and  the  Polynesian  race.  When  the  work  of  Methodism 
began  these  three  races  might  be  taken  as  representing  the  three 
elevating  and  purifying  forces  constantly  preached  to  us  by  those  who 
think  they  know  and  that  we  only  dream.  These  three  forces  are  the 
age,  irresistible  improver,  the  very  name  of  which  may  account  for 
anything  ;  nature,  enchanting  governess  who  fails  not  to  train  in  her 
nursery  children  of  aerial  innocence ;  and  finally  civilisation,  that 
wondrous  professor  in  whose  college  irresistible  lights  combine  to  make 
all  sons  wise  and  all  fathers  glad. 

The  ancient  African  race  had  seen  all  that  age  could  of  itself  do  for 
us ;  it  was  old,  very  old,  when  the  name  Anglo-Saxon  had  never  been 
pronounced  or  printed.  The  Polynesian  race  had  enjoyed  all  the 
benefits  of  the  gentle  tuition  of  nature  in  her  fairest  attire.  The 
Anglo-Saxon  race  stood  high  among  the  pupils  of  civilisation,  whether 
regarded  from  a  national  or  a  municipal,  from  an  industrial  or  a 
literary,  from  a  commercial  or  scientific,  from  a  military  or  courtly 
point  of  view.  Yet  what  were  these  races  as  touching  social  virtues 
when  Mctliodism  arose  ?  The  Anglo- Saxon  country  gentleman,  brave, 
free,  sincere,  was  often  a  coarse  sot  ;  the  Anglo-Saxon  crowd,  in 
general  law  abiding,  was  one  of  the  rudest  of  human  mobs ;  the 
Anglo-Saxon  colliers  of  Kingswood  and  Newcastle,  of  Wednesbnry  and 
Madely,  were  among  the  roughest  boors  alive.  And  the  child  of  nature 
in  Polynesia,  instead  of  being  akin  to  sylphs  and  zephyrs,  was  nearer 
akin  to  the  furies  as  a  savage.  And  the  heir  of  all  the  ages  in  Africa 
was  in  every  art  a  child,  and  in  every  social  arrangement  needing  to 
begin. 

Among  these  three  races,  then,  Methodism  has  laid  out  the  main 
part  of  its  strength.  It  has  dealt  with  the  Anglo-Saxon  race  on  the 
ancestral  soil,  where  it  tills  its  few  narrow  acres  under  the  guidance 
of  an  ancient  monarchy.  It  has  dealt  with  it  beyond  the  ocean,  where 
amid  recent  wilds  it  gazes  out  into  boundless  openings,  and  expands 
under  the  guidance  of  a  young  Republic.  It  has  dealt  with  it  in 
British  colonies,  in  Australia,  in  British  North  America,  and  Southern 
Africa.  It  has  dealt  with  it  in  colonies  of  pure  Englishmen  or 
Americans,  struggling  with  nothing  but  nature,  in  colonies  mixed  as 
between  English,  or  Americans,  and  French  in  Canada  and  Louisiana, 
as  between  English  and  Dutch  at  the  Cape.  It  has  dealt  with  it  in 
free  settlements  where  slavery  never  appeared.  It  has  dealt  with  it 
in  mixed  plantations  where  Anglo-Saxon  and  African  stood  to  one 
another  in  the  relative  position  of  slave  and  slave-owner.     It  has  dealt 


78  METHODISM  :   ITS   HISTOEY   AND   RESULTS. 

-with  it  where  the  Anglo-Saxon  settler  dwelt  side  by  side  with 
aboriginal  races,  mixed  with  Red  Indians  or  Kafirs,  with  cannibal 
Maories  in  New  Zealand,  or  recently  Christianised  cannibals  in  Fiji. 
It  has  dealt  with  it  under  all  its  strangely  various  phases,  and  will  yet 
have  to  deal  with  it  in  new  phases  which  we  do  not  now  foresee,  but 
which  its  extending  relations  with  other  races  will  bring  into  view. 
But  in  one  posture,  just  alluded  to,  will  it,  we  may  confidently  believe, 
never  more  have  to  deal  with  the  Anglo-Saxon — the  position  of  a 
slave-owner  authorised  by  law.  As  to  this  race,  what  has  been 
accompUshed  in  the  past  is  sufficient  to  encourage  effort  for  the  work 
that  has  to  be  done  in  the  future  ;  but  that  work  is  yet  far  too.  vast  to 
alloAV  us  to  waste  time  in  boasting  of  things  done,  or  to  allow  us  to 
forget  where  our  strength  lies. 

With  the  African  race  Methodism  has  had  to  deal  both  in  its 
fatherland,  and  in  the  colonies  of  the  West  Indies  and  the  States  of 
America.  In  the  two  last  it  has  had  to  deal  with  it  in  the  day  of 
bondage,  in  the  day  of  emancipation,  and  now  in  the  day  of  settled 
freedom.  Of  it,  again,  we  may  'say  that  what*  has  been  done  is 
sufficient  to  encourage  us  as  to  the  vastly  greater  .vork  that  remains 
to  be  done. 

With  the  Polynesian  race  we  have  had  to  deal  in  its  native  state  of 
savageism ,  and  now  in  various  degi'ees  of  a  Christianised  condition,  and 
of  settled  government.  Of  it,  as  of  the  other  two,  we  may  affirm  that 
what  God  has  wrought  warrants  us  to  work  on  with  good  hope  that 
there  are  good  things  in  store  for  the  labourers  who  shall  take  up 
our  toil. 

The  Rev.  Bishop  L.  H.  Holsey  (of  the  Coloured  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church),  said:  Methodism  is  peculiarly  fitted  to  elevate  and  purify 
society,  because  there  is  in  pure  Methodism  much  of  the  spirit  of  the 
blessed  Christ,  especially  compassion  on  souls.  It  is  a  distinctive 
characteristic  of  Methodism  to  love  souls  because  they  are  what  they 
are — made  in  the  image  of  God,  and  immortal.  When  the  Great 
Teacher  "  saw  the  multitudes  He  was  moved  with  compassion  on 
them,  because  they  fainted,  and  were  scattered  abroad  as  sheep  having 
no  shepherd."  So  Methodism  sought  the  multitudes,  not  only  to  save 
them  from  sin  and  death,  but  to  elevate  and  purify  society  has  ever 
been  the  work  of  Methodism,  and  in  both  it  has,  under  God,  proved 
itself  to  be  a  mighty  power — which  is  the  subject  of  this  essay. 
Methodism  from  the  beginning  was  the  friend  of  education,  and  has 
always  been  engaged  in  its  work.  Methodism  was  born  in  a  college, 
and  believes  in  schools.  With  a  consciousness  that  its  teachings  and 
practices  are  right,  and  what  the  Gospel  demands,  it  enters  the  field 
of  knowledge  and  intellectual  progress  with  a  hearty  goodwill.  Its 
founder  was  a  man  of  letters.  He  sought  not  only  the  elevation  of 
society  by  evangelistic  labours  and  evangelistic  Christianity,  but  by 


BISHOP  holsey's  address.  79 

every  lawful  and  useful  means  that  could  instruct  and  improve  tlie 
minds  and  conditions  of  men.  When  Wesley  died  his  works  lived  ; 
the  ball  that  he  put  in  motion  is  rolling  on.  His  spirit  still  lives  and 
glows  in  his  sons.  Every  Methodist  school  or  institution  di  learning 
stands  as  a  monument — a  perpetual  memorial — of  Wesley's  love  of 
education.  He  knew  as  well  as  man  could  know  that  the  doctrines 
which  he  taught  were  not  only  what  God  in  His  Word  requires,  but 
that  they  are  the  very  things  the  world  needed.  The  things  that  he 
believed  and  taught,  he  believed  them  to  be  of  God.  Hiding  behind 
the  cross  of  Christ,  and  entrenching  himself  in  the  castle  of  truth,  he 
feared  no  assaults  from  without.  There  was  no  danger  of  too  much 
light.  He  was  not  afraid  of  criticisms  and  controversies.  Criticisms 
and  controversies,  however,  arose,  storm  after  storm  tried  the  doctrines 
of  Wesley ;  but  now,  after  a  century  has  passed  away,  and  the  storms 
have  subsided,  we  see  that  he  was  right.  His  followers  have  not 
neglected  education,  but  have  prosecuted  this  part  of  their  life-work 
with  a  zeal  that  is  highly  commendable.  Hence  Methodism  is  the 
friend  of  education,  and  always  has  been.  Indeed,  it  is  a  Church 
of  schools,  colleges,  seminaries,  and  orphan  asylums.  Everywhere 
Methodism  seeks  to  make  men  better  and  happier  by  imparting  to 
them  the  advantages  of  a  Christian  education.  Its  institutions  of 
learning,  its  schools  of  science,  law,  and  art,  dot  the  vales  and  crown 
the  hills  of  Europe  and  America,  while  it  is  planting  others  in  foreign 
countries.  Its  students,  with  well-earned  diplomas,  are  found  in 
almost  every  country  on  the  globe.  These,  with  their  Christian 
training,  have  been  sent  into  the  world  by  the  thousands  and  hundreds 
of  thousands  to  permeate  and  leaven  the  mass  of  society  with  the 
teachings  and  practices  of  a  Christian  culture.  Its  publishing  houses, 
its  thousands,  and  ten  thousands  of  publications,  that  annually  go 
forth  to  the  nations,  consisting  of  books  upon  every  useful  and  refining 
subject ;  its  many  Church  j)apers,  reviews,  periodicals,  tracts,  Sunday- 
school  leaves  and  lesson  papers  ;  its  missionaries,  Bible  agents,  and 
colporteurs,  threading  the  islands,  crossing  the  seas,  traversing  the 
world,  and  filling  the  whole  circle  of  society  with  the  precious  truths 
of  Christianity  and  the  light  of  God, — all  these  are  potent  agents  to 
propagate  any  doctrine  true  or  false,  and  whether  man  is  benefited 
thereby  or  not.  But  when  they  are  employed  for  a  noble  purpose — 
the  amelioration  of  man — and  when  they  do  accomplish  that  end,  how 
wonderful  and  glorious  they  appear  !  Methodism  has  brought  all  these 
into  being.  It  has  not  only  originated  and  kept  them  in  action,  but 
it  has  brought  them  all  and  laid  them  at  the  feet  of  Christ,  and  con- 
secrated them  to  His  glory  and  the  saving  of  the  world.  It  inculcates  in  its 
discipline  and  ritual  not  only  simplicity  in  forms  of  worshij^,  but  in  styles 
of  living.  It  is  a  standing  protest  against  the  very  forms  and  tendencies 
that  lead  to  sensuaHty.  It  takes  up  the  battle-cry  against  intemper- 
ance, and  deals  with  its  corrupting  inlluences  and  dreadful  cousequeucea. 


80  METHODISM  :   ITS   HISTORY  AND   RESULTS. 

It  teaches  men  to  live  for  a  purpose,  a  purpose  worthy  of  living  for — 
the  saving  of  others.  It  makes  war  upon  the  dominion  of  strong  drink 
and  intoxicating  liquors.  Our  bodies  are  God-given  instruments,  given 
for  a  whUe  to  do  the  work  of  the  Lord,  and  we  have  no  right  to  destroy 
them,  or  impair  their  usefulness.  They  are  temples  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
the  habitations  of  the  Most  High  ;  if  they  are  destroyed  by  us  we  stand 
guilty  of  sacrilege.  It  teaches  that  wealth,  mind,  and  intellect  must 
be  consecrated  to  the  good  of  mankind,  recognising  the  fact  that  every 
man  is  our  brother — a  brotherhood  united  together  by  common  interests 
and  the  strong  ties  of  consanguinity.  Listening  to  the  groans  of  the 
nations  beneath  the  burdens  of  sin  and  darkness,  and  clamour  for  the 
light  and  liberty  of  the  children  of  God,  it  is  criminal  to  waste  one's 
wealth,  whether  with  unsparing  hand  upon  our  persons,  our  surround- 
ings, or  our  equij)ages.  Money  is  power,  but  it  is  given  by  the  gracious 
Lord  to  be  a  great  factor  in  the  world's  recovery  and  restoration  to 
Christ.  It  is  the  arm— the  grand  instrument  by  which  the  nations 
are  to  be  lifted  from  degradation,  elevated,  and  purified.  Methodism 
encourages  industry,  economy,  and  obedience  to  "  the  powers  that  be," 
because  "  they  are  ordained  of  God."  True  Methodists  are  true  citizens. 
The  fire  of  patriotism — the  love  of  country — burns  and  glows  in  every 
true  Methodist  heart,  being  fanned  by  its  teachings  and  spirit.  It 
teaches  that  all  must  work  for  Christ.  Its  watchword  is,  "  Believe  and 
work."  In  the  morning  sow  thy  seed,  and  in  the  evening  hold  not 
thine  hand.  It  brings  light  and  love  to  the  dark  places  of  the  earth ; 
puts  new  hoi)e  into  the  desponding,  enlarging  their  views  of  God  and 
heaven,  and  starting  new  springs  of  zeal  and  Christian  activity ;  lifts 
up,  purifies,  and  saves.  Thank  God  that  John  Wesley  was  born  into 
the  world,  and  thank  God  for  Methodism  !  It  is  in  the  M'orld,  and  the 
world  is  its  j)arish.  The  two  hemispheres  are  the  fields  of  its  opera- 
tion. It  is  at  work.  It  still  wrestles  "  against  princii^alities,  against 
powers,  against  the  rulers  of  the  darkness  of  the  world,  against  spiritual 
wickedness  in  high  places."  Its  aggressive  hosts  are  assaulting  the 
ramparts  of  darkness,  and  putting  to  flight  "  the  armies  of  the  aliens." 
Stout-hearted  infidelity  and  its  subtle  combinations  are  trembling  before 
its  bugle  blasts  and  the  advancing  lines  of  the  coming  triumph.  In  the 
name  of  God  it  sets  u]d  its  banners.  More  than  a  hundred  years  ago  it 
sped  across  the  Atlantic.  It  buckled  on  the  sandals  of  truth,  and  in 
the  wilderness  wilds  of  the  new  world  it  won  its  proudest  victories. 
Aided  by  the  incomparable  hymns  of  Charles  Wesley,  the  Gospel  of 
free  grace  went  pealing  along  the  rivers  and  lakes,  and  over  its  plains 
and  mountains,  gathering,  and  continuing  to  gather,  recruits  to  the 
army  of  the  Lord  of  Hosts.  So  shall  the  glad  tidings  sound  through 
all  the  earth  tiU  the  sons  of  men — of  all  races  and  climes — shall  be 
gathered  under  the  banner  of  the  cross.  Hallelujah  1  the  doctrines  and 
songs  of  Methodism  are  ringing  around  the  globe. 


GENERAL   REMARKS.  81 

The  Rev.  J.  C.  Price  (coloured),  African  Methodist  Episcopal  Zion 
Church,  said  :  Christianity,  in  the  essentials  of  its  nature,  is  naturally 
reformatory.  We  notice  its  introduction  into  tiie  world  by  Christ  in  its 
effects  upon  the  existing  manners  and  customs  of  nations.  Hence 
Methodism,  being  a  great  branch  of  Christianity,  would  naturally  be 
purifying  and  elevating  upon  society,  because  Christianity,  in  the  length 
and  breadth  of  its  effects  upon  man  everywhere,  not  only  in  his  religious 
state,  but  also  in  his  social  and  civil  state,  has  an  influence  which  is  for 
the  glory  of  God  and  for  the  good  of  man  everywhere.  But  wliile  it  may 
Ije  true  that  Christianity  has  this  effect  upon  man,  and  the  truths  of  the 
Gospel  are  so  reformatory  in  their  nature,  it  may  be  still  true  that  Methodism 
is  peculiarly  so  in  purifying  and  elevating  society  wherever  it  goes.  And 
this  may  be  for  several  reasons,  a  few  of  which  only  I  will  mention.  In 
the  first  place,  it  is  in  the  simplicity  of  the  doctrines  it  advocates,  and  in 
the  principles  by  which  it  is  controlled.  The  doctrines  are  so  simple,  that 
the  most  uninformed  can  take  them  in  with  ease.  And,  again,  they  are  so 
grand,  that  the  most  enlightened  have  to  stagger,  not  at  their  complexity, 
but  at  their  simplicity.  This  has  been  seen  wherever  Methodism  has  gone, 
whether  it  has  been  among  the  English,  with  their  civilisation  and 
enlightenment,  or  among  the  heathen  of  India,  or  among  the  idolaters  of 
Africa.  This  great  elevating  and  enlightening  influence  of  Methodism 
has  cut  its  way,  as  we  heard  yesterday,  throughout  the  length  and  breadth 
of  the  world.  What  Methodism  has  done  for  Ireland,  for  England,  and 
for  the  Anglo-Saxons  of  America,  I  am  proud  to  say  it  has  done  for  the 
Africans.  That  same  branch  of  the  Christian  Church  that  even  in  the  dark 
days  softened  the  influence  of  the  slave  towards  the  master,  is  yet  seen  in 
its  results  to-day.  If,  living  under  the  reflected  rays  of  the  moon,  he 
would  be  unresentful  and  faithful  to  his  country  and  to  the  laws  and 
powers  that  were,  what  will  be  his  position  as  a  citizen  and  as  a  member  of 
society  when  standing  in  the  full  light  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ  as  it  gets 
its  influence  from  the  cross  ?  I  am  glad  to  say  to-day  that  such  has  been 
the  influence  of  Methodism.  Why,  they  say  the  coloured  people  are  all 
IVIethodists  and  Baptists.  And  why  ?  Because  they  take  in  the  truths  in 
tlieir  simplicity.  Simplicity  is  always  desirable,  and  especially  Mdien  truths 
are  to  be  conveyed  to  others  on  the  great  themes  of  human  redemption, 
sanctification,  and  justification  as  they  come  from  the  Bible.  And  hence 
Methodism  is  the  great  thing  that  will  help  us  to  solve  the  great  American 
Negro  problem.  Why,  you  know  our  colleges  are  limited  ;  our  high 
schools  and  academies  are  limited.  Six  or  seven  millions  of  people  must 
be  informed  :  and  how  can  they  be  better  informed  without  these  schools 
and  colleges,  than  by  coming  to  the  Christian  minister  three  or  four  times 
a  day-?  Wherever  the  name  of  Christ  goes  there  is  a  general  renovation 
of  character  and  a  corresponding  renovation  of  action  ;  and  hence  I  can 
easily  and  heartily  appreciate  the  subject  as  it  comes  to  us — "  Methodism 
in  its  ElForts  to  Purify  and  Elevate  Society."  And  we  need  to  be  purified 
and  elevated  in  society.  For  more  than  two  centuries  we  have  had 
wars  on  account  of  a  misunderstanding  in  regard  to  our  relations  with 
other  men. 

The  I\EV.  Dr.  IMarshall,  of  Vicksburgh  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
South)  :  I  rise  to  say  that  it  is  with  gratification  and  with  gratitude  to  God 
that  for  nearly  fifty  years,  while  I  have  preached  to  the  white  people  of 
the  great  cotton  and  sugar  States  of  the  South,  I  have  never,  on  any  occa- 
si'/n,  at  any  time,  or  under  any  circumstances — and  I  say  the  same  for  my 
brethren — neglected  to  preach  to  the  coloured  people.  I  rejoice  in  the 
sentiments  of  my  coloured  brother  ;  and  I  desire  here,  as  a  representative 
of  the  South,  to  give  him  my  hand.  (The  delegates  here  cordially  shook 
bands.)     He  is  a  North  Carolina  man,  and  he  knows  how  he  has  loved  the 

G 


82  METHODISM  :   ITS  HISTORY  AND  RESULTS. 

white  man,  and  he  knows  how  the  white  man  has  regarded  him  as  a 
Christian  brother  when  religion  has  refined  his  heart  and  built  him  up  in 
the  image  of  Christ.  We  rejoice  to-day  to  meet  our  brethren  here,  and,  in 
the  spirit  of  our  beloved  Master,  we  alike  thank  God  on  their  behalf  that 
they  are  free,  that  tlieV  are  happy,  that  they  are  preaching  the  Gospel,  and 
that  they  are  increasing  in  the  knowledge  and  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.  May  they  prosper  and  floui-isli  imtil  all  over  the  South  they  shall 
have  been  converted  to  the  Saviour,  and  carry  the  torch  of  Methodism  to 
Africa,  and,  from  the  centre  to  the  circumference  of  that  great  land,  fill  it 
with  Methodist  churches,  and  with  the  glorious  manifestations  of  a  preached 
Gospel,  under  the  banners  of  John  Wesley. 

The  Rev.  J.  M'H.  Farley  (coloured)  : — I  wish  to  speak  for  a  few 
minutes  on  Methodism  as  a  purifier.  I  have  come  from  Virginia,  and  I 
may  say  that  Methodism  has  purified  that  State,  or  that  part  of  it  in  which 
I  live.  We  are  all  delighted  to  meet  _you  over  here  in  England.  Metho- 
dism is  a  purifier  ;  and,  sir,  it  has  purified,  not  only  Virginia,  but  is  calcu- 
lated to  purify  the  world.  I  heartily  endorse  the  sentiment,  as  set  forth 
by  my  brother  Holsey,  in  regard  to  the  doctrines  and  the  teaching  of 
Methodism  ;  and  I  stand  here  to-day,  as  my  brother  has  said,  coming  from 
the  land  of  liberty.  We  meet  on  a  conmion  level  with  our  brethren  in 
America  and  England  to  say  that  this  glorious  doctrine  we  preach  to  our 
brethren  and  the  world  will  purify  the  world  and  bring  it  to  Jesus.  I  am 
glad  to  be  here,  to  have  exchanged  words  of  love  and  sympathy.  All  we 
have  to  do  is  to  be  good  men,  and  to  carry  out  the  injunction  laid  down 
by  Wesley,  to  carrj-  the  Gospel  to  all  the  world,  to  Africa  and  America, 
and  to  the  islands  where  they  know  not  Jesus,  that  they  may  be  purified. 

Mr.  R.  Dale  (Bible  Christian  Church,  South  Australia)  :  For  twenty-seven 
years  it  has  been  my  privilege  to  preach  the  Gospel  in  Australia.  Several 
of  these  years  were  devoted  to  mission  work  in  the  bush.  The  term  bush 
with  us  is  equivalent  to  backwoods  in  America,  and  wilderness  in  the 
Scriptures.  At  that  time  our  bush  population  was  utterly  destitute  of  the 
means  of  grace.  Young  people  grew  up  without  having  ever  seen  a  house 
of  prayer,  or  hearing  a  preacher.  More  than  once,  after  telling  the  story 
of  the  cross,  and  bowing  in  prayer,  the  parents  experienced  the  greatest 
difliculty  to  induce  their  children  to  kneel,  and  were  it  not  so  sad  I  should 
have  been  often  amused  at  hearing  the  thumps  administered  on  their  backs 
to  secure  this  object.  These  visits  were  repeated,  Bibles  circulated,  leaves 
of  healing,  supplied  by  the  Religious  Tract  Society,  distributed  ■;  for  I 
never  went  to  my  work  without  these.  The  good  seed  in  time  produced 
effect,  and  many  once  lost  are  now  cleansed,  clothed,  and  sitting  at  Jesus's 
feet.  I  bear  willing  testimony  to  the  power  of  Methodist  agencies  to 
'"  purif}'  and  elevate,"  in  Australia,  as  well  as  America ;  and  speak  only 
because  I  desire  the  evidence  not  to  be  one-sided. 


The  Eev.  Alpheus  Wilson,  D.D.  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
South),  read  the  following  paper  on  The  Influence  of  Methodism  upon, 
other  Ecclesiastical  Bodies,  and  the  Extent  to  which  they  have  Modified 
Methodism. 

It  was  not  proposed  at  the  inception  of  the  Methodist  movement  to 
affect  men  in  their  ecclesiastical  relations,  but  only  in  their  'personal 
character  and  relations  to  God.  In  respect  of  these  Methodism  was  in 
agreement  with  the  creeds,  articles  of  religion,  homilies,  and  theological 


EEV.  ALPHEUS  WILSON'S  ADDllESS.  83 

systems  of  all  the  Protestant  Churches.  It  made  no  attack  xipon  these ; 
nor  did  it  offer  any  substitute  for  them.  There  was  no  formal  enuncia- 
tion of  theses  to  be  discussed.  The  faith  of  the  Wesleys  and  their 
helpers  was  that  of  the  Church  of  England,  to  which  they  adhered  to 
the  last,  and  in  which  they  found  all  that  was  required  for  salvation. 

Nor  did  they  make  a  controversy  with  any  of  the  Churches  upon  its 
specific  method  of  dealing  with  men.  The  formal  ritual  of  the  Estab- 
lished Church,  and  the  freer  services  of  the  Nonconformist  bodies,  were 
equally  corapatible  with  the  utterance  of  the  fundamental  assumptions 
of  their  faith,  and,  in  their  different  forms,  gave  ample  room  for  their 
expression  in  character,  worship,  and  life.  In  fact,  nothing  more 
entirely  divested  of  all  claim  to  superior  wisdom,  nothing  more  free  from 
revolutionary  tendencies,  had  appeared  in  the  course  of  ecclesiastical 
history  since  apostolic  times.  No  attempt  to  alter  or  modify,  directly 
or  indirectly,  the  economy  or  ritual  of  the  Churches  characterised 
Methodism  in  its  beginnings  or  its  growth.  It  made  no  appeal  to  dis- 
content ;  it  evoked  no  partisan  agencies.  Its  ample  records  disclosed 
no  trace  of  the  proselytising  si)irit.  The  value  and  sufficiency  of  every 
Christian  communion  were  admitted  with  a  liberality  rare  in  that  time : 
and  questions  of  reform — if  reform  were  needed — were  relegated  to  the 
convocations  and  assemblies  resijectively  charged  with  the  responsibility 
of  maintaining  the  order  and  purity  of  the  Churcli  of  God.  The  in- 
fluence of  Methodism  was  not  to  be  traced  in  the  line  of  negation  and 
protest. 

To  this  may  be  added  the  fact  that  it  was  not  in  contemplation  of 
the  founder  of  Methodism  to  estabhsh  a  distinct  ecclesiastical  organisa- 
tion. The  contingency  of  such  a  result  was  undoubtedly  present  to 
the  mind  of  Mr.  Wesley,  at  least  in  the  later  years  of  his  ministry,  and 
he  made  some  provision  for  its  happening.  In  the  case  of  the  societies 
in  America  he  ordered  and  arranged  a  plan  of  government,  and  a  form 
of  service ;  but  there  is  no  reason  to  question  his  personal  fideUty  to 
the  Church  of  England,  or  the  sincerity  of  his  oft-repeated  counsels  to 
his  preachers  and  societies  to  retain  their  connection  with  the  estab- 
lished communion.  That  Methodism  assumed  a  separate  ecclesiastical 
form  was  clearly  the  result  of  providential  determination  rather  than 
the  purpose  of  its  founders.  The  resistance  of  the  Churches  to  the 
intrusion  and  free  action  of  the  specific  force  of  the  movement  made 
necessary,  for  the  conservation  of  results,  the  rudimentary  forms  of 
association  in  which  Methodism  first  found  organised  expression,  and 
which  have  develoi^ed  into  the  multiform  phases  of  Church  order  to- 
day represented  in  this  Conference.  The  attitude  of  Mr.  Wesley's  mind 
in  relation  to  this  question  is  seen  in  the  minute  of  the  Conference  held 
■with  his  preachers  so  early  as  Wednesday,  June  27,  1744,  which  reads, 
"We  believe  they  will  be  thrust  out,  or  that  they  will  leaven  the 
whole  Church."  The  former  was  a  contingency  which  he  was  forced 
by  the  current  of  events  to  consider ;  the  latter  was  his  fixed  purpose. 

g2 


84)  METHODISM  :   ITS   HISTORY  AND   RESULTS. 

All  indications  are  to  the  effect  that  it  was  not  intended  to  make 
Methodism  influential  through  the  power  of  an  ecclesiastical  organisa- 
tion. It  was  only  designed  to  apply  the  distinctive  force  of  the  move- 
ment to  existing  machinery,  hoping  to  increase  its  efficiency,  and 
produce  results  far  more  abundant  and  quite  as  satisfactory  in  quality 
as  any  that  could  be  expected  from  new  and  separate  combinations. 
To  the  last  Mr.  Wesley  resisted  the  tendency  to  crystallise  into  other 
and  characteristic  forms;  nor  did  this  tendency  become  more  than 
potential  until  the  rigour  of  ecclesiastical  repression  forced  it  into  actual 
expression. 

Putting,  therefore,  out  of  the  account  all  factitious  and  artificial 
agencies,  the  influence  of  Methodism  is  to  be  attributed  chiefly  to  the 
prominence  and  emphasis  given  to  the  individual  consciousness  as  a 
prime  factor  in  Christian  experience  and  history.  Making  no  question 
of  the  faith  in  which  he  had  been  trained,  and  which  had  been 
signally  illustrated  to  him  in  the  character  and  life  of  his  mother, 
John  Wesley  was  not  content  with  professional  assent  to  truth  and 
perfunctory  service.  The  struggles  and  devotion,  even  to  asceticism,  of 
his  earher  years,  show  the  intenseness  of  his  mind,  and  his  strong 
resolve  to  bring  within  the  compass  of  personal  knowledge  and  ex- 
perience the  revelations  of  the  Bible.  Thoroughly  honest  and  without 
bigotry,  he  made  diligent  inquiry  and  tested  all  practicable  methods  of 
attaining  his  end,  giving  himself  continually  to  prayer,  and  making 
his  last  appeal  to  the  Word  of  God.  His  singleness  of  aim  through 
long  labours,  under  trying  conditions,  was  rewarded  by  the  disclosure 
of  a  conscious  relation  to  God  and  truth,  which  became  for  himself  the 
beginning  of  a  new  life,  and  the  demonstration  of  a  principle  effective 
in  the  measure  of  its  simplicity,  and  available  to  the  full  extent  of  the 
possibilities  of  human  consciousness. 

Henceforth  Wesley  and  Methodism  sought  only  to  verify  the 
relations  of  God  within  the  experience  of  man.  Knowing,  from  his 
own  history,  that  the  energies  of  the  inner  life  might  be  exhausted 
in  services  that  did  not  profit  to  the  enlightenment  and  sustenance  of 
the  soul,  he  refused  commonly  received  tests  of  piety,  and  referred 
every  man  to  the  testimony  of  the  last  witness — his  own  consciousness. 
To  this  he  made  the  appeal  of  the  truth.  Exacting  most  rigidly  all 
the  fruits  of  righteousness,  he  yet  insisted  that  the  root  must  first  be 
fixed  in  this  inner  life  of  conscious  relation  to  God  and  His  Word. 

Thus  at  the  outset  all  the  energies  of  Methodism  were  directed 
against  the  essential  evUs  of  human  character.  It  searched  the 
"  inward  parts  "  of  man.  It  stripped  sin  of  its  disguises  and  formal 
defences,  brought  it  into  the  light,  and  compelled  its  recognition  and 
confession.  It  distinctly  rejected  all  compromise  and  concession,  and 
refused  the  proffer  of  creed  and  service  in  lieu  of  personal  faith  and 
devotion  to  Christ,  and  enforced  the  right  and  duty  of  every  man  to 
know  his  own  heart  and  his  relations  to  God. 


EEV.   ALPHEUS   WILSON 's   ADDRESS.  85 

All  tbis  presupposed  what  Methodism  has  uniformly  emphasised — 
the  direct  action  of  the  Spirit  of  God  uj)Ou  the  spirit  of  man.  The 
test  question  of  Christianity  was,  as  in  apostolic  days,  "  Have  ye 
received  the  Holy  Ghost  since  ye  believed  ? "  and  the  significance  of 
apostolic  teaching,  "  that  we  have  received  the  Spirit  of  God,  that  we 
might  know  the  things  that  are  freely  given  to  us  of  God,"  was  clearly 
Bet  forth. 

It  is  not  within  the  scope  of  this  paper  to  consider  the  extent  of  the 
application  of  this  principle,  or  its  possible  abuses.  These  belong  to 
another  range  of  discussion,  and  only  give  intimation  of  the  reality 
and  measure  of  the  power  at  work.  We  have  only  to  regard  the 
principle  as  it  furnislies  the  basis  of  estimate  of  the  influence  of 
Methodism.  In  this  view  it  appears  as  a  vital  force  acting  directly 
upon  men  as  such  without  regard  to  their  professions,  creeds,  or  eccle- 
siastical connections.  Whatever  respect  it  might  pay  to  the  outward 
order  and  conventionalisms  of  church  and  society,  it  was  only  in  so 
far  as  these  were  subsidiary  to  the  rights,  powers,  and  responsibilities 
of  personal  life.  The  received  conception  of  the  subjection  of  the 
individual  man  to  the  conditions  of  his  life  was  discarded,  and  in  place 
thereof,  as  a  practical  and  operative  truth,  it  was  declared  that  every 
one  of  us  must  give  account  of  himself  to  God.  This  was  to  multi- 
tudes in  and  out  of  the  Churches  a  new  revelation  of  manhood.  It  set 
men  above  all  institutions,  proclaiming  afresh  in  other  form  what  was 
implied  in  the  word  of  Christ,  "  The  Sabbath  was  made  for  man,  and 
not  man  for  the  Sabbath."  It  made  him  consciously  the  end  and 
order  of  God's  working,  and  forbade  his  degradation  to  the  place  of  a 
mere  creature  of  a  system.  It  was  an  "  awakening,"  as  so  often  said, 
an  awakening  out  of  sleep  to  the  consciousness  of  the  possession  of 
faculties  pertaining  to  life  in  its  highest  form. 

With  this  new  life  there  came  the  demand  for  its  expression  in 
methods  suited  to  its  character.  It  was  impossible  now  to  remain 
content  with  the  perfunctory  oflBces  which  ^ight  engage  as  well  the 
many  who  had  no  sense  of  dkect  relation  to  God.  The  freedom  of 
Christian  life  asserted  itself  in  individual  movement  and  utterance, 
characteristic  and  effective.  Christian  fellowship  became  a  reality, 
taking  practical  shape  ;  and  Christian  experience  became  a  recognised 
feature  in  the  converse  of  the  men  who  under  Methodist  influence  had 
come  to  know  themselves.  Here,  too,  was  an  educational  power,  a 
process  of  development,  that  promised  to  raise  the  manhood  so  dis- 
closed to  conditions  of  life  much  beyond  any  then  conceived.  It  is 
not  wonderful  that  under  the  impulse  of  such  revelatious,  with  con- 
sciousness opened  on  the  side  of  God  and  eternity,  and  with  the  intense 
and  sublime  sx)eech  of  Scripture  brought  home  to  them  as  embodying 
realities,  men  should  find  and  defend  a  theory  of  Christian  perfection, 
and  incorporate  it  into  the  body  of  vital  truth  which  they  felt  them- 
selves cliargcd  to  deliver  upon  the  conscience  of  the  world ;    nor  is  it 


86  METHODISM  :  ITS   HISTORY  AND   RESULTS. 

wonderful  that  a  theory  so  wrought  out  of  convictions  deep  as  con- 
sciousness and  vindicated  in  the  experiences  and  testimony  of  ten 
thousand  faithful  witnesses  should  still  commend  itself  to  the  faith  of 
Methodism. 

This  brief  statement  of  the  effect  of  the  Methodist  movement  upon 
individual  men  is  essential  to  an  understanding  of  its  influence, 
especially  in  its  first  and  formative  period,  upon  ecclesiastical  bodies. 
All  this  work  was  wrought  within  the  recognised  limits  of  the  Churches. 
Ministers  of  different  denominations  laboured  with  the  Wesleys  and 
Whitefield.  Hence  the  impulse  of  the  newly-awakened  life  moved 
along  all  the  old  channels  of  church  association  and  observance,  and 
put  a  new  spirit  in  them.  It  became  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to 
repeat  creeds,  confess  sins,  and  rehearse  the  services  of  the  various 
communions,  in  the  former  easy,  unreflecting  way.  Men  were  startled 
into  the  perception  of  a  meaning  in  these  things  that  lay  deeper  than 
the  surface.  They  found  reality,  substance,  where  hitherto  had  been 
but  a  by-play  of  life  to  amuse  and  quiet  conscience,  and  show  a  decent 
respect  to  their  Maker.  The  leaven  became  more  and  more  widely 
diffused,  working  only  the  more  effectively  because  of  opposition,  until 
the  Churches  all  evinced  something  of  the  same  earnest  spirit,  and  set 
themselves  with  diligent  care  to  recover  and  raise  up  the  masses  of  the 
poj)ulation  within  reach  of  their  commission. 

Here,  then,  in  the  awakening  and  enfranchisement  of  the  individual 
consciousness,  in  the  consequent  energy  of  personal  Christian  life,  and 
the  endeavour  to  obtain  a  true  fellowship,  and  in  the  elevation  of  the 
ideal  of  Christian  character,  is  to  be  found  the  source  of  the  original 
influence  of  Methodism ;  and  these  furnish  the  measure  of  its  power. 

When,  under  the  pressure  of  its  need,  Methodism  became  an 
organised  institution,  there  was  no  room  for  a  new  confession  of  faith. 
The  old  Protestant  symbols  contained  all  that  was  required  for 
salvation.  Only,  under  the  influence  of  the  first  principle  of  its  move- 
ment there  was  on  the  one  hand  an  elimination  of  the  articles  that 
could  not  be  subjected  to  test  of  the  consciousness,  and  on  the 
other,  an  interpretation  of  the  rest  that  would  bring  them  Avithin  the 
scoi)e  of  actual  or  possible  experience.  Thus  by  tendency  inevitable 
under  this  impulse,  the  starting  point  of  the  theology  of  Methodism 
was  found  in  human  consciousness.  The  Scriptures  were  interpreted 
from  a  new  point  of  view.  Sound  criticism  was  not  despised  or 
rejected;  but  the  mere  speculative  treatment,  whether  from  the  side  of 
metaphysics  or  of  science,  was  discarded,  and  the  revelations  of  the 
Word  of  God  were  presented  as  realities  attesting  themselves  to  faith. 
Upon  tliis  groundwork,  a  body  of  theological  literature,  beginning  with 
the  discussions  of  Wesley  and  Fletcher,  has  grown  up,  whose  influence 
upon  the  doctrinal  tendencies  of  other  ecclesiastical  bodies  can  hardly 
be  denied.  The  creeds  have  not  been  altered,  but  the  interpretations 
and  uses  of  them  have  been  modified,  and  under  the  old  terminology 


REV.   ALPHEUS   WILSON'S  ADDRESS.  87 

a  new,  and,  -without  offence  it  may  be  said,  a  more  vital  and  effective 
faith  is  proclaimed  in  agreement  with  the  word  of  Christ,  and  in 
harmony  with  the  conditions  and  wants  of  our  race. 

At  the  same  time  the  Methodist  conception  of  sanctiflcation,  or,  as 
a  Church  of  England  %vriter  has  expressed  it,  the  idea  of  saintUness, 
has  commended  itself  in  fact,  if  not  in  form,  to  multitudes  in  other 
communions,  until,  to-day,  it  can  hardly  be  claimed  as  peculiar  to 
Methodism.  Nor  does  it  hold  its  place  as  an  exceptional  possibility  of 
isolated  characters,  but  is  incorporated  in  the  faith,  and  proclaimed  in 
the  pulpits  of  many  churches  as  the  equal  right  and  duty  of  all  that 
believe  in  the  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

We  may  not  claim  that  Methodism  has  given  a  new  theology  to  the 
world,  but  it  is  no  presumption  to  affirm  that  it  has  furnished  a  new 
point  of  view  and  a  fresh  impulse  to  modern  theology,  and  the  inter- 
pretation of  Scripture,  and  has  extended  the  field  of  vision,  and  included, 
witliin  the  possibilities  of  faith,  ethical  and  spiritual,  results  not  hitherto 
attained.  It  should  rather  be  said  that  in  all  this  it  has  but  restated 
the  postulates  of  apostolic  Christianity  and  reached  after  the  logical 
results  of  aj)ostolic  teaching. 

Besides  this  doctrinal  aspect  it  has  been  seen  in  Methodism  that  it 
is  not  only  possible,  but  in  agreement  with  the  word  of  Jesus  Christ, 
that  the  Church  in  its  organisation  should  seek  and  find  its  foundations 
in  this  revelation  of  the  truth  of  God  to  the  consciousness  of  man.  The 
common  supports  of  social  combinations  were  not  sought,  nor  would, 
they,  under  the  peculiar  conditions  of  Methodist  life  and  activity,  have 
availed.  The  Wesleys  and  their  followers  dared  to  put  confidence  in 
the  work  of  God  in  man,  and  made  no  other  conditions  of  membership 
in  the  societies  which  have  now  grown  out  of  their  rudimentary  forms 
into  churches  of  God,  than  such  as  were  recognised  in  Christ's  decla- 
ration of  the  character  and  basis  gf  His  Church.  The  success  of  an 
institution  severing  all  mere  earthly  connections,  discarding  the 
venerable  principles  upon  which  the  most  solidly  established  Churches 
in  the  world  depended  for  their  support,  and  committing  its  fortunes  to 
the  sufiBciency  of  purely  spiritual  i)rinciples  and  methods,  could  not  fail 
to  affect  other  bodies ;  and,  constraining  them  in  course  of  time  to  give 
it  recognition  as  one  of  themselves,  an  effective  agency  in  spreading 
God's  truth  through  the  earth,  it  induced  them  to  reconsider  the 
grounds  of  their  own  exclusive  claims.  Methodism,  rejecting  Episco- 
pacy by  Divine  right,  has  taken  it  on  as  of  human  right.  Denying 
actual  succession  in  every  form,  it  maintains  a  true  spiritual  descent 
from  the  apostles,  and  bears  the  stamp  and  seal  of  its  birthright  in 
every  line  and  feature  of  its  history ;  refusing  to  concede  the  exclusive 
Presbyterian  theory,  it  has  yet  developed  into  an  economy  of  which 
Presbytoriauism  is  the  dominant  character.  Whatever  may  be  said 
disparagingly  of  the  divisions  of  Methodism,  it  is  clear  that  they  furnish 
demonstration    that    the    true    iuuudatiouo    of    the    Church   of   God 


88  METHODISM:   ITS   HISTORY  AND   RESULTS. 

lie  deeper  than  the  mere  symbol  or  system ;  they  are  unchangeably 
and  for  ever  fixed  in  the  spiritual  revelation  of  the  Son  of  God  to  the 
faith  of  man.  The  narrow  limits  of  this  essay  preclude  the  production 
of  proofs  and  instances,  else  they  miorht  be  cited  largely  from  the  pens 
of  non-Methodistic  writers  to  show  how  widely  this  characteristic  has 
affected  other  denominations. 

Close  upon  this  organisation  of  spiritual  forces  follow  the  normal 
practical  methods.  They  can  only  be  suggested.  First,  the  class- 
meeting,  experience-meeting,  love-feast,  channels  of  expression  for  the 
individual  Christian  faith  and  sentiment,  means  of  Christian  com- 
munion, and  agencies  of  spiritual  education,  have  passed  beyond  the 
limits  of  Methodism,  and  in  some  form  become  recognised  elements 
in  the  social  life  of  most  of  the  Churches.  Second,  the  lay  service, 
instituted  by  John  Wesley,  and  incorporated  into  the  economy  of 
Methodism,  has  come  to  be  an  effective  factor  in  the  work  of  the 
Christian  world.  The  many  lay  activities  in  these  last  times,  in 
Christian  associations,  evangelical  enterprises,  &c.,  may,  without 
violence,  be  referred,  directly  or  remotely,  to  the  call  made  upon  laj'men 
in  connection  with  the  great  revival  under  Wesley,  and  the  evident 
Divine  sanction  given  to  their  work.  Third,  the  revival  character 
stamped  upon  the  system  at  the  outset  has  provoked  to  emulation  the 
other  Churches  of  Christendom,  and  evoked  an  aggressive  spirit  and 
agencies  which  have  been  productive  of  great  gains  to  Christianity, 
and  promise  yet  more  largely.  The  modern  missionary  enterprise,  if 
it  did  not  take  its  rise  with  Wesley  and  Coke,  certainly  received  a 
strong  impetus  from  the  Methodism  whose  every  preacher  took  the 
woi'ld  for  his  parish,  and  knew  no  difference  between  men  preaching 
the  same  Lord  over  aU,  rich  unto  all  that  call  upon  Him. 

The  modifications  of  Methodism,  resulting  from  its  contact  with 
other  ecclesiastical  bodies,  require  more  space  for  treatment  than  is 
granted  here.  In  its  manifold  forms  of  government  and  administration 
it  has  been  influenced  by  its  connections  with  the  Church  of  England 
and  its  association  with  other  Churches  in  England  and  America. 

The  sentiments  and  opinions  current  in  neighbouring  communities 
have  acted  upon  tlie  mind  of  Methodism,  and,  as  was  inevitable  under 
the  operation  of  its  essentially  sensitive  and  aggressive  principle,  given 
rise  to  many  divisions  of  the  original  bodies. 

The  faith  has  been  but  slightly  affected.  It  has  been  formulated 
and  assumed  a  more  philosophical  aspect  in  conformity  to  its  need  of 
taking  position  for  defence  and  organised  aggression. 

Its  methods  remain  substantially  the  same,  with  such  change  only 
as  altered  conditions  and  general  Christian  sentiment  require. 

In  a  word,  the  influence  of  Methodism  is  due  to  the  conformity  of  its 
faith  and  methods  to  the  spirit  and  plan  of  the  Gospel  as  Christ  gave 
it  and  Paul  preached  it.  If  ever  it  shall  lose  its  i)ower,  it  will  be  by 
departure  from  the  original  model  and  design.     Faithful  to  its  trust,  it 


JIEV.    S.    S,    BAllTON'S   ADDRESS.  89 

will  continue  to  affect  the  Churches  and  the  masses  of  mankind 
until  the  work  of  the  Gospel  shall  have  been  wrought  out  to  its 
consummation ;  when  all  forms  of  human  endeavour  shall  cease 
before  the  revelation  of  the  presence  and  worldng  of  the  God  who  is 
iall  in  all. 

The  Rev.  S.  S.  Barton,  of  Leeds  (United  Methodist  Free  Church), 
said :  Mr.  President,  I  feel  that  the  most  prominent  thouglit  in  my 
mind  just  now  is  "ten  minutes,"  and  "ten  minutes"  seems  to  be 
about  the  most  frightful  matter  with  which  I  have  to  contend,  for 
I  am  sure  the  subject  is  one  which  must  be  of  very  deep  interest 
to  all  our  Methodist  communities,  and  perhaps  of  no  less  interest 
to  other  Evangelical  denominations,  for  you  perceive  that  the  topic 
assigned  to  us  this  afternoon  is  "  The  influence  that  Methodism 
has  exerted  on  other  religious  bodies."  I  am  glad  it  did  not  stay 
there,  for  that  would  have  been  perhaps  to  assume  something  which 
in  itself  might  have  been  in  some  sense  offensive  to  other  bodies, 
but  it  goes  on  to  say,  "and  the  extent  to  which  they  have  modified 
Methodism."  Now  here  there  is  distinct  recognition  of  mutual  in- 
fluence and  mutual  benefit  as  between  our  Methodist  Churches  and 
the  Churches  of  other  Evangelical  denominations.  We  are  glad  to 
recognise  whatever  good  we  may  have  received  from  them,  whilst  we 
hold  that  they  have  to  a  large  extent  been  debtors  to  us.  But  now  it 
is  very  difficult  just  to  put  into  ten  minutes  some  of  the  thoughts  that 
will  necessarily  present  themselves  to  the  mind  of  any  person  studying 
this  question.  For  instance,  we  regard  Methodism  as  a  revival  of  the 
spirit  and  power  of  Christian  truth  and  life.  I  need  not  go  into  the 
matter  before  this  Conference  as  to  the  state  of  the  Evangelical 
Churches  of  tliis  country  at  the  beginning  of  the  last  century ;  it  is 
known  very  well  to  every  person  forming  a  part  of  this  Conference ; 
but  in  the  presence  of  Methodism  under  God  there  arose  such  a  wave 
of  spiritual  influence  and  power  and  blessing  as  penetrated  to  every 
Christian  Church  in  the  land,  and  became  to  them  a  help,  and  a 
strength,  and  a  blessing.  And  I  hold  that  the  prominence  given  by 
Methodism  to  the  doctrine  of  the  New  Birth,  of  Sanctificatiou,  of 
Christian  Perfection,  had  a  mighty  influence  on  the  religious  life  of 
England,  and,  indeed,  on  the  religious  life  of  the  world.  I  sometimes 
fear  that  we  are  not  worthy  sons  of  our  sires,  with  regard  to  some  of 
those  doctrines  ;  that  we  are  not  so  frequent  in  our  preaching  and  in- 
sistence on  the  great  doctrine,  say,  of  Christian  Perfection  as  our  fathers 
■were ;  and,  probablj%  if  we  urged  them  a  little  more  distinctly  than 
we  do,  and  more  frequently  than  characterises  our  teaching  upon 
them  from  Sunday  to  Sunday,  we  might  find  that  our  churches  would 
revive  under  their  influence  to  a  much  larger  extent  than  we  see  at  present. 
Then  the  influence  of  the  Methodist  doctrine  on  otlier  Churches  seems 
to  me  to  have  been  considerable,  especially  in  its  relation  to  the  high- 


90  METHODISM  :   ITS   HISTORY   AND   RESULTS. 

honed  Calvinism  maintained  and  taught  by  some  notable  men  during  the 
past  century.  Then,  Methodism  has  done  much  to  break  down  that 
gross  form  of  priestism  that  more  or  less  prevailed  in  the  Churches, 
and  held  them  fast  bound  in  its  withei'ing  influence.  Then,  Methodism 
!ias  modified,  if  not  actually  destroyed,  the  merely  professional  senti- 
ment in  relation  to  the  work  of  the  Churches,  and  we  have  a  noble  band  of 
men  still  existing  who  to  oar  villages  and  hamlets  are  as  the  "  chariots 
of  Israel  and  the  horsemen  thereof,"  and  who  are  true  successors  of 
the  apostles.  They  go  forth,  taking  no  money,  and  they  are  ready  to 
do  the  work  that  God  gives  them  ability  to  do  with  all  the  simplicity 
and  earnentness  which  characterise  good  men.  But  I  have  been  much 
impressed  with  the  fact  that  the  ministry  of  the  other  Evangelical 
Churches  is  more  largely  indebted  to  Methodism  than,  perhaps,  any 
other  thing  that  we  could  adduce.  For  instance,  I  hold  in  my  hand  a 
copy  of  the  WesJcyan  Methodist  Magazine,  which  I  am  glad  from  month 
to  month  to  have  the  opportunity  of  reading,  and  I  find  it  to  be  in 
itself,  separate  from  the  matter  to  whicli  I  am  about  to  refer,  a  most 
interesting  monthly  document.  In  writing  the  life  of  the  late  Dr. 
Jobson,  the  editor  brought  before  his  readers  two  or  three  most 
important  facts  which  I  should  like  this  Conierence  to  hear.  He 
states  that — ''During  the  London  Conference  of  1872,  Dr.  Jobson 
invited  five  eminent  Nonconformist  ministers — Drs.  Binney,  Stoughton, 
Raleigh,  Allon,  and  Fraser — to  meet  at  his  house  the  President 
(Mr.  Wiseman)  a*id  a  few  other  members  of  the  Conference.  After 
dinner  Dr.  Jobson  characteristically  said,  '  Why  should  not  we  have  a 
Icve-feast  ?  Come,  Brother  Allon,  tell  us  how  you  were  brought  to 
God.'  Dr.  Allon  replied:  *I  was  brought  wji  in  the  Established 
Church ;  but,  during  the  whole  of  that  time,  I  had  no  idea  of  such  a 
thing  as  s^jiritual  religion — a  personal  experience  of  the  truths  of 
Christianity.  But  I  was  induced  to  go  to  the  Methodist  Chapel  in 
Beverley,  was  convinced  of  sin,  and  was  led  to  religious  decision,  more 
especially  by  the  preaching  of  the  Rev.  John  Hobkirk,  and  joined  the 
class  in  which  Mrs.  Jobson  met,  and  became  a  Methodist  Sunday-school 
teacher  and  secretary.'  Dr.  Raleigh  spoke  next;  'I  was  a  regular 
attendant  in  my  youth  on  tlie  ministry  of  Dr.  Kelly,  in  Liverpool ;  and 
you  all  know  what  a  vigorous  preacher  he  was.  But  I  did  not  find 
my  way  to  Christ  under  his  preaching,  but  in  the  Wesleyan  Chapel, 
Moss  Street  (Brunswick),  Liverpool,  where  I  liad  been  led  at  first 
to  hear  Theophilus  Lessey,  by  whose  preaching  I  was  greatly 
impressed.  But  it  was  after  attending  several  times  and  hearing 
various  preachers  in  that  chapel  that  I  learnt  the  way  of  faith."  Then 
Dr.  Stoughton  stated  that  he  had  been  brought  up  amidst  Methodist 
influences,  and  that  when  a  youth  he  came  under  deep  convictions  of 
sin,  and  was  for  some  time  in  a  state  of  spiritual  anxiety  and  sorrow  ; 
that  one  Sunday  morning  he  walked  into  the  country,  outside  the  city 
of  Norwich,  and  there  read  a  sermon  by  Dr.  Chalmers  oa  the  text:  "He 


REV.    S.    S.    barton's   ADDRESS.  91 

that  spared  not  His  own  Son,"  &c.  The  sermon  afforded  him  con- 
siderable relief;  but  on  the  evening  of  tlie  same  day,  on  attending  St. 
Peter's  Wesleyan  Chapel,  he  heard  an  unknown  minister  of  humble 
abilities,  who  preached  from :  "  God  so  loved  the  world,"  &c.  That 
sermon  brought  him  still  more  comfort  and  peace  than  he  had 
derived  from  the  great  Scotch  divine,  much  as  he  admired  him.  Dr. 
Stoughtou  went  on  to  say  that,  shortly  afterwards,  he  became  a 
member  of  the  Methodist  Society,  and  met  in  the  same  class  with  Mr. 
Wiseman,  father  of  the  President.  It  was  not  until  a  few  years  sub- 
sequently that  Dr.  Stoughton  altered  his  ecclesiastical  views,  and 
joined  an  Indei^endent  Church;  and  he  remembered  that,  after  he 
became  a  minister,  he  once  met  Mr.  Wiseman  at  a  missionary  meeting, 
who,  in  reference  to  some  verses  he  had  just  heard  quoted  by  his 
friend,  expressed  pleasure  "that  he  had  not  forgotten  his  Methodist 
hymns."  Mr.  Binney  stated  that  his  father,  although  deacon  of  a 
Presbyterian  Church  in  Newcastle,  "  was  never  in  his  life  worth  more 
than  a  guinea  a  week."  The  direct  instrumentality  in  his  conversion 
was  not  Presbyterian,  but  Wesleyan.  His  educational  advantages  had 
been  scanty;  and  he  had  grown  up  to  young  manhood  in  a  state  of 
spiritual  and  intellectual  torpor.  He  was  a  journeyman  bookbinder, 
but  knew  little  of  the  contents  of  books  till  a  Wesleyan  fellow- workman 
succeeded  in  arousing  him  to  religious  thoughtfulness  by  first  alluring 
him  to  mental  activity.  In  young  Binney's  case,  as  in  that  of  some 
others,  the  intellectual  awakening  preceded  the  spiritual:  literature 
was  the  *'  schoolmaster  "  to  bring  him  to  Christ.  His  studious  Methodist 
fellow-workman  lent  him  one  day  a  copy  of  Dr.  Johnson's  Ramhler, 
from  the  library  of  Wesley's  Orphan  House  in  Newcastle.  The 
j)erusal  of  this  book  enkindled  in  him  an  enthusiastic  desire  for  cultm-e 
and  literary  occupation.  He  forthwith  bought  a  dictionary,  and  wrote 
out  all  the  words  occurring  in  the  Ramhler  with  which  he  was 
previously  unacquainted,  and  produced  an  essay  in  which  he  took  care 
to  introduce  every  one  of  these  newly-acquired  vocables.  Such  was 
Thomas  Binney's  first  comi^osition.  His  second  and  third  were 
ambitions  poetical  effusions,  a  tragedy  in  five  acts  and  a  poem  on  The 
Divine  Attributes,  which  he  dedicated  to  the  Duke  of  Wellington.  The 
intellectual  companionship  between  him  and  the  bookish  young 
Wesleyan  soon  ripened  into  a  religious  friendship.  Binney  accom- 
panied his  brother-workman  to  Methodist  preachings  and  love-feasts. 
For  a  long  time,  however,  the  literary  interest  predominated  over  the 
spiritual ;  it  was  by  slow  degrees  that  the  latter  at  last  gained  the 
ascendency.  Ultimately,  he  neither  joined  the  Church  of  his  parentage 
nor  that  of  his  conversion,  neither  the  Presbyterian  nor  the  Wesleyan 
community.  Had  Methodism  at  that  time  possessed  a  school  of  the 
prophets,  he  had  little  doubt  that  ho  should  have  attached  himself  to 
the  Methodist  Society,  and  offered  himself  for  the  Methodist  ministry ; 
for  his  theological  views  and  his  rehgious  sympathies  were  far  more  in 


92  METHODISM  :   ITS   HISTORY  AND   RESULTS. 

accordance  with  Methodism  than  with  any  other  form  of  Christianity. 
But  his  craving  for  culture  was  so  intense,  and  his  sense  of  the  need  of 
it  so  profound,  that  when  the  prospect  of  some  years'  training  was 
presented  to  him  by  the  CongregationaUsts,  he  joined  their  community, 
and  was  soon  after  sent  to  the  Independent  College  near  Hitchin.  Dr. 
Fraser  spoke  last,  and  said :  "  I  had  often  been  urged  to  devote  myself 
to  the  ministry,  but  from  various  causes  refused  to  do  so.  One 
morning,  however,  a  Wesleyan  lady  at  Montreal,  at  whose  house  I 
happened  to  call,  surprised  me  by  saying  that  she  had  a  solemn 
message  for  me.  She  then  looked  me  calmly  in  the  face,  and  said: 
'  Mr.  Fraser,  I  have  a  burden  from  God,  which  I  must  lay  upon  you — 
that  you  give  up  all  other  views  in  life,  and  preach  the  Gospel.'  Her 
words  seemed  to  penetrate  my  spirit.  I  immediately  proceeded  to 
complete  my  studies  for  the  ministry,  and  began  to  exercise  it  at 
Montreal,  where  I  laboured  for  seven  years." 

Rev.  James  Hocart  (of  Paris)  said  :  Tliere  is  the  utmost  disproportion 
between  our  success  as  shown  by  our  statistics,  and  our  success  in  benefit- 
ing other  Christian  communities.  I  would  not  liave  it  believed  that 
Methodist  influence  has  been  the  only  power  working  for  good  in  the 
Protestant  Churches  of  France,  but  perhaps  it  has  been  one  of  the 
strongest  influences  exerted  on  them.  If  it  has  quickened  the  Christian 
Church  in  general  by  helping  to  supply  faithful  Gospel  ministers  in 
Protestant  communities,  in  wliich  about  one-third  of  the  members  are 
under  the  influence  of  Rationalism,  tlien  we  may  affirm  that  Methodism 
has  been  of  great  use  to  the  Reformed  Churches  of  France.  If  it  is  a  good 
thing  to  raise  up  able  and  orthodox  men,  to  preach  or  to  teach,  Methodism 
has  done  that.  If  it  be  a  most  excellent  thing  to  provide  faithful 
Christian  pastors  with  pious  energetic  wives,  Methodism  has  done  that.  A 
number  of  pastors  of  other  Churches  have  thought  that  they  could  find  no 
better  help-meets  in  their  labours  than  Methodist  class-leaders,  or  ladies 
who  in  early  life  had  sat  under  the  ministry  of  Methodist  preachers.  Let 
me  mention  one  fact  to  illustrate  the  beneficial  influence  of  Methodism  on 
other  denominations  in  France.  I  have  spoken  of  the  spread  of 
Rationalism  in  that  country.  In  some  parishes  which  might  be  named, 
where,  in  former  daj's,  Rationalism  and  indiiferentism  were  predominant, 
the  appointment  of  a  rationalistic  pastor  would  now  be  impossible,  on 
account  of  the  influence  exerted  on  the  population  by  the  plain  Gospel 
preaching  of  the  Methodists.  I  could  also  point  out  various  Protestant 
philanthropic  institutions  where  the  j^^rsoiinel  is  partly  of  Methodist  origin. 
Here  we  find  the  director  of  a  hospital  and  his  wife,  who  were  both  con- 
verted from  popery  by  the  ministry  of  a  Methodist  preacher.  There  we 
visit  a  house  of  deaconesses,  and  some  of  the  cheerful  faces  that  greet  us 
there  are  those  of  Methodist  sisters  sent  forth  from  the  provinces  to 
exercise  their  ministry  of  love  in  that  house  of  mercy.  I  cannot  give  you 
an  idea  of  the  large  number  of  evangelists,  colporteurs,  and  especially  of 
day-school  teachers,  who  have  been  raised  up  in  our  societies.  Many  of 
the  latter  class  of  Christian  workers  were  trained  in  our  school  at  Nismes, 
while  in  other  instances  the  desire  to  become  instructors  of  youth  was 
inspired  by  conversion  to  God  under  Methodist  instrumentality.  The  same 
process  is  going  on  even  now.  Numbers  of  persons  enlightened  and 
awakened  by  our  ministry  do  not  join  us,  but  contribute  to  the  increase  of 
the  spiritual  element  in  otlier  Churches. 


•     GENERAL    EEMARKS.  93 

Dr.  At.ltson  (Methodist  Church  of  Canada)  :  While  this  afternoon  I  was 
permitted  to  listen  to  a  voice  which  it  has  been  a  hope  of  a  lifetime  that 
I  should  hear  before  I  die,  or  before  it  was  lost  to  the  world,  and  again 
when  those  thoughtful  papers  on  the  subject  now  considered  were  being 
read,  my  mind  reverted  to  the  subject  of  the  discussion  of  this  forenoon, 
and  I  asked  myself,  How  far  is  the  influence  of  Methodism  as  an 
elevating  and  a  purifying  power  exhiliited  in  thof,e  statistical  statements 
that  were  presented  ?  And  now,  again,  How  far  is  the  influence  of 
Methodism  upon  the  theology  or  usage  of  any  other  denomination  to  be 
practically  shown  by  any  results  or  figures  that  can  be  printed  or 
tabulated  ?  My  belief,  in  the  first  place,  is  that  the  statistics  presented 
and  considered,  astounding  as  they  seem  to  be  to  some  minds,  come  very 
far  short  of  showing  what  Methodism  has  done  in  either  regard  ;  and  in 
the  second  place,  my  firm  conviction  is  that  as  statistics,  those  figures  given 
are  not  above,  but  under,  the  real  facts  of  the  case.  That  is  my  firm  con- 
viction, and  I  say  that,  attaching  due  weight  to  the  deprecatory  remarks 
that  were  made  this  morning  as  to  the  danger  of  being  misled  by  figures, 
and  appreciating  the  acute  analysis  to  which  the  whole  matter  was  sub- 
jected by  my  friend,  Dr.  Buckley,  of  New  York.  Still  my  conviction  is 
that  those  figures  come  very  far  short  of  the  mark.  Why,  is  it  not  a  fact 
that  a  national  census  has  just  been  taken  in  the  United  iStates,  not  taken 
by  Methodists,  but  taken  by  Government  officers,  sworn,  I  suppose,  to 
discharge  faithfully  their  duty  ;  and  that  the  results  of  that  census  as 
published  go  to  show  that  the  Methodisms  of  the  United  States  provide 
nearly  twice  as  much  church  accommodation  as  any  other  denomination  in 
that  country  ?  I  know  that  we  must  distinguish  between  things  that 
differ  ;  I  know  that  we  must  not  take  the  sign  for  the  thing  signified  ;  but, 
on  the  other  hand,  when  I  hear  that  a  man  is  a  Methodist,  an  a  priori  pre- 
sumption is  raised  in  my  mind  in  his  favour.  I  believe  that  he  is  a  good 
man,  and  I  will  continue  to  believe  so  until  I  am  convinced  to  the  contrary  ; 
and  when  I  hear  that  a  Methodist  church  has  been  established  or  built  in 
any  place,  I  believe  that  that  church  is  the  house  of  God  and  the  gate  of 
heaven  until  some  one  can  show  me  that  it  is  not  so.  That  is  the  way  in 
which  I  look  at  these  figures.  I  have  been  spending  some  time  in  the 
rooms  of  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  in  Foreign  Parts, 
.  and  have  been  permitted  to  have  recourse  to  their  archives  in  the  interest 
of  an  historical  society  of  my  native  province,  and  in  turning  over  the 
papers  there  were  letters  from  the  Rev.  John  Wesley,  who  was  sent  out  to 
Georgia  as  a  missionary  by  that  society,  and  I  found  a  letter  dated  from 
Boston,  in  the  colony  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  in  the  month  of  July,  1750, 
from  the  Rev.  Timothy  Cutler,  one  of  the  most  distinguished  missionaries 
sent  by  this  society  to  that  place.  He  states  in  that  letter  that  there  are 
fourteen  Independent  chapels  and  one  or  two  other  churches  which  he 
mentions.  He  adds  :  "  There  is  in  an  obscure  alley  a  Baptist  chapel,  and 
just  now  there  lias  been  built  a  Methodist  chapel — a  form  of  religion 
which  I  think  will  not  soon  die."  I  think  that  the  Rev.  Timothy  Cutler, 
of  the  town  of  Boston,  deserves  a  place  at  least  in  the  ranks  of  the  minor 
prophets.  What  I  am  saying  I  am  not  saying  as  a  member  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  I  was  a  member  of  that  Church  during  the 
well-remembered  daj's  of  my  college  life,  but  the  men  who  preached  the 
Gospel  to  me  in  my  boyhood  were  ordained  in  this  very  chapel,  and  one 
after  another  has  told  me  of  the  ordination  services,  how  Ur.  Bunting 
prayed  or  Richard  Watson  preached,  and  one  of  them  Gaid  the  crowning 
honour  of  his  life,  which  he  would  carry  through  the  everlasting  memory 
of  the  skies,  was  that  he  went  from  this  chapel  after  his  ordination  linked 
arm  in  arm  with  Richard  Watson  and  Jabez  Bunting. 
Rev.  J.  Wood  :  1  think  Methodism  has  done  much  to  correct  the  theo- 


94!  METHODISM  :    ITS   HISTORY  AND   RESULTS. 

logical  en'ors  of  the  times.  It  was  providential  that  John  Wesley  took 
the  Arminian  side  in  the  controversies  of  his  day.  Methodism  would 
never  have  become  what  it  is  if  he  had  adopted  the  Calvinistic  views 
advocated  by  Whitefield  and  Lady  Huntingdon's  preachers.  True  Armin- 
ian ism  was  not  altogether  a  new  feature  ;  but  the  doctrines  of  free  grace 
and  free  agency  and  of  full  salvation  had  been  in  the  background,  and 
Wesley  brought  ihem  to  the  front.  Those  doctrines  are  now  preached 
in  other  churches  tluxn  our  own,  and  the  preaching  has  had  a  marked 
benelicial  effect.  Not  long  ago  one  of  our  leaders  in  a  country  place  told 
me  that  he  liad  been  talking  with  the  clergyman  of  the  parish  about  con- 
Aversion,  and  the  clergyman  said  there  had  not  been  a  real  case  of  conver- 
sion since  the  conversion  of  Saul  of  Tarsus.  A  hundred  years  or  so  ago, 
there  were  few  preachers  outside  Methodism  who  believed  in  conversion. 
We  have  taught  other  Churches  that  such  a  change  is  a  reality.  When 
comparatively  young  in  his  work  Wesley  paid  a  visit  to  his  native  village, 
and  he  went  to  see  a  worthy  justice  of  the  peace  in  a  neighbouring  town, 
who  had  treated  some  Methodists  who  had  been  brought  before  him  in  a 
A'ery  fair  and  candid  manner.  Some  officious  constables  had  taken  a 
waggon-load  of  Methodists  before  this  magistrate  to  answer  for  their  con- 
duct. "What  have  they  done?"  he  asked.  "Please  your  honour,"  said 
one,  "  they  pretend  to  be  better  than  other  people,  and  they  are  praying 
all  the  day."  "Is  that  all?"  asked  the  justice.  "  No,  please  j'our  honour, 
they  have  converted  my  wife.  Before  she  went  among  them  she  had  such 
a  tongue,  and  now  she  is  as  quiet  as  a  lamb,"  "Take  them  away,  take 
them  away,"  said  the  gentleman,  "  and  let  them  convert  all  the  scolds  in 
the  town."  The  fame  of  Charles  Haddon  Spurgeon  is  world-wide, 
and  who  believes  that  he  would  have  been  teaching  so  clearly  the 
way  of  salvation,  and  with  such  blessed  results,  if  he  had  not  learned  that 
way  in  a  Methodist  chapel  ?  He  heard  the  plan  of  salvation  by  faith  in 
Christ  so  clearly  explained  in  a  Primitive  Methodist  chapelin  Essex,  that 
he  believed  and  found  peace  ;  and  he  is  not  ashamed,  often  in  his  sermons, 
to  refer  to  the  fact.  It  has  been  said,  and  no  doubt  there  is  truth  in  the 
saying,  that  Methodism  has  been  "God's  wooden  spoon  to  stir  up  the 
Churches." 

Rev.  Dr.  J.  M.  Reid  .  My  brother  (Dr.  Allison)  has  rightly  conceived  that 
the  subject  of  this  morning  is  very  cognate  to  this.  In  the  United  States, 
years  ago,  when  we  were  few  in  number,  a  large  proportion  of  those  con- 
verted in  our  chapels  and  log  cabins,  wherever  we  preached,  were  received 
into  the  bosom  of  other  Churches.  I  know  strong  churches  in  the  western 
part  of  New  York  that  are  known  to  you,  sir,  and  churches  in  other  parts 
of  our  country,  every  prominent  and  influential  member  of  which  was  con- 
verted at  a  Methodist  altar,  and  I  do  not  believe  that  this  large  body  of 
persons  converted  under  Methodist  influences  could  have  entered  into  the 
religious  bodies  of  our  country  without  modifying  everything  within 
them — their  singing,  their  praying,  their  preaching,  their  doctrines,  their 
everything.  I  do  know,  sir,  that  within  my  recollection  the  whole  singing 
of  the  land  has  been  changed  ;  that  is,  the  style  of  singing  that  prevailed 
among  us  when  I  was  a  child,  and  that  was  scorned  by  other  denomina- 
tions, is  now  adopted  by  them.  A  doctrine  that  was  well-nigh  fatalistic 
in  its  character  and  influence  has  now  been  set  aside,  and  a  Gospel  just 
as  free  and  as  full  as  any  that  we  can  preach  is  now  heard  in  the  same 
pulpit,  and  from  the  same  men.  I  believe  that  we  are  entitled  to  thank 
God  that,  although  we  cannot  count  these  in  our  statistics.  He  reckons 
them  to  the  glorious  account  of  this  great  institution.  You  and  I,  sir, 
have  recently  been  through  a  great  part  of  this  European  continent,  and 
you  know  that  into  many  a  town  where  the  old  Churches  had  been  acconi- 
plishing  nothing,  and  the  ministers  were  engaged  in  everything  but  their 


GENERAL   REMARKS,  95 

duties,  earnest  simple  men  have  <^one  and  preached  the  Gospel,  and  tht' 
whole  town  has  been  aroused.  Not  only  was  our  little  chapel  built,  but 
great  chapels  were  built,  and  filled  at  the  hour  of  prayer.  It  is  so  to-day, 
and  when  you  preached  to  that  vast  multitude,  a  few  weeks  since,  the 
other  churches  also  were  filled  with  vast  multitudes.  All  over  Scandinavia, 
wherever  a  Methodist  chapel  has  been  put  up,  a  Lutlicran  chapel  has  also 
been  put  up  by  the  side  of  it,  and  we  sin^i^  and  shout  in  our  chapel,  while 
they  pray  to  God  with  great  earnestness,  and  I  believe  arc  heard  by  Him 
in  theirs.  Now,  I  claim  that  we  built  the  two  chapels.  I  can  take  you  to 
a  spot  where  there  was  a  large  city  which  had  extended,  and  for  one 
hundred  years  there  had  not  been  any  church  building.  A  Methodist 
church  went  in  there,  and  the  result  was  that  a  house  of  worship  was  built 
in  the  newer  city.  But  would  our  Lutheran  friends  stand  that?  Not  they. 
Immediately  chapels  were  opened  and  a  church  went  up  in  that  region, 
and  there  was  good  accomplished  that  never  would  have  been  done  but 
for  the  earnest,  honest,  simple  labour  of  those  missionaries  that  went  out 
from  America  and  England.  Now  I  thank  God  for  it  all.  We  may  not 
count  it  in  our  statistics,  but  we  believe  that  almost  everything  in  these 
old  lands  that  we  have  entered  has  been  modified  by  our  enterprise,  just  as 
we  believe  that  almost  every  .lung  of  religious  usage  and  religious  doctrine 
in  our  own  new  countrj''  has  been  modified  by  the  lalxjurs  of  our  itinerants. 
I  bless  God  for  it,  and  I  am  not  discouraged  by  the  fact  that  we  do  not 
count  within  our  own  limits  all  the  results  of  our  own  labours. 

]Mr.  Lewis  Williams  (British  Wesleyan  Methodist  Church)  :  I  beg  to 
ask  permission  as  a  Welshnuui  to  claim  the  attention  of  the  Conference 
for  a  few  moments  in  order  to  point  out  the  infiuence  which  the  teachings 
of  the  Wesleyan  Church  haA'e  upon  Calvinists  in  Wales.  There  is  a 
]\Iethodist  Church  that  is  not  represented  in  this  assembly.  In  Wales  the 
popular  Church — the  most  powerful  Church — is  known  as  the  Calvinistic 
Methodist  Church.  The  revival  of  the  last  century  under  the  teaching  and 
preaching  of  Howell  Harris  and  Rowlands,  and  like  men,  whose  names 
cannot  be  too  highly  honoured  in  this  assembly,  took  a  distinctly 
Calvinistic  turn.  That  Church  is  now  the  most  powerful  Church  in  the 
Principalit_y.  It  numbers  118,000  members,  with  two  large  colleges.  The 
Congregational ists  have  about  90,000  members  in  the  Principality,  and  the 
Bai)tists  have  70,000.  I  think  that  would  give  a  total  of  nearly'  300,000 
mendjers  out  of  a  population  of  one  and  a  quarter  millions.  No  wonder 
with  such  a  membership  that  Wales  occupies  the  honoured  position  of 
being  the  most  law-abiding  portion  of  Queen  Victoria's  dominions.  Tlie 
English  churches  founded  by  Wesley  are  relatively  powerful,  but 
Welsh  Wesleyanism  was  not  introduced  until  the  year  1800.  A  great 
amount  of  good  has  been  accomplished  by  it,  but  the  hold  that  those 
other  Churches  had,  has  prevented  our  getting  a  very  strong  foothold.  All 
the  three  Churches  to  which  I  have  alluded  distinctly  taught  high  Calvinistic 
doctrine.  I  have  not  seen  forty  summers,  but  when  I  was  a  boy  the  man 
who  was  prepared  to  say  that  his  sin  was  forgiven  was  looked  upon  by 
Calvinistic  churches  as  a  very  presumptuous  man;  and  the  boy  who  soughi 
admission  into  those  churches  was  advised  to  tarry  at  Jericho  until  his 
beard  grew.  But  all  that  has  passed  away  ;  that  high  Calvinism  has  toned 
down,  and  the  Calvinistic  ministers  to-day,  and  those  Avho  attend  their 
congregations,  assure  me  that,  with  the  exception  of  the  doctrine  of  final 
perseverance,  it  would  be  difficult  to  say — and  I  do  not  hesitate  to  say  the 
testimony  of  Wesleyan  Methodism  has  most  conduced  to  this  change — 
where  the  difference  between  us  lay.  There  are  no  churches  that  have  a 
greater  interest  in  the  young  than  the  Welsh  churches  of  the  present  time. 
A  further  proof  to  show  that  a  change  has  come  over  them  is  this,  that 
during  the  last  ten  years  they  have  taken  up  missionary  operations  in  foreign 


9G  METHODISM  :    ITS   HISTORY   AND   RESULTS. 

lands.  I  think  themission  spirit  is  an  essential  feature  of  Wesleyan  Methodism, 
which  I  hope  will  ever  grow  amongst  lis.  The  mission  feeling  is  now  very 
strong  amongst  the  Welsh  Nonconformists,  and  if  they  are  to  maintain  their 
home  work  they  must  vigorously  prosecute  their  foreign  work.  I  hope  that 
nothing  will  go  forth  from  this  meeting  in  the  shape  of  self-adulation,  as 
if  we  were  thanking  God  that  we  are  as  we  are,  Avithout  recognising  the 
good  that  other  Churches  are  accomplishing.  My  friend  who  sat  here 
yesterday  said  that  the  man  who  loves  one  Church  in  particular  is  the 
man  who  will  have  most  love  for  other  Churches,  and  I  think  that  the 
Methodists,  with  their  strong  attachment  to  their  own  Church,  certainly 
can  claim  a  position  equal  to  that  of  any  Church  for  a  brotherly  feeling 
toward  all  who  are  seeking  to  advance  the  interests  of  the  kingdom  of  our 

Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ.     We  believe,  as  Longfellow  says — 

II 

"  Not  to  one  Church  alone,  but  to  seven, 
The  voice  prophetic  came." 

And  I  would  that  from  this  meeting,  while  we  rejoice  in  the  progress  of 
our  Arminian  principles,  there  may  go  forth  the  assurance  to  other  Churches 
that  we  take  a  warm  interest  in  their  prosperity,  and  hope  the  day  will  not 
be  far  distant  when  that  Conference  to  which  Dr.  Osborn  alluded  yesterday 
may  be  held  in  City  Road  Chapel,  or  some  other  central  place  in  this  city, 
where  we  may  witness  a  yet  fuller  realisation  of  our  great  work. 

W.  C.  De  Tauw,  (M.  E.  Church):  In  my  State,  Indiana,  at  the  capital, 
Indianopolis,  during  the  late  great  revival  under  the  preaching  of  Harrison, 
of  Boston,  out  of  over  1,300  clear  conversions,  the  Methodist  Church 
only  garnered  about  500.  Most  of  the  800  went  to  the  Presbyterians, 
Baptists,  and  other  Churches.  More  than  5,000  people  were  awakened,  of 
whom  more  than  3,000  were  not  Methodist  adherents.  As  in  Scandinavia, 
so  it  has  been  in  our  experience  in  the  West.  Everywhere,  not  only,  as 
Dr.  Reid  said,  have  we  built  two  chapels,  but  under  God,  to  whom  we  give 
all  the  glory,  we  have  as  pioneers  (religiously)  provoked  and  stimulated  the 
building  of  tliousands  by  other  denominations. 

Rev.  J.  C.  Barrvtt  ( W^esleyan  Church,  Germany):  I  wish  to  say  that  the 
reflex  and  the  collateral  results  of  Methodism  have  not  been  conhned  to 
England  or  to  France,  but  have  also  extended  to  Germany.  I  can  mention 
a  town  in  South  Germany  where  for  more  than  two  hundred  years  no 
church  had  been  built.  Within  the  last  fifteen  or  twenty  years  two  large 
Lutheran  churches  have  been  built,  besides  a  temporary  church  and  three 
or  four  large  rooms  for  preaching  and  for  Sunday-schools,  &c.,  in  various 
parts  of  the  town.  Sunday-school  agencies  have  been  awakened  and  spread 
throughout  Germany,  where,  until  Methodist  Sunday-schools  were  started, 
nothing  of  the  kind  was  known,  and  spiritual  life  has  to  some  considerable 
extent  been  aroused  and  excited.  At  present  we  have  only  got  so  far  as  to 
provoke  our  friends  in  other  Churches — not  exactly  to  love — but  certainly 
to  good  works,  and  I  hope  the  day  will  soon  come  when  they  will  be  com- 
pelled, nay,  when  they  will  desire  to  modify  their  exclusivism,  and  when  the 
increase  of  spiritual  religion,  which  is  already  evident  here  and  there,  will 
spiead  over  the  whole  of  that  grand  country. 


The  President  :  "Will  the  Conference  noAv  allow  me  to  say  a 
word  or  two  1  I  desire  to  say  that  the  duties  imposed  upon  me 
have  been  in  some  respect  painful,  and  yet  not  entirely  so.  I  have 
to  beg  the  members  of  the  Conference,  on  behalf  of  the   two   sections 


GENERAL   REMARKS.  97 

of  the  Executive  Committee  who  have  framed  our  laws,  to  reflect  on 
the  impossibility  of  conducting  such  a  Conference  as  this,  consisting 
of  400  men,  for  two  w^eks,  without  the  slightest  license  or  irre- 
gularity. I  have,  therefore,  felt  compelled  to  consider  that  it  was 
not  by  accident  but  an  intentional  act  of  that  great  comniittee  that 
there  was  no  provision  made  for  anything  bufc  order.  I  beg  the 
members  of  the  Conference  to  allow  this  information,  not  in  apology 
for  having  been  firm  in  trying  to  dO  my  duty — for  that  I  apologise 
to  no  man — but  to  express  my  gratitude  to  you  for  the  patience 
with  which  you  have  borne  with  the  effects  of  your  own  action. 

The  Doxology  was  then  sung,  and  the  Benediction  having  been 
pronounced,  the  Conference  adjourned. 


THIRD  DAY,  Friday,  September  10th, 


President— Rev.  J.  Stagey,  D.D.,  Methodist  New  Connexion. 


Subject :  ^ 

EVANGELICAL  AGENCIES  OF  METHODISM. 


'T^HE  CONFERENCE  resumed  at  Ten  o'clock,  the   Devotional 
-*-      Service  being  condu'^'ed  by  the  Rev.  A  McCuRDY  (Metho- 
dist New  Connexion). 

The  confirmation  of  the  minutes  of  the  previous  day  was  moved 
by  the  Rev.  J.  Swann  Withington. 

Mr.  H.  J.  Atkinson  drew  attention  to  the  ruling  yesterday  by 
Bishop  Peck  with  regard  to  the  mode  in  which  motions  must  be 
brought  forward.  He  understood  that  the  motion  which  he  (Mr. 
Atkinson)  had  brought  forward  was  last  night  submitted  to  the 
Business  Committee,  and  the  point  was  raised  that  it  had  not  been 
handed  in  in  writing.  That,  however,  was  not  so.  He  contended 
that  the  ruling  of  Bishop  Peck  yesterday  ought  not  to  put  his 
resolution  out  of  court  this  afternoon.  Jt  had  been  read  over 
in  Committee,  and  adopted  unanimously  for  presentation  to  the 
Conference. 

Bishop  J.  T.  Peck  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church)  thought  that  his 
decision  was  correct ;  the  Rule  evidently  was  designed  to  prevent 
an  avalanche  of  outside  matter  cominsr  to  the  Business  Committee 
that  did  not  originate  in  the  Conference. 

Rev.  J.  Bond  (Secretary)  said,  by  Rule  6,  every  resolution  must 
be  reduced  to  Avriting,  and  be  signed  by  at  least  two  names.  Mr. 
Atkinson's  resolution  had  not  been  signed  by  two  names. 

Rev.  AV.  Arthur  (Wesleyan  Methodist)  seconded  Mr.  Withing- 
ton's  motion.  He  said  the  object  of  the  regulations  was  to  protect 
the  Conference  from  having  any  questions  brought  before  it  that  had 
not  previously  received  the  sanction  of  the  Business  Committee  :  and 


EEV.   S.   ANTLIFF'S  ADDRESS.  99 

next,  to  protect  the  Business  Committee  from  having  its  time  oc- 
cupied with  propositions  that  had  not  been  mentioned  in  the  Con- 
ference. Mr.  Atkinson's  resohition  came  within  the  spirit,  if  not 
within  the  letter,  of  the  rule.  He  wished  to  ask  if  it  was  not 
competent  for  a  member  to  move  that  any  particular  regulation  be 
suspended. 

Eev.  J.  Bond  said  no  rule  could  be  suspended  except  by  consent 
of  two-thirds  of  the  Conference. 

Rev.  a.  C.  George,  D.D.  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church),  said  there 
was  an  essential  difference  of  opinion  between  the  Eastern  and  the 
Western  Sections  in  regard  to  the  morning  hour.  It  was,  therefore, 
desirable  to  come  to  some  amicable  understanding  in  regard  to  the 
rules,  and  to  secure  that  he  would  move,  "  That  the  rules  and  regu- 
lations for  the  government  of  this  Conference  be  referred  to  a  joint 
meeting  of  the  Eastern  and  Western  Sections  of  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee for  any  revisal  or  explanation  which  said  committee  may 
judge  advisable." 

Rev.  J.  Bond  seconded  the  motion. 

Rev.  J.  Watsford  (Australasian  Methodist  Churches)  said  the 
programme  and  the  rules  and  regulations  had  never  yet  been  adopted 
by  the  Conference.  The  proper  course  yesterday  would  have  been 
to  formally  adopt  them. 

Bishop  J.  T.  Peck  said  the  Conference  proceeded  to  act  on  the 
programme,  and  therefore  by  fair  construction  adopted  it. 

The  motion  was  carried,  as  was  subsequently  the  confirmation  of 
the  minutes. 

A  hymn  having  been  sung,  the  Rev.  S.  Antliff,  D.D.  (Primitive 
Methodist),  read  the  following  paper  ou  The  Itinerant  Ministry. 

The  itinerant  ministry  is  a  very  comprehensive  theme,  and  cannot 
be  exhaustively  treated  within  the  limits  prescribed  for  this  paper ; 
a  bare  outline  must  suffice.  The  specific  meaning  of  the  terms  may  be 
inferred  from  the  occasion  on  which  they  are  employed,  and  therefoi*e 
definition  is  scarcely  necessary.  The  ministry  means  the  preaching  of 
the  Gospel,  together  with  the  administration  of  the  Sacraments  and  the 
exercise  of  ecclesiastical  discipline,  by  men  who  have  been  separated 
trom  secular  avocations  that  they  may  labour  in  word  and  doctrine. 
This  particular  application  of  the  term  "  ministry"  has  probably  been 
derived  from  the  Jewish  synagogue,  in  which  the  minister  had  charge 
of  the  book  of  the  law  and  the  order  of  the  services.  The  itinerant 
ministry  is  contrtidistinguished  from  a  permanent  pastorate,  or  a 
ministry  confined  within  a  limited  and  permanent  sphere.     This  latter 

H  2 


100  EVANGELICAL   AGENCIES   OF   METHODISM. 

arrangement  prevails  among  Episcopalian,  Presbyterian  and  Congrega- 
tional Churches,  whereas  the  itinerant  ministry  is  almost  exclusively 
confined  to  Methodism. 

The  records  of  the  itinerant  ministry  possess  a  thrilling  interest 
and  constitute  a  grand  chapter  in  Church  history.  The  founders  of 
Methodism  were  men  of  burning  zeal,  who  felt  the  Word  of  the  Lord 
ike  a  fire  in  their  bones,  resistlessly  impelling  them  to  preai  They 
could  not  be  restrained  within  the  narrow  limits  which  established 
ecclesiastical  arrangements  prescribed,  but  claimed  the  world  for  their 
parish.  When  Divine  Providence  created  and  multiplied  assistants, 
John  Wesley,  instructed  by  experience  and  observation,  clearly  saw 
that  great  advantages  would  accrue  from  regular  periodical  changes  in 
ihe  spheres  of  labour  assigned  to  his  heli^ers,  and  therefore  made  his 
arrangements  accordingly,  and  hence  the  itinerant  ministry  became  an 
established  institution  of  Methodism.  This  institution  has  now  existed 
nearly  a  century  and  a  half,  and,  with  slight  modifications,  obtains 
throughout  the  entire  range  of  Methodist  operations. 

The  principle  of  an  itinerant  ministry  may  be  found  in  the  history  of 
the  prophets,  in  the  life  of  our  Saviour,  and  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles. 
The  utterances  of  the  prophets  were  not  restricted  within  circum- 
scribed areas,  but  wherever  the  message  was  needed  the  messenger 
was  sent.     Jeremiah,  Ezekiel,  Zechariah,  and  others,  were  severally 
sent  to  various  places  and  different  persons  as  occasion  demanded. 
Samuel  travelled   about  the   kingdom  and  ministered  wherever  his 
services  were  required.    "  He  built  an  altar  unto  the  Lord  "  at  Ramah  ; 
but,  "  he  went  in  circuit  to  Bethel  and  Gilgal  and   Mizpeh."     The 
ministry  of  our  Lord  was  not  confined  to  one  town  or  province,  but 
throughout  Judaea  and  Samaria,  and  from  the  coasts  of  Tyre  and  Sidon 
to  the  regions  beyond  Jordan,  He  went  about  doing  good  and  verifying 
the  prophecy  which  said,  "  The  spirit  of  the  Lord  is  upon  me,  because 
He  hath  anointed  me  to  preach  the  Gospel  to  the  poor."     The  apostles 
were  itinerant  ministers.     John,  the  beloved  disciple,  removed  from 
Jerusalem  and  preached  the  Gospel  extensively  in  Asia  Minor.     Peter 
preached  not  only  in  Palestine,  but  in  the  Parthian  emT)ire,  where  he 
wrote  his  first  epistle,  and  probably  he  preached  m  xiaiy.      ^  irnabas 
and  Paul  travelled  in  Syria,  Cyprus,  and  various  provinces  of  Asia 
Minor.     The  apostle  Paul  also  laboured  in  different  parts  of  Europe, 
*'  so  that  from  Jerusalem  and  round  about  unto  lUyricum  he  fully 
preached  the  Gospel  of  Christ."    The  New  Testament  does  not  present 
a  sharply-defined  ecclesiastical  system,  such  as  may  be  found  in  the 
Pentateuch,  but  contains   great    prijoiples.     T'ldaism  was  local   and 
temporary — was  a  training  institution — and,  accordingly,  everything 
was  minutely  prescribed ;  but  Christianity  was  designed  for  all  nations 
and  all  ages,  and  therefore  essential  principles  are  embodied  which  can 
be  adapted  to  the  varying  exigencies  and  conditions  of  human  society 
throughout  the  ages  and  to  the  ends  of  the  earth.     That  ecclesiastical 


REV.   S.  ANTLIFF'S  ADDRESS.  101 

arrangement  which  contravenes  no  Scriptural  principle,  and  which 
secures  the  best  results,  is  to  be  preferred.  The  itinerant  ministry  is 
Scriptural  in  principle,  and  will  bear  testing  by  results.  Probably  no 
ministerial  arrangements  ever  were  more  successful  than  those  of 
Methodism  have  been. 

The  advantages  secured  by  an  itinerant  ministry  are  various  and 
considerable.  Among  them  the  following  may  be  mentioned.  Con- 
gregations are  furnished  vnth  a  wider  range  of  sacred  truth  than  the  ministry 
of  any  one  man  could  supply.  The  capacities  of  ministers  who  itinerate 
are  probably  equal  to  those  of  settled  pastors.  The  works  of  Methodist 
theologians  warrant  this  conclusion.  But  no  two  minds  are  exactly 
alike,  and  no  one  mind  has  grasped  all  the  truth  which  God  has 
revealed.  Every  mind  has  special  affinity  for  some  particular  kind  of 
truth,  and  sjDecial  aptitude  for  acquii-ing  it.  The  historical,  the  meta- 
physical, the  doctrinal,  and  the  practical,  are  severally  and  specially 
seized  by  different  minds,  and  preached  with  such  variety  and  fulness 
as  they  could  not  be  by  any  one  man.  Congregations  have  the  truth 
presented  to  them  in  more  varied  modes  hy  an  itinerant  ministry  than  they 
could  have  hy  settled,  pastors.  The  same  truth  will  be  differently  pre- 
sented bj^  different  preachers,  and  in  each  congregation  there  are  minds 
corresponding  with  that  of  each  preacher,  so  that  the  truth  presented 
by  him  will  be  apprehended  more  readily  and  perfectly  than  when 
presented  by  other  ministers.  Every  congregation  consists  of  persons 
of  different  caj)acities  and  tastes,  and  these  are  more  generally  suited 
by  that  variety  which  a  change  of  ministers  secures  than  they  could  be 
by  the  preaching  of  any  permanent  pastor.  And  certainly  it  is  not 
desirable  that  the  several  members  of  a  family  should  have  to  attend 
different  places  of  religious  instruction  and  worship  in  order  that  each 
may  tind  an  acceptable  and  profitable  ministry.  Changes  can  he  effected 
more  readily  and  pleasantly  in  an  itinerant  ministry  than  among  settled 
pastors.  Changes  become  necessary.  This  is  felt  and  sometimes  pain- 
fully felt,  both  by  pastors  and  people  where  the  itinerant  system  has 
not  been  adopted.  Men  of  extraordinary  powers  and  attainments, 
possessing  vast  stores  of  knowledge  and  exhaustless  fertility  of  mind, 
may  profitably  minister  to  the  same  congregation  throughout  a  life- 
time ;  but  such  men  are  exceptional,  and  chui'ch  systems  should  not 
be  adapted  to  these  exceptional  cases,  but  to  meet  the  requirements  of 
ordinary  men.  Average  men  wear  out,  and  when  some  years  have 
been  spent  in  ministering  to  the  same  people,  change  is  desirable. 
This  can  be  effected  without  friction  in  Methodism,  whereas  in  some 
other  Churches  "starving  out"  occasionally  obtains,  and  while  the 
minister  suffers  a  slow  martyrdom  the  church  and  congregation  are 
scattered.  The  itinerant  system  secures  the  greatest  freedom  and  inde- 
pendence to  the  ministi'y.  The  relations  between  pastors  and  people 
require  adjusting  with  great  prudence  so  as  to  secure  the  rights  of  both 
and  the  maximum  of  good  to  all.     It  does  not  seem  desirable  that  the 


102  EVANGELICAL  AGENCIES   OF  METHODISM. 

ministry  should  be  sustained  by  the  State,  or  by  endowments,  so  as  to 
be  entirely  independent  of  the  peo]Dle.  Such  arrangements  have 
serious  disadvantages,  and  in  practical  operation  have  been  found 
very  unsatisfactory.  The  earliest  Christian  preachers  received  their 
support  from  those  to  whom  they  ministered,  or  from  the  voluntary 
offerings  of  sister  churches.  This  method  of  support  is  most  favour- 
able to  extension  and  a  good  understanding  between  ministers  and 
people,  but  where  the  permanent  pastorate  obtains,  and  the  minister 
is  not  above  the  average,  there  is  considerable  danger  lest  he  should 
feel  himself  dependent  on  some  wealthy  member  or  large  contributor, 
and  be  afraid  "to  declare  all  the  counsel  of  God,"  and  to  administer 
church  discipline  impartially  and  righteously.  The  itinerant  ministry 
minimises  this  danger  and  gives  independence,  inasmuch  as  the 
minister  knows  that  if  he  offends  he  can  leave  without  dishonour  and 
without  loss  at  the  end  of  a  year.  The  periodical  and  necessary  changes 
of  an  itinerant  ministry  have  a  salutary  and  stimulating  influence  on  preachers. 
The  responsibilities  and  recompense  of  the  ministry  should  be  sufficient 
to  provoke  all  the  energies  and  activities  of  preachers,  but  ministers 
are  men  of  like  passions  with  others,  and  there  is  danger  lest  the 
constant  discharge  of  ministerial  duties  should  become  perfunctory, 
and  lest  the  piety  of  ministers  should  degenerate  into  officialism.  The 
severance  of  old  associations  and  the  commencement  of  a  new  term, 
and  among  strangers,  are  favourable  to  fresh  resolves  and  a  new 
departure.  Faults  that  have  been  committed  are  deplored,  and 
mistakes  that  have  been  made  are  corrected,  and  a  new  chapter  of 
life  is  commenced,  being  made  better  and  more  beautiful  by  the  experi- 
ence obtained  in  the  spheres  that  are  quitted.  The  itinerant  ministry 
combined  with  local  assistance  enables  the  Church  to  preach  the  Gospel  and 
maintain  Christian  institutions  in  sparsely -populated  districts  better  than  it 
could  by  any  other  agency.  The  agricultural  counties  of  England,  the 
newly -peopled  parts  of  America,  and  the  thinly-settled  regions  in  our 
colonies,  could  not  have  been  so  effectually  reached  and  thoroughly 
evangelised  by  any  other  means  as  by  an  itinerant  ministry.  But  the 
desirableness  and  advantages  of  bringing  such  populations  under  the 
transforming  and  elevating  power  of  the  Gospel,  none  will  deny,  and 
hence  the  advantage  of  this  form  of  ministry. 

But  no  human  institution  is  absolutely  perfect  and  without  draw- 
backs. The  itinerant  ministry  is  not,  for  there  are  some  disadvantages 
pertaining  to  it.  The  severance  of  friendships  is  sometimes  painful,  and 
brevity  of  residence  prevents  the  growth  of  influence  and  increased  local 
usefulness.  This  remark  applies  not  only  to  municipal  and  charitable 
institotions,  but  also  to  pastoral  relationships  and  work.  An  itinerant 
ministry  cannot  become  so  conversant  with  the  history  and  working  of 
institutions  and  the  relationships  of  families  and  individuals  as  a  settled 
pastor  can,  and  consequently  cannot  exercise  as  much  influence  and 
accomplish  as  much  good  in  some  cases.     The  short  stay  and  frequent 


REV.   J,   B.   M'FERRIN'S  ADDRESS.  103 

changes  of  itinerants  probably  lead  to  mental  indolence  in  some  cases.  The 
old  sermons  are  preached  again  and  again  in  succeeding  circuits,  and 
intellectual  sluggishness  is  superinduced.  Some  itinerants  probably 
enter  fresh  circuits,  as  the  Gibeonites  approached  Joshua,  "  with  old 
sacks  well  filled,  bottles  rent  and  bound  up,  and  old  shoes  and  clouted 
upon  their  feet." 

But  without  lingering  longer  on  this  part  of  our  theme,  we  may 
submit  the  question,  Which  preponderate,  the  advantages  or  the  dis- 
advantages of  an  itinerant  ministry  ?  The  disadvantages,  in  our 
judgment,  are  as  the  small  dust  of  the  balance — ere  lighter  than 
vanity,  when  compared  with  the  immense  and  everlasting  advantages 
that  have  already  been  secured.  The  history  of  Methodism,  its  rapid 
spread  through  two  hemispheres,  and  its  present  spiritual,  numerical, 
and  social  position,  demonstrate  how  wisely  its  founder  acted  when  ho 
established  and  secured  an  itinerant  ministry. 

But  will  this  form  of  ministry  be  continued?  ^In  some  localities  and 
in  some  ministers  and  churches  there  is  evidenced  a  growing  inclina- 
tion to  a  more  settled  pastorate.  This  may  be  natural  to  some,  or  it 
may  be  an  outgrowth  of  changed  circumstances  and  higher  culture. 
But  we  believe  that  Methodism  will  lose  much  of  its  aggressive 
character,  and  will  be  shorn  of  its  power  and  glory,  should  its  ministry 
ever  cease  to  be  itinerant. 

But  can  the  itinerant  ministry  be  modified  with  advantage  or  without 
injury?  This  question  may  perhaps  admit  an  affirmative  reply, 
although  we  almost  fear  to  touch  what  has  answered  so  well  in  so 
many  lands,  and  for  so  long  a  time.  In  some  sections  of  the  great 
Methodist  family  ministers  are  not  necessarily  compelled  to  change  at 
the  end  of  three  years ;  the  general  rule  admits  exceptions.  And  most 
likely  there  are  cases  where  the  lengthened  stay  of  a  minister  is  an 
immense  advantage  to  local  interests  without  injury  to  the  general 
body. 

Rev.  J.  B.  McFerein,  D.D.  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South) : 
Mr.  President,  a  question  has  been  before  the  Conference  this  morning, 
and  it  has  had  some  bearing  upon  my  address.  One  of  the  Business 
Committee  said  I  must  read,  and  the  Bishop  decided  yesterday  because 
an  invited  address  was  read,  that  the  speaker  showed  his  good  sense. 
I  therefore  read  my  address.  The  itinerant  plan  of  spreading  the 
Gospel,  as  adopted  by  the  Wesleyan  Methodists,  receives  its  sanction 
and  authority  from  the  command  of  Christ,  the  Head  of  the  Church, 
and  from  the  example  of  the  Saviour  Himself.  Jesus  Christ  went 
about  doing  good.  See  Him  on  the  mountain,  teaching  the  multitudes; 
on  the  seashore,  ijreaching  to  the  people  ;  in  the  synagogue  and  in  the 
temple,  expounding  the  law,  interpreting  the  prophecies,  and  enforcing 
the  doctrines  of  His  kingdom.  In  Jerusalem,  in  Samaria,  in  Gahlee, 
by  the  wayside  ;  everywhere  the  Son  of  God  is  seen  and  His  voice  is 


104        EVANGELICAL  AGENCIES  Oi'  METHODISM. 

heard  inviting  the  weary  and  heavy  laden  to  come  to  Him  and  find 
rest.  And  so  He  scut  forth  His  apostles  and  first  preachers,  two  by 
two,  and  commanded  them,  saying,  "As  you  go,  preach."  And  before 
His  ascension  He  recommissioued  them,  and  sent  them  into  all  the 
world  to  preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature.  Here,  then,  are  the 
example  and  command  of  Christ  and  His  method  of  sending  the 
message  of  salvation  to  the  people.  On  the  day  of  Pentecost  the 
apostles,  being  endued  with  power  from  on  high,  began  anew  their 
great  work.  They  opened  their  mission  at  Jerusalem,  but  the  command 
was,  "Go  ye  into  uU  the  world."  "  They  therefore  went  forth  and 
Ijreached  everywhere,  the  Lord  working  with  them,  and  confirming 
their  words  with  signs  following."  Soon  afterwards  Philip  is  found  in 
Samaria  preaching  Christ,  and  Peter  and  John,  who  went  down  to  pray 
for  the  converts  and  having  confirmed  them,  "returned  to  Jerusalem, 
after  preaching  the  Gospel  in  many  villages  of  the  Samaritans." 
Again,  Philip  goes  toward  the  south  to  Gaza,  and  teaches  and  baptises 
the  Ethiopian  eunuch.  Then  away  to  Azotus,  "  and  passing  through, 
he  preached  the  Gospel  to  all  the  cities  till  he  came  to  Cesarea." 
Peter  did  not  confine  his  ministry  to  the  Jews,  but,  at  the  call  of  God, 
he  preached  to  Cornelius  and  his  house,  and  thus  opened  his  mission 
among  the  Gentiles.  And  St.  Luke  says  that  Peter  "went  through  all 
parts,"  spreading  the  news  of  Christ's  death  and  resurrection.  Paul 
was  the  great  itinerant.  He  went  to  the  "  regions  beyond,"  and  was 
careful  to  build  on  no  man's  foundation.  I  can  conceive  of  no  other 
plan  so  efficient  for  disseminating  the  Gospel  as  that  of  an  itinerant 
ministry.  Mr.  Wesley  hajopily  adopted  the  idea,  and,  breaking  away 
from  the  usual  inethods  of  his  day,  wisely  inaugurated  the  plan  of 
sending  out  travelHng  preachers,  men  who  could  and  would  give  up 
all  secular  business  and  devote  themselves  wholly  to  the  work  of 
saving  souls.  They  went  not  into  the  churches  and  among  the 
cultured  people  alone,  but  into  the  hedges  and  ditches,  among  the 
colliers  and  the  poor  of  every  class  where  a  door  was  opened  unto 
them.  They  gathered  in  the  lame  and  the  halt  and  the  blind,  that 
the  Master's  table  might  be  filled.  These  the  regular  stated  ministers 
would  likely  never  have  reached,  and,  unless  brought  by  this  method, 
they  had  never  come  at  all.  To  this  grand  conception  the  world  is  in 
a  great  measure  indebted  for  the  glorious  work  of  Home  Missions. 
The  heathen  must  be  saved ;  they  must  have  the  Gospel ;  but  while 
we  are  sending  to  the  benighted  nations  of  the  earth  the  light  of 
Christianity,  through  foreign  missionary  enterprise,  the  Wesleyau 
plan  of  itinerancy  sends  messages  of  mercy  to  the  poor  and  destitute 
on  the  borders  of  civilisation.  Mr.  Wesley's  plan  has  to  some  extent 
been  adopted  by  nearly  all  the  Churches  of  the  nineteenth  century. 
Lay  preachers,  evangelists,  revivalists  are  moving  in  all  directions, 
stirring  by  this  apostolic  method  the  masses  of  the  people.  The 
itinerant  plan    is  admirably  adapted    to    a   newly-settled  country,  to 


REV,   J.    B.    M'FERRIN'S   ADDRESS.  105 

sparsely-popnlated  regions.  There  the  people  are  not  able  to 
sustain  a  regular  stated  pastor ;  they  cannot  wait  on  the  ministry 
of  the  Word  in  churches  and  chapels  ;  they  are  sheep  in  the 
mlderness,  and  must  have  shepherds  who  will  follow  them  and 
feed  them,  and  take  care  of  the  lambs  long  before  they  can  be  supplied 
by  local  pastors.  No  stronger  evidence  need  be  given  of  the  wisdom 
of  an  itinerant  ministry  than  the  success  attending  Methodist  preaching 
in  North  America.  A  little  more  than  one  hundred  years  ago  Dr. 
Coke,  Francis  Asbury,  Richard  Whatcoat,  and  their  coadjutors  began 
to  itinerate  as  preachers  of  the  Gospel  in  the  New  World.  And  what 
hath  God  wrought  ?  Millions  have  been  saved  !  The  Gospel  preached 
by  them  and  their  successors  has  been  carried  througnout  the  Middle 
and  Eastern  States,  and  into  the  far  West;  to  the  gulf  of  Mexico  in 
the  South,  and  to  the  lakes  of  Canada  in  the  North.  The  Methodist 
itinerant  has  crossed  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  all  along  the  shores  of 
the  broad  Pacific  he  has  proclaimed  Christ,  and  Him  crucified.  The 
Indian  in  his  wigwam,  the  slave  in  the  rice  plantation,  and  the  men  of 
the  frontier,  all  have  received  from  these  servants  of  Christ  the  words 
of  everlasting  life.  No  other  Church  has  been  able  to  keep  pace  with 
the  Methodists.  They  are  emphatically  pioneers,  and  are  in  the  front 
leading  the  hosts  of  Israel.  The  plan  works  well,  too,  in  older  and 
more  permanent  communities.  "  It  leaves  no  preacher  without  a  con- 
gregation, and  no  congregation  without  a  preacher."  It  distributes  the 
gifts  and  talents  of  the  ministry,  and  gives  each  community  the  benefit 
of  all.  It  gives  new  life  and  fresh  vigour  to  the  preacher  and  the  congre- 
gation,  and  is  generally  approved  by  the  Methodist  people.  Itinerancy 
sent  Dr.  Coke  across  the  seas  eighteen  times ;  sent  George  Whitefield 
flying  through  the  heavens,  having  the  Gospel  to  preach ;  sent  Benson, 
and  Watson,  and  Bunting,  and  Newton,  and  Jobson,  and  Punshon  to 
all  parts  of  the  kingdom;  sent  Asbury  to  the  wilds  of  America, 
where,  on  horseback,  through  the  trackless  wilderneste,  he  wended  his 
way,  preaching  the  Gospel  in  the  cabins  of  frontier  settlers,  or  under 
the  trees  of  the  forest ;  sent  Jesse  Lee  to  New  England,  Nathan  Bangs 
to  Canada,  Joshua  Soule  to  Louisiana,  Martin  Ruter  to  Texas,  William 
Capers  and  James  O.  Andrew  to  the  fields  of  Southern  planters,  to 
preach  Christ  to  the  slave  and  liis  master.  I  am  not  ignorant  of  the 
fact  that  there  are  those  who  favour  a  change  or  modification  of  the 
plan  of  itinerancy ;  they  wish  all  limits  taken  off,  or  the  time  extended 
beyond  three  or  four  years.  From  long  observation  I  am  fully  satisfied 
that  while  in  some  respects  a  modification  might  be  pleasant  and 
beneficial,  yet  taking  the  whole  into  account,  and  the  condition  of  the 
world  as  it  is,  it  is  the  best  for  all  to  sustain  the  rule  and  keep  up  an 
unchanged  itinerant  ministry  that  has  been  fruitful  of  so  much  good. 

Rev.  Jacob  Todd,  D.D.  (Motlmdist  Episcopal  Church):  There  are  one  or 
two   points  of  interest  which  have   not  been   adverted  to  by  either  the 


106  EVANGELICAL   AGENCIES  OF  METHODISM. 

essayist  or  the  Last  speaker.  The  first  one  is  that  itinerancy  in  the  ministry 
is  right  in  principle.  The  ministry  was  appointed  for  the  Church,  and  not 
the  Church  established  for  the  ministry.  Occasionally  we  find  a  brother 
who  thinks  the  Church  belongs  to  him,  and  does  not  realise  that  he  belongs 
to  the  Church.  But,  sir,  we  claim  that  the  ministry  belongs  to  the  Church 
and  to  the  whole  Church.  Now  if  this  be  true,  then  if  there  be  one  minister 
with  superior  gifts,  it  is  not  right  that  any  one  congregation  should 
monopolise  those  gifts.  It  is  only  right,  since  he  belongs  to  the 
whole  Church,  that  he  should  be  distributed  as  far  as  possible  over  the 
whole  Church.  And,  on  the  contrary,  if  there  be  a  man  whose  abilities  are 
so  small  that  he  is  not  very  greatly  desired  anywhere,  it  is  not  exactly  fair 
that  any  one  congregation  should  be  afflicted  by  his  services  for  the 
whole  of  his  natural  life.  Turn  about  is  fair  play  in  this  matter  as 
in  all  others.  Then  again  it  has  been  said  that  there  is  a  great  variety  of 
talent  in  the  ministry,  and  that  by  a  succession  of  ministers  in  the  same 
charge  we  get  a  greater  variety  of  Divine  truth.  It  is  equally  true  that 
there  is  as  great  a  variety  of  talent  in  the  congregation  as  in  the  ministry, 
and  no  one  minister  can  suit  all  persons  in  the  congregation.  If  Gabriel 
himself  were  to  come  down  as  a  preacher,  somebody  would  take  exception 
to  his  attitude  or  to  his  gestures ;  and  it  does  not  matter  at  all  how  limited 
a  man's  abilities  are,  somebody  in  the  congregation  will  think  him  a  great 
man.  Now,  sir,  by  a  succession  of  ministers  such  as  we  have  by  the 
itinerant  plan,  all  classes  of  the  community  are  reached.  One  man  touches 
one  heart,  but  fails  to  touch  another ;  his  successor  may  make  less 
impression  upon  the  first,  but  he  will  be  almost  certain  to  reach  the 
second.  In  this  way  we  bless  not  only  one  class,  but  we  reach,  afEect,  and 
save  the  whole  community. 

Eev.'  a.  R.  Winfield,  D.D.  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South) :  There 
is  one  special  point  in  connection  with  the  itinerant  Methodist  Church 
to  which  I  wish  to  invite  your  attention.  It  has  been  said  that  we  supply 
the  people  with  preaching  but  not  with  pastors,  and  that  we  fail  to  garner 
from  our  own  sources.  And  during  the  last  century  almost  it  has  been  the 
great  delight  of  those  who  have  looked  with  a  kind  of  jealousy,  almost  with 
envy,  at  the  rapid  success  of  our  Church  ministry,  to  try  to  make  the 
world  believe  tiuit  our  stay  was  limited,  that  our  Church  was  only  a 
question  of  time,  and  that  our  itinerant  ministry,  with  all  its  glories,  would 
be  numbered  with  the  things  that  were.  It  is  a  glorious  fact  that  the 
history  of  the  last  century  has  deceived  our  enemies,  and  has  shown  them 
that  we  have  built  upon  the  true  foundation  of  the  apostles — Jesus  Christ 
Himself  being  the  chief  corner-stone.  Call  it  a  mere  sect,  or  an  organi- 
sation, or  a  particular  class,  it  has  yet  accomplished  more  in  the  last  century 
with  an  itinerant  ministry  for  the  evangelisation  of  the  world  than  any 
organisation  ever  devised  since  the  days  of  the  apostles.  It  is  a  glorious 
thing  to  stand  in  the  City  Road  Chapel,  and  to  feel  that,  while  we  do  not, 
as  itinerant  ministers,  attempt  to  work  out  any  m5'th  of  apostolicalsuccession 
far  back  in  the  darkness  of  the  remote  ages,  that  we  can  come  directly  to 
a  succession  from  John  Wesley,  who  was,  indeed,  an  itinerant  minister, 
and  who  came  in  regular  succession  from  the  apostle  Paul  himself,  who 
was  the  grandest  "  circuit  rider  "  the  world  ever  saw.  We  want  no  better 
succession  than  this  ;  our  record  may  be  "known  and  read  by  all  men." 
It  is  a  grander  thing  to  stand  here  in  this  succession  than  to  have  your 
names  registered  upon  the  rolls  of  the  world's  greatest  heroes.  In  our 
wanderings  up  and  down  over  the  Continent,  and  in  the  native  homes  of 
our  ancestors,  we  have,  many  of  us,  followed  the  tracks  of  the  great 
Napoleon ;  we  have  followed  the  wavings  of  his  battle  flag,  until  at  last 
we  stood  in  Belgium,  and  there,  but  a  short  distance  ,ofE,  his  crest  was 
stricken  down,  his  battle  flag  waved  no  more,  and  the  great  eagle  which 


GENERAL  REMARKS.  10? 

Btirred  the  heavens  and  shook  the  continents  with  the  tramp  of  its  mighty 
legions,  was  a  captive  upon  St.  Helena.  Then  we  stood  at  his  monument, 
the  grandest  sarcophagus  the  world  ever  saw,  and  we  remembered  that  his 
last  words  were — "  Let  me  sleep  on  the  banks  of  the  Seine  with  the 
French  people  that  I  love  so  well."  Those  were  all  the  words  that  he  had 
to  offer,  and  thus  was  the  life  of  that  great  man  ended — that  mighty 
chieftain  whose  undrawn  sword  alarmed  almost  the  universe.  How 
different  the  case  with  John  Wesley  !  His  name  to-day  is  world-wide  ; 
and  although  the  world  is  disposed  still  to  look  scarcely  with  toleration 
upon  the  itinerant  ministers  of  the  Church,  yet,  when  tiie  last  roll  of  the 
great  record  of  this  banded  host  shall  be  made  up,  highest  and  best 
and  grandest  among  its  names  will  be  found  that  of  John  Wesley. 

Rev.  George  Bowden,  Bristol  :  Once  every  three  years  my  heart  and 
my  flesh  protest  against  the  itinerancy  ;  but,  notwithstanding  this,  my 
judgment,  after  thirty  years,  is  satisfied  that  it  is  the  best  mode  of  doing 
our  work.  There  are  one  or  two  points  in  relation  to  itinerancy  which  have 
not  yet  been  suggested.  The  first  is  its  relation  to  discipline.  It  is  impos- 
sible for  us  to  go  upon  fresh  ground,  to  go  in  and  out  among  our  people, 
without  our  successors  knowing  whether  we  are  true  men  or  not,  and  if  we 
are  found  not  to  be  true  men,  why  then  the  man  who  is  not  Christian  in 
character  will  be  brought  before  his  betters  and  removed.  Then,  secondly, 
there  is  the  relation  of  itinerancj''  to  onr  friendships.  If  a  "  world  in  pur- 
chase for  a  friend"  is  gain,  then  I  hold  Methodist  preachers  who  are 
faithful  and  loving  in  their  work  are  among  the  wealthiest  men  on  the 
face  of  the  earth,  so  numerous  and  precious  are  the  friendships  formed  by 
them  in  the  different  parts  of  the  land.  Then  comes  its  relation  to  useful- 
ness. A  clergyman  of  the  Church  of  England — a  man  of  superior  intel- 
ligence and  evangelical  feeling — said  to  me,  "  Here  I  have  been  attached 
to  a  small  mining  village  for  fourteen  years,  and  perhaps  I  may  be  there 
for  life  ;  in  the  same  time  you  have  preached  to  thousands,  north,  west, 
and  south  ;  how  much  greater  your  chances  for  doing  good  than  mine." 
That  point  is  worthy  of  being  considered. 

Rev.  J.  Wenn  (Primitive  Methodist)  :  Yesterday  we  had  a  paper  on 
"  The  influence  that  Methodism  has  exerted  on  other  religious  bodies,  and 
the  extent  to  which  they  have  modified  Methodism."  I  listened  very 
attentively  in  order  to  ascertain  if  any  gentleman  who  spoke  would  tell  us 
how  far  other  bodies  have  modified  Methodism,  but  I  did  not  catch  any 
sentence  or  expression  from  any  one  bearing  upon  this  last  clause  of  the 
topic.  Now,  I  should  like  to  put  it  to  the  Conference  whether  other 
religious  bodies,  and  especially  Oongregationalists,  Presbyterians,  and 
Baptists,  have  not  exerted  some  influence  upon  Methodist  bodies  in  relation 
to  the  itinerancy.  I  take  it  that  a  circuit  should  be  a  round  thing,  hut  it  has 
come  now  to  be  a  kind  of  point  in  many  cases,  or  a  line,  and  that  a  very 
narrow  one  too.  I  have  been  a  little  amused  to  find  that  in  our  own 
book  of  minutes  and  regulations,  we  have  exchanged  the  good  old 
Methodist  term  "  circuit "  for  the  somewhat  novel  unmethodistical  term 
"  station."  I  do  not  know  whether  -we  have  benefited  by  so  many 
divisions  and  subdivisions  amongst  our  circuits.  I  have  a  strong  feeling 
at  present  that  our  Conferences  may  make  as  many  superintendents  as  they 
please,  but  unless  they  have  been  made  before,  we  shall  find  that  they  will 
not  superintend  very  effectually.  I  have  a  strong  feeling  that  amongst 
ourselves  we  have  gone  too  far  already  in  the  matter  of  dividing  stations, 
and  that  it  would  be  better  for  us  to  return  to  a  certain  extent  to  the  old 
lines,  and  have  a  "  circuit"  worthy  to  be  called  a  "  circuit,"  and  put  a  man 
upon  it  that  can  superintend  it.  It  seems  to  me  to  a  large  extent — and  the 
principle  seems  to  obtain  in  America  even  more  than  here — we  are 
becoming  Oongregationalists.  and  are  appointing   one   man  to  preach  to 


108       EVANGELICAL  AGENCIES  OF  METHODISM. 

one    congregation  and   suiDsrintend  the  interests  of    that  congregation 
only. 

Eev.  Wm.  Arthur  (Wesleyan  Methodist)  :  I  feel  that  perhaps  it  would 
not  be  unprofitable  if,  in  addition  to  looking  at  the  advantages  of  itinerancy 
in  the  past,  we  spend  a  moment  in  looking  at  the  adaptation  of  itinerancy  to 
the  present  and  the  future.  Many,  perhaps,  think  itinerancy  ought  to  be  so 
modified  as  to  be  virtually  abandoned.  They  are  going  on  in  the  direction 
indicated  by  our  brother.  With  all  the  lessons  of  the  past  we  must  feel 
one  thing,  that  the  future  is  tending  more  and  more  throughout  the  world 
to  increase  the  proportion  of  dense  populations  and  diminish  the  proportioc 
of  dispersed  populations.  Itinerancy  gives  you  diffused  labour— that  is  the 
way  of  attacking  a  dispersed  population  ;  but  we  need  to  look  very  carefully 
at  the  concentrated  labour  which  alone  can  reach  condensed  populations  ; 
and  I  say,  standing  in  this  city  of  London,  that  there  are  no  4,000,000 
of  English-speaking  people  in  the  world  for  whom,  in  proportion,  itinerancy 
has  done  less  than  for  the  4,000,000  of  people  in  the  midst  of  whom 
we  are  now  standing.  It  was  not  vintil  within  recent  years  that  any 
considerable  extension  of  our  work  among  those  4,000,000  took  place,  and 
we  must  take  care  first  that  we  keep  up  the  old  going  round  and  round  over 
circuits,  no  matter  how  wide,  if  at  the  end  of  the  circuit  there  are  a  few 
people  to  be  saved.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  we  must  not  think  that  a  large 
circuit  means  so  many  acres  with  no  heads  in  it.  There  may  be  so  many  heads, 
no  matter  whether  on  many  acres  or  few,  and  wherever  you  have  a  great 
many  heads  you  have  a  large  circuit.  I  am  totally  against  Methodism  being 
worked  on  the  principle  of  solitary  stations.  My  idea  of  a  circuit  is  a  cir- 
cuit of  two  men.  I  am  totally  against  great  circuits  of  four  or  five  ministers 
in  cities.  Tested  by  results  they  have  been  singularly  inefficient  in  spread- 
ing the  work  ;  but  I  believe  the  one-man  station,  although  that  one-man  station 
does  not  fasten  a  man  for  life  to  one  congregation,  but  removes  him  at  the 
end  of  his  term,  is  still  far  inferior  to  a  two-men  circuit  with  one  in  charge 
as  superintendent  ;  and  with  the  whole  of  the  Methodist  organisation  really 
at  work  within  the  circuit  and  with  its  preparation  to  extend  beyond  it. 
But  we  must  look  more  and  more  to  the  question  of  city  populations  and  of 
dense  populations.  Even  in  new  countries  it  is  appalling  to  see  the  ra,pidity 
with  which  certain  cities  are  springing  up,  and  the  rate  at  which  multitudes 
are  arising.  Some  of  our  friends  in  the  Conference  are  accustomed  to  new 
growth,  to  new  countries,  but  they  can  hardly  make  up  their  minds  to  new 
growth  in  old  countries.  Now,  if  in  the  course  of  the  last  ten  years  we  had 
built  fifty  churches  in  this  city  of  London,  that  would  have  been  one, 
say,  for  every  10,000  of  the  new  population,  not  providing  a  stick  or  stone 
for  the  old  population.  Yet  we  have  not  done  that  ;  we  have  not  provided 
one  sitting  for  ten  of  the  new  population  in  the  last  ten  years ;  we  must 
then,  try  to  make  itinerancy  tell  more  and  more. 

O.  H.  WAiiREN,  D.  D.  ( Methodist  Episcopal  Church) :  I  should  be  sorry  to 
say  anything  that  would  depreciate  in  any  degree  the  advantages  of  the 
itinerant  ministry  as  they  appear  in  comparison  with  those  of  the  settled 
pastorate  ;  but  it  seems  to  me  that  you  may  be  misled  by  a  word.  The  logic 
to  which  we  have  listened  this  morning  in  some  instances  was  about  like 
this  ■  the  Saviour  was  an  itinerant  minister  or  preacher  ;  His  apostles  were 
itinerant  ministers  ;  Wesley  was  an  itinerant  minister  ;  we  are  itinerant 
ministers,  therefore  we  are  Wesleyan,  and  apostolic.  Before  we  reach  that 
conclusion  it  is  well  for  us  to  inquire  whether  the  itinerancy  of  the  present 
day  is  the  same  as  the  itinerancy  of  apostolic  times.  The  apostles  went 
preaching  from  place  to  place.  We  all  know  what  the  itinerancy  of  Wesley's 
time  was  ;  but  have  we  that  itinerancy  throughout  the  Methodist  Churches 
of  the  present  time  ?  I  speak  of  America.  We  cannot,  of  course,  think 
that  a  pastorate  extending  from  one  to  two  or  three  years,  the  same  man 


GENERAL    REMARKS.  109 

ministering  constantly  to  the  same  church,  is  after  the  pattern  ol  the  pasto- 
rate or  circuits  of  Wesley's  time  ;  that  kind  of  pastorate  is  not  apostolic  in 
the  sei;se  in  which  the  apostolic  uiinistiy  has  been  referred  to  here  this 
morning.  Well,  now,  I  believe  the  itinerancy  of  the  present  day  would  be 
much  more  effective  if  it  Avere  more  apostolic  in  this  sense — if  we  had  more 
of  this  actual  travelling  evangelistic  ministry  in  the  world.  But  at  the 
same  time  we  have  recognised  the  iact  everywhere  in  Methodism  that  it  is 
possible  for  us  to  adjust  ourselves  and  our  methods  to  changing  circum- 
stances ;  and  in  this  particular  wo  are  apostolic.  I  have  failed  always  to  find 
any  evidence  whatever  in  the  records  of  the  apostles  or  of  their  w-ork  that 
they  ever  endeavoured  to  frame  a  system  of  ministry  which  shmild  go  on 
age  after  age  and  be  handed  down  lo  successive  generations.  I  fail  to  find 
one  single  instance  in  which  they  deliberated  over  a  system  which  might  be 
best  ailapted  to  all  nations,  all  times,  all  places,  but  I  do  find  that  the 
apostles  went  forth  trusting  in  the  Word  of  the  Master,  following  the  lead- 
ings of  Divine  providence,  acting  under  Divine  direction  as  the  circum- 
stances and  demands  of  times  and  places  njight  require.  We  need  to  be 
apostolic  in  this  particular  ;  and  it  seems  to  me  that  we  must  consider  the 
demands  of  countries,  the  demands  of  places,  and  of  sections — the  differ- 
ence between  the  demands  of  cities  and  those  of  the  country.  These  things 
must  be  considered,  and  while  we  adhere  to  the  principle  of  itinerancy,  and 
endeavour  to  make  the  system  have  more  of  the  apostolic  element  than 
it  has  at  present,  we  ought  to  make  it  more  apostolic  by  adapting  it  to 
all  the  various  circumstances  under  which  it  must  operate. 

Bishop  J.  T.  Peck  :  I  rise  to  make  an  observation  with  regard  to  the 
practice  of  itinerancy.  In  the  four  annual  Conferences  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  in  New  York  "we  have  something  over  200  travelling 
ministers,  all  of  them  following  circuits,  and  their  circuits  include  from 
five  to  twelve  appointments.  Their  travels  on  these  circuits  are  probably 
from  two  to  ten  miles.  They  have  not  the  means  of  procuring  horses  ;  there 
is  not  a  single  horse  in  our  service,  and  they  travel  all  these  circuits,  from 
two  to  twelve  miles  and  from  five  to  twelve  appointments,  on  foot,  and  do  it 
faithfully  and  regularly. 

Rev.  J.  SwANN  Withington  (United  Methodist  Free  Churches),  said : 
As  far  as  I  understand,  our  friends  of  the  parent  body  appoint  that  a 
minister  cannot  remain  beyond  three  years  ;  he  may  retire  from  the  circuit 
before  that  period  is  expired.  Perhaps,  however,  there  are  gentlemen 
in  this  body  who  know  that  some  of  the  branches  of  the  Methodists  take 
broader  view.-?  and  freer  action,  and  that  we  are  allowed,  if  invited,  and 
all  matters  are  right,  to  remain  beyond  the  three  years,  I  think  that  modifica- 
tion is  an  important  one.  1  ihinlv  the  appointment  of  a  minister  to  a  circuit, 
and  his  continuance  there,  ought  to  be  regulated  largely  by  results.  I  know 
it  is  difficult  sometimes  to  tabulate  results.  The  great  Canning  once  said  that 
there  was  nothing  more  fallacious  than  figures  except  facts,  but  now  and 
again  we  do  ascertain  whether  a  man  is  rtally  successful  in  the  work  of  the 
Christian  ministry  ;  and  when  that  has  been  ascertained,  it  is  usual  to  retain 
the  man  in  his  sphere,  and  I  think  with  very  great  advantage.  In  reference 
to  some  men,  the  less  we  move  them  the  better,  for  domestic  reasons. 
You  know  men  having  large  families  have  to  move  with  considerable  care 
and  with  considerable  luggage.  I  may,  therefore,  be  permitted  to  add  that 
we  have  found  that  one  of  the  branches  of  Methodism  has  derived  great  ad- 
vantage from  the  appointment  of  some  of  its  ministers  beyond  the  period 
of  three  years,  and  I  think  it  would  be  of  service  to  all  the  Methodist 
societies  if  we  could  have  throughout  our  Counexions  a  modification  of 
the  rule  or  law  that  a  minister  shall  not  remain  in  a  circuit  beyond  three 
years. 

Jvhv.  JosEPHUS  O.  Banyoun  :  I  should  not  like  to  allow  this  opportunity 


110  EVANGELICAL   AGENCIES   OF   METHODISM. 

to  pass  without  paying  a  tribute  of  respect  to  the  honoured  fathers  of 
Methodism,  the  African  fathers  of  whom  no  notice  has  been  taken  to-day, 
commencing  with  Bishop  Allen,  Bishop  Brown,  Bishop  Waters,  Quin, 
and  other  men  forming  the  galaxy  of  bishops  and  itinerant  brethren  who 
brought  Methodism  to  our  people  on  the  American  continent.  I  think  the 
principle  of  the  itinerant  system  of  preaching,  trying  to  save  souls,  is  a  good 
one  ;  at  any  rate,  it  is  one  that  is  effectual  in  our  own  case.  It  has  brought 
thousands,  and  I  may  say  millions,  of  souls  to  Christ,  many  of  whom  have 
gone  home  to  a  haven  of  rest,  and  others  are  going  to  the  celestial  region 
where  we  all  expect  to  stand  rejoicing  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Now,  I 
would  just  say,  with  regard  to  Methodism,  that  it  came  to  us  coloured 
people  very  much  like  the  crumbs  came  to  Lazarus  from  the  rich  man's 
table.  When  it  came  our  fathers  did  not  start  with  a  liberal  education ; 
indeed,  they  were  considerably  behind  the  age.  Methodism  started  in  this 
great  city  of  London,  and  those  that  established  Methodism  were  men  of 
great  power,  of  giant  intellects — men  of  education,  men  able  to  hold  their 
own  against  the  wisest  of  the  day.  But,  alas!  our  fathers  had  not  the 
knowledge ;  they  were  not  able  to  do  more  than  preach  in  a  simple  and 
humble  way  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  to  their  own  people.  It  was  against 
the  law  for  slaves  to  get  education ;  they  were  deprived  of  that  privilege ; 
but  notwithstanding  all  that,  God  raised  them  up  for  the  special  purpose  of 
calling  sinners  to  repentance.  By  following  those  refugees,  those  slaves  that 
left  the  heart  of  the  South  and  came  to  Canada — in  that  way  we  have  a 
Connexion  in  Canada  numbering  and  representing  upwards  of  15,000  persons 
called  to  God  through  the  influence  of  such  itinerant  ministers. 


The  Hon.  J.  W.  F.  White,  LL.  D.  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church), 
then  read  the  following  essay  on  Lay  Preachers: 

The  words  of  the  saintly  mother  to  her  son,  who  was  hurrying  to  stop 
the  irregularity  of  Thomas  Maxfield's  preaching,  "John,  take  care 
what  you  do  with  respect  to  that  young  man,  for  he  is  as  surely  called 
of  God  to  preach,  as  you  are,"  were  a  revelation  to  John  Wesley,  and 
have  been  the  inspiration  of  the  religious  movement  that,  for  a  hundred 
years,  has  been  spreading  holiness  over  all  lands.  Without  the  assis- 
tance of  lay  helpers  and  lay  preaching,  Methodism  would  have  died  in 
its  infancy,  and  John  and  Charles  Wesley  would  never  have  been 
admitted  into  the  company  of  England's  illustrious  sons  in  Westminster 
Abbey. 

A  regularly  organised  Church,  with  sacraments  and  ordinances,  and 
men  set  apart  to  administer  them,  is  a  Divinely  appointed  institution. 
It  is  not  merely  a  politic  arrangement,  but  an  absolute  necessity,  for 
the  moral  and  spiritual  welfare  of  the  race.  Without  organised 
churches  and  regular  pastors,  Christianity  would  sink  down  into  a  cold 
philosophy,  personal  piety  cease,  and  all  moral  reforms  go  backwards. 
I  have  little  confidence  in  any  moral  reformer  who  is  not  a  member  of 
some  Christian  Church,  and  no  faith  in  the  permanent  success  of  any 
moral  reform  movement  carried  on  outside  of  church  influence  and 
control.     A  Church  may  have  a  false  creed,  or  may  fall  into  error,  or 


HON.  J.   W.   F.   WHITE'S  ADDRESS.  ]11 

grow  corrupt,  but  the  evil  can  be  corrected  only  inside  the  Church,  or 
by  establishing  another  and  better  Church. 

It  does  not  follow,  however,  that  the  regular  ministry  are  wiser  or  better 
than  the  laity.  The  age  of  monastic  learning  is  past.  The  laity  of  this 
day  are  as  intelligent,  and  as  capable  of  judging  and  deciding  correctly,  as 
the  clergy.  Men  must  be  moved  now  by  appeals  to  their  judgments  and 
consciences,  not  by  assertions  of  superiority  or  claims  of  Divine  right. 
Priestcraft,  as  a  potential  agency,  never  existed  in  America,  was  buried 
in  England  years  ago,  and  is  hastening  to  its  dying  struggle  in  Europe. 
Nor  does  it  follow  that  the  regular  ministry  are  the  only  ones  authorised 
to  preach  the  Gospel  and  offer  eternal  life  to  perishing  sinners.  Every 
one  who  is  truly  "moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost  and  called  of  God"  to 
preach  has  a  commission  superior  to  parchment  roll,  and  needs  not  the 
imposition  of  human  hands,  God  works  by  human  agency,  and  often  by 
the  humblest  instruments.  His  work  is  progressive.  The  volume  of 
Divine  truth  was  gradually  revealed,  and  His  great  plan  of  saving  man 
gradually  developed.  Every  age  presents  a  new  truth,  or  a  higher 
development  of  the  old.  The  indications  of  Providence  and  the  call  of 
the  Church  now  are  for  a  more  hearty  and  thorough  co-operation  of  the 
laity  in  the  work  of  redeeming  the  world.  And  the  laymen  are  answer- 
ing the  call ;  they  are  taking  a  more  active  part  than  ever  in  all  depart- 
ments of  Christian  work,  and  in  most  Protestant  Churches  are  giving 
practical  illustrations  of  the  efficiency  and  power  of  lay  preaching. 

The  world  has  outgrown  Pi-elacy  and  RituaUsm.  They  are  the  bastard 
offspring  of  Judaism  and  Paganism,  begotten  of  the  Church  amidst  the 
corruptions  that  overthrew  the  ancient  civilisations.  They  attained  their 
majority  in  the  age  of  Gothic  cathedrals,  and  are  now  far  gone  in  the 
senility  of  old  age.  It  is  time  they  were  dead,  and  were  buried  in  the 
tomb  of  the  dark  ages,  with  the  other  mouldering  relics  of  the  past. 
Here  and  there  there  is  a  feeble,  sickly  effort  to  revive  Ritualism.  But 
the  fashionable  folly  is  not  likely  to  prove  contagious,  for  the  world  sees, 
and  notes  the  fact,  that  the  spiritual  vitality  of  a  Church  always  sinks 
just  in  proportion  as  the  ritualistic  fever  rises. 

The  design  of  preaching  is  to  save  sinners.  The  providentially  ap- 
pointed mission  of  Methodism  is  to  offer  eternal  life  to  all,  but  esi)ecially 
to  carry  the  Gospel  to  the  poor.  When  the  Baptist  was  pining  in  prison, 
sorely  tempted^  and  almost  doubting  his  own  testimony,  he  sent  his 
disciples  to  the  Divine  Teacher  to  know  if  He  was  indeed  the  Messiah. 
"  Tell  John,"  said  the  Master,  "  what  miracles  you  have  seen ;  the  blind 
see,  the  lame  walk,  the  lepers  are  cleansed,  the  deaf  hear,  the  dead  are 
raised,  and,"  as  the  crowning  evidence  of  His  Messiahship,  "  the  poor 
have  the  Gospel  preached  to  them."  Methodism  started  right;  let  it 
continue  to  follow  in  the  footsteps  of  the  Master,  by  continuing  to  carry 
the  Gospel  to  the  poor. 

Vast  cathedrals  with  massive  towers  and  vaulted  aisles  are  very 
suitable  places  for  tho  worship  of  Jehovah.     But  it  too  frequently 


112  EVANGELICAL   AGENCIES   OF   METHODISM. 

happens  that  the  piety  of  the  worshippers  is  in  inverse  proportion  to 
the  height  of  the  towers.  Rich  men  may  very  properly  give  of  their 
abundance  to  erect  splendid  church  edifices  and  fit  them  up  in  elegant 
style.  God  delights  in  grandeur  and  beauty.  But  He  loves  the  humble 
poor  more  than  magnificent  temples.  It  is  not  written,  "  Blessed  are 
they  who  worship  in  splendid  churches,"  but,  "  Blessed  are  the  poor  in 
spirit,  for  theirs  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven  ;"  not  "  Blessed  are  the  rich," 
but  "  Blessed  are  the  meek,  for  they  shall  inherit  the  earth."  Splendid 
church  edifices  are  all  right,  if  the  right  spirit  is  in  the  pulpit  and  pews. 
But  very  few  of  the  poor  ever  hear  the  Gospel  in  such  places.  They 
must  hear  it,  if  they  hear  it  at  all,  where  the  Master  preached  to  them, 
and  where  Wesley  and  his  helpers  preached  to  them,  on  the  roadside,  at 
the  street  corners,  in  their  humble  dwellings,  or  in  plain  buildings  they 
helped  to  erect,  and  where  they  can  feel  at  home. 

Education,  refinement,  culture,  are  excellent  things.  Ignorance  is 
the  mother  of  superstition  and  fanaticism.  The  more  thorough  the 
education  and  scholarship  of  the  preacher,  the  better  qualified  he  is 
for  his  Divine  calling.  The  ministry  must  keep  pace  with  the  progress 
of  science  and  the  advancement  of  learning,  or  fall  to  the  rear  in  the 
world's  onward  march,  and  cease  to  have  any  influence.  But  in 
meeting  the  requirements  of  the  educated  few,  the  wants  of  the  un- 
educated many  must  not  be  forgotten.  The  great  business  of 
preaching  is  to  save  the  lost.  Elaborate  expositions  of  theological 
dogmas,  or  beautiful  literary  essays,  never  converted  a  sinner.  True 
refinement  and  culture  are  very  becoming  the  pulpit ;  but  it  is  possible 
for  a  preacher  to  have  a  kind  of  *'  culture,"  which  cultures  Christ  out 
of  his  sermons  and  all  religion  out  of  his  congregation.  In  his  effort  to 
please  all  and  offend  none,  he  touches  softly  the  glaring  sius  of  the 
day,  skips  over  the  rough  passages  of  the  Bible,  and  tones  down  the 
thunders  of  the  law  to  a  gentle  whisper.  Of  course  there  are  no 
revivals  in  that  congregation.  They  are  so  highly  "cultured"  that  a 
hearty  amen  would  startle  preacher  and  people,  and  the  earnest  cry  of 
a  soul  for  pardon  would  be  a  shocking  disorder. 

The  great  mass  of  mankind  are,  and  always  will  be,  plain,  common 
people.  They  live  by  their  daily  toil,  and  are  daily  covered  with  the 
dust  of  the  field  and  shop.  They  do  not  want  or  need  learned  sermons ; 
they  care  very  little  for  refined  distinctions,  elegant  passages,  or 
classical  allusions,  and  take  but  little  interest  in  manuscript  per- 
formances. But  they  have  good  common  sense,  and  big,  warm  hearts. 
They  want  a  Gospel  that  has  soul  in  it — that  has  life  and  power. 
They  want  a  preacher  whose  heart  is  in  sympathy  with  theirs,  and 
whose  earnest  pleadings  prove  that  he  believes  and  feels  what  he 
preaches.  And  when  the  good  news  enters  and  fills  their  big,  warm 
hearts,  they  are  very  apt  to  let  the  world  know  something  has 
happened.  One  of  their  own  class  can  reach  their  hearts  the  quickest, 
and  is  generally  the  most  successful. 


HON.    J.   W.   F.   white's   ADDRESS.  llo 

The  labonring  classes  are  the  hope  of  the  Church  and  the  world. 
The  workers  of  this  generation  will  be  the  rulers  of  the  next.  The 
poor  of  to-day  will  be  the  rich  of  to-morrow.  The  Church  that  fishes 
for  the  rich  has  entered  upon  its  decline.  The  Church  that  preaches 
the  "  old,  old  story  "  of  the  cross,  and  devotes  all  its  energies  to  re- 
claiming sinners  and  uplifting  the  lower  classes  of  society,  will  be  the 
Church  of  the  future.  It  was  from  the  common  labouring  class  that 
Wesley  obtained  his  lay  preachers.  Men  of  good  sense  and  noble 
impulses,  but  rough,  rugged  sons  of  toil,  like  Nelson  and  Walsh ;  with 
no  theological  teaching  and  no  previous  preparation  but  the  baptism  of 
the  Holy  Ghost,  and  hearts  burning  with  the  love  of  Christ,  they 
went  forth,  working  at  their  trades,  reading  their  Bibles,  praying  and 
preaching  as  they  went,  until  they  shooic  the  British  Isles  with  the 
same  power  that  shook  Jerusalem  on  the  day  of  Pentecost.  "  Hath 
not  God  chosen  the  poor  of  this  world,  rich  in  faith,  and  heirs  of  the 
kingdom  He  hath  j)romised  to  them  that  love  Him '?  '' 

In  many  districts  of  England,  laymen — local  preachers— jjrepared 
the  way  for  Wesley  and  his  regular  heli^ers.  In  some  places  they 
broke  up  the  hard  soil,  planted  the  first  Gospel  seed,  and  reaped  the 
first  fruit  before  Wesley  came.  A  layman,  aroused  to  a  sense  of  duty 
by  a  pious  woman,  preached  the  first  Methodist  sermon  and  organised 
the  first  society  in  America.  In  an  old  rigging  loft  in  New  York, 
before  less  than  a  dozen  souls,  the  Methodist  standard  was  unfurled  in 
the  New  World.  From  that  little  meeting  the  glad  tidings  of  a  free 
and  full  salvation  for  all,  proclaimed  by  Philip  Embury,  and  the  songs 
of  Charles  Wesley,  sung  by  Barbara  Heck,  went  forth,  feeble  at  first, 
but  increasing  in  volume  and  power,  until  now  they  are  heard  in  every 
valley  and  echo  on  every  mountain  of  the  continent.  Local  preachers, 
marching  with  the  tide  of  emigration,  carried  the  good  news  from  the 
Atlantic  to  the  Pacific.  If  the  regular  itinerants  are  the  cavalry  of  the 
Christian  army,  as  an  eloquent  historian  has  said,  local  preachers  are 
the  pioneers  and  scouts.  They  cleared  the  way  through  the  forests, 
reconuoitered  the  enemy's  land,  and  often  fought  the  first  battle  and 
gained  the  first  victory.  When  the  followers  of  Wesley  shall  forget  the 
traditions  of  the  past,  disparage  and  sneer  at  local  preachers,  think 
more  of  building  fine  churches  and  gathering  in  the  fashionable  and 
wealthy  than  of  preaching  the  Gospel  to  the  poor,  the  glory  of 
Methodism  will  have  departed. 

Lay  preachers  are  needed  as  much — yea,  more — in  large  cities  as  in 
the  rural  districts.  Why  has  not  Methodism  made  more  progress  in 
the  cities  ?  I  fear  it  is  because  we  are  becoming  "  too  much  conformed 
to  the  world."  We  build  beautiful  churches,  have  excellent  music, 
dress  well,  and  wish  to  be  considered  very  respectable.  We  are 
settling  down  with  regular  pastors  to  have  a  quiet,  genteel,  good  time. 
The  smoke  of  battle  has  disappeared,  the  hot  firing  has  ceased,  and 
the  stentorian  shouts  of  the  old  warriors  are  heard  no  more.     The 

I 


114       EVANGELICAL  AGENCIES  OF  METHODISM. 

outskirts  are  neglected,  the  thousands  who  daily  and  nightly  congre- 
gate in  drlBking  saloons  and  dens  of  iniquity  have  no  warning,  the 
crowds  of  pleasure-seekers  who  turn  the  Sahbath  into  a  holiday  of 
amusenaent  are  not  disturbed.  A  battalion  of  stalwart,  zealous  local 
preachers,  working  under  the  lead  and  with  the  hearty  co-operation  of 
the  regular  pastors,  would,  in  a  few  years,  effect  a  perfect  revolution 
in  our  cities. 

Local  preachers  are  not  a  separate  order  of  the  ministry.  They  are 
not  priests  or  pastors,  not  ministers  in  the  ordinary  meaning  of  the 
word.  As  a  class  they  are  not  set  apart  to  the  work  of  the  ministry 
and  authorised  to  administer  the  ordinances  of  the  Church.  They 
belong  to  the  laity;  but  are  laymen  approved  and  certified  by  the 
Church  as  fit  persons  to  preach  the  Gospel  publicly.  There  should  be 
no  jealousy  or  conflict,  but  the  most  perfect  harmony  and  hearty  co- 
operation between  them  and  the  regular  ministry.  As  their  helpers  in 
the  general  work,  the  pastors  should  give  them  all  encouragement  and 
assistance.  If  the  lay  brother  lack  wisdom,  instruct  him  ;  if  he  be 
weak,  strengthen  him.  Speak  not  unkindly  of  him  to  the  membership. 
Give  him  something  to  do,  and  hel]p  him  do  it. 

The  lay  preacher  should  be  the  leader  and  exemplar  of  his  society ; 
when  not  absent  on  duty  elsewhere,  he  should  be  active  in  the  Sabbath- 
school  and  always  present  at  the  prayer-meeting  and  class-meeting. 
He  should  be  always  on  duty  ;  ever  ready  to  answer  a  call,  or  meet  an 
emergency,  or  drop  a  word  in  season  to  his  associates.  He  should  not 
aim  to  preach  big  sermons,  or  be  ambitious  to  occupy  the  pulpit  of  the 
pastor.  His  only  ambition  should  be  to  win  souls  to  Christ.  If  he 
must  work  without  pay,  and  find  himself,  he  has  this  consolation,  that, 
if  faithful  to  his  trust,  there  is  a  reward — the  joyous  consciousness  of 
working  for  the  Master  here,  with  the  hope  of  a  starry  crown  hereafter. 

If  local  preachers  have  not  now  the  influence  they  had  in  the  early 
days  of  Methodism  it  is  because  the  Wesleyan  test  has  not  been  rigidly 
applied  in  granting  licenses:  have  they  "grace,  gifts,  and  fruits"? 
The  old  rule  was  a  good  one  ;  first,  try  them  as  exhorters,  and,  if 
found  worthy  and  efiicient,  then  license  them  as  local  preachers.  If 
the  local  ranks  are  crowded  with  unfit  persons,  thin  them  out,  and 
recruit  from  the  most  worthy  of  the  laity.  Grant  no  license  to  gi'atify 
a  weak  brother  or  please  his  friends.  Lift  tip  the  standard ;  elevate 
the  class  to  a  higher  plane  of  -power  and  usefulness.  The  Church 
should  select  its  best  laymen  in  the  various  vocations  of  life, — jjro- 
fessional  men,  merchants,  bankers,  mechanics,  common  labourers, — 
pray  until  they  are  filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  then  thrust  them 
out  into  the  field.     Do  that,  and  grand  results  will  follow. 

W.  S.  Allen,  M.P.  (Wesleyan),  said:  Lay  i^reachers  are  essential  to 
the  prosperity  df  Methodism.  They  have  materially  helped  to  make 
Methodism  what  she  is  now.    Methodism  might  have  existed,  but  she 


W.    S.    ALLEN'S   ADDRESS.  115 

could  certainly  never  have  extencletl  as  she  hns  done,  but  for  their 
assistance.  They  have  done  much  to  build  up  those  f^reat  and  flourish- 
ing Churches  which  are  doing  so  much  for  the  rehgion  of  England, 
America,  and  the  world.  Lay  preachers  have  enabled  Methodism  to 
take  hold  of,  and  influence  for  good,  the  small  villages  and  thinly- 
populated  districts  of  England  and  America,  and  also  to  evangelise  the 
masses  of  our  great  towns  and  cities.  A  country  circuit  with  its  fifteen 
or  twenty  village  chapels,  and  its  two  travelling  ministers,  could  not 
possibly  be  worked  without  their  assistance ;  and  it  would  be  likewise 
impracticable  to  work  a  town  circuit,  with  its  two  or  three  large 
chapels,  and  its  four  or  five  smaller  ones,  and  its  mission-rooms  as  well, 
without  their  help.  Lay  preachers  are  therefore  absolutely  necessary 
to  Methodism,  as  the  great  Methodist  Churches  could  not  possibly  have 
grown  to  their  present  magnificent  dimensions  without  them  ;  and  they 
may  be  said  to  be  absolutely  essential  to  her  very  existence  as  an 
aggressive  Church.  But,  notwithstanding  this,  there  is  unquestionably 
a  tendency  in  some  quarters  to  undervalue  and  disparage  lay  preachers 
and  the  work  they  do.  Nothing  is  more  common  than  to  hear  the  ex- 
pression uttered  in  a  sort  of  half -contemptuous  manner,  "  Oh,  it's  only 
a  local  preacher  to-day  1 "  Now  I  must  stand  up  for  my  order.  I  know 
no  men  more  deserving  of  praise  than  thousands  of  hard-working  men 
who,  either  as  farm  labourers  or  artisans,  have  to  toil  hard  at  their 
various  callings  six  days  in  the  week,  who  have  to  prepare  their  ser- 
mons under  great  diflBculties  at  night  with  their  children  playing  around 
them,  who  have  few  books,  and  scarcely  any  time  for  study,  and  yet 
Sunday  after  Sunday  these  men  walk  miles  to  preach  the  Gospel 
without  pay  or  reward.  All  honour  to  such  men  1  They  have  made 
Methodism.  Their  record  is  on  high,  written  in  characters  that  shall 
never  fade  in  the  great  books  of  God,  which  shall  be  opened  on  that 
day  when  all  human  actions  shall  be  weighed  in  the  balances  of 
infinite  justice.  There  have  been  various  schemes  brought  forward 
at  different  times  for  impro'ving  us  and  rendering  us  more  efficient. 
Allow  me  in  all  humility  to  say,  "Let  ns  alone."  We  are  plain, 
homely,  and  unlettered  men,  so  don't  harass  us  with  examinations  and 
courses  of  study,  but  "  Let  us  alone."  Take  what  care  you  like  thaf. 
none  but  suitable  men  enter  our  ranks.  Take»also  what  care  you  like 
that  none  but  men  of  piety  and  men  who  are  sound  in  the  faith  shall 
be  retained,  but  having  done  this,  "  Let  us  alone."  But  though  in  all 
humility  we  may  ask  to  be  let  alone,  the  question  must  press  home  to 
the  heart  of  every  lay  preacher,  "  How  may  I  succeed  in  my  work  i 
How  may  I  become  a  soul-saving  man?"  I  think  one  important 
requisite  is,  that  we  should  keep  humble  and  keep  to  our  own  peculiar 
work.  Let  us  remember  that  we  are  only  plain  and  simple  laymen, 
who  can  just  tell  in  the  market  language  the  grand  old  story  of  the  cross. 
And  as  a  rule  I  don't  think  we  should  seek  to  preach  in  the  pulpits 
of  our  large  chapels ;  let  us  be  content  to  stand  up  in  the  srcaller 

I2 


116  EVANGELICAL   AGENCIES   OF   METHODISM. 

chapels  and  mission -balls  of  our  great  towns,  and  in  the  chapels  of  cut 
country  villages,  and  in  the  open  air.  Open-air  preaching  has  done 
much  for  Methodism,  and  our  young  men  who  are  healthy  and  strong, 
in  suitable  weather,  cannot  find  a  nobler  sphere  for  theix  labours  than 
preaching  in  the  0]ien  air  to  the  crowds  that  will  flock  around  them. 
I  think,  also,  a  second  requisite  of  success  is  to  be  faithful ;  to  preach 
the  Gospel  fully  and  faithfully.  Rowland  Hill  once  said,  "  Some  men 
preach  the  Gospel  as  a  donkey  mumbles  a  thistle,  very  cautiously." 
Let  us  be  faithful.  Let  us  make  the  Saviour  as  precious,  and  heaven 
as  bright,  and  holiness  as  holy,  and  sin  as  black,  and  hell  as  hot,  and 
damnation  as  awful  and  eternal,  as  Christ  and  the  Bible  make  them. 
Another  requisite  of  success  is  earnestness.  Let  us  be  in  earnest. 
•Earnest  men  prosper  in  life,  they  succeed  in  every  branch  of  business, 
and  the  earnest  lay  preacher  will  command  success.  Our  work  is 
important,  terribly  important;  souls  are  perishing  around  us,  the 
harvest  is  white  for  the  sickle.  AVe  Methodists  have  a  glorious  creedf 
a  creed  embodied  in  those  magnificent  lines  : — • 

"  Lord,  I  believe  were  sinners  more 
Than  sands  upon  the  ocean  shore, 
Thou  hast  for  all  a  ransom  paid, 
For  all  a  full  atonement  made." 

But  this  very  creed  involves  us  in  vast  responsibility,  because  on 
our  earnestness  and  our  faithfulness  the  salvation  of  our  fellow-men 
very  much  depends.  Another  grand  secret  of  success  I  believe  to  be 
prayer — intense,  pleading,  wresthng,  prevailing  prayer.  I  read  the 
lives  of  the  great  soul- winners  of  that  branch  of  Methodism  to  which 
I  belong,  and  I  find  they  were  all  men  of  ceaseless,  prevailing  prayer. 
I  read  of  William  Bramwell  rising  very  early  and  spending  hours  on 
his  knees,  and  coming  down  to  breakfast  with  his  hair  all  wet  with 
perspiration  from  his  intense  pleading  with  God.  I  read  of  John 
Smith  prostrate  on  his  study  floor  for  hours  at  a  time,  in  an  agony  of 
prayer,  pleading  for  souls,  while  his  sobs  and  his  groans  rang  through 
the  house,  I  read  of  Edward  Brooke,  wild  and  eccentric  it  is  true,  yet 
rising  at  four  in  the  morning  and  spending  hours  in  prayer  ;  and  when 
I  look  at  the  results  of  these  men's  labours,  I  find  that  each  of  them 
led  thousands  to  Christ,  and  from  the  story  of  their  lives  I  learn  the 
lesson  that  intense  prayer  is  necessary  for  success  in  our  work.  But, 
above  all,  I  believe  the  grand  requisite  for  every  lay  preacher  is  to  be 
baptised  with  the  Holy  Ghost  and  with  power.  I  believe  in  a  distinct 
and  definite  blessing  of  power  from  on  high — power  to  win  souls  for 
Christ ;  a  distinct  and  definite  blessing  only  given,  but  always  given, 
in  answer  to  the  wrestling  prayer  of  intense  desire  and  prevailing 
faith.  And  oh  !  what  a  priceless  blessing  is  this — power  to  win  souls 
for  Christ !  Wealth  and  rank,  and  earthly  fame  and  earthly  honour, 
seem  to  me  but  as  dust  in  tlie  balance,  lighter  than  the  feather  that 


GENERAL   REMARKS.  117 

floats  in  tlie  sunbeam,  in  comparison  with  this  priceless  gift.  Clothed 
with  this  power  I  see  a  plain  farm  labourer  become  one  of  the  grandest 
lay  preachers  England  has  ever  seen,  and  toihng  on  for  more  than 
thirty  years  he  leads  thousands  to  Jesus.  I  see  also  a  poor  fisherman, 
homely  and  unlettered,  and  wherever  he  goes  revivals  of  )'eligion  break 
out,  and  scores  are  converted.  I  see  also  a  young  man  engaged  in 
business,  yet  endued  with  such  power  from  on  high,  that  the  hand 
of  God  is  with  him  wherever  he  goes,  and  hundreds  are  brought  to 
Christ.  And  the  success  of  these  men  teaches  me  the  absolute 
necessity  of  being  baptised  with  power  from  on  high.  My  brother 
lay  preachers,  let  us  be  soul-saving  men.  We  may  be  ;  let  us  resolve, 
by  God's  help,  we  will  be.  Nothing  else  will  pay  for  eternity.  Let 
our  motto  be — Souls  for  Christ !  souls  for  Christ !  Let  us  preach  with 
all  the  terrible  earnestness  of  those  who  feel  they  are  standing  up 
before  immortal  men  whose  eternal  destinies  are  trembling  in  the 
balance.  Let  us  plead  with  intense  desire  and  prevailing  faith  for  the 
gift  of  spiritual  power,  and  we  shall  succeed.  Grand  wdl  be  the  victory, 
glorious  the  harvest,  countless  the  sheaves,  vast  the  reward,  bright 
the  crown,  and  joyful  the  welcome  whea  the  great  Master  shall  say, 
"  Well  done,  good  and  faithful  servant ;  enter  thou  into  the  joy  of  thy 
Lord  I " 

Rev.  W.  H.  Kincaid,  M.A.  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church) :  Mr.  President, 
Avill  you  allow  me  to  call  attention  to  one  phase  of  the  qnestion,  so  ably 
presented  by  Judge  White  and  the  Hon.  Mr.  Allen,  in  a  condensed  state- 
ment, rather  than  in  an  extempore  address.  Whilst  the  past  history  of 
local  preachers  is  beyond  peradventure  in  the  New  World,  no  brighter 
pages  in  the  history  of  Methodism  are  found  than  in  the  record  of  the  work 
of  Philip  Embury,  Robert  Strawbridge,  and  Thomas  Webb.  The  problem 
of  the  present  and  future  is  the  question  of  the  hour,  and  is  yet  to  be  solved, 
especially  by  those  branches  of  the  Methodist  family  of  an  Episcopal 
form  of  Government.  Not  the  order  itself  ;  it  is  one  of  the  essential  and 
cardinal  features  of  Episcopal  Methodists — namely,  episcopacy,  presiding 
eldership,  travelling  and  local  preachers.  Strike  down  either,  and  the  unity 
of  the  system  is  destroyed.  The  question,  then,  is  how  best  to  elevate  and 
utilise  this  great  force  of  workers  for  the  advancement  of  Methodism. 
With  the  abandonment  of  the  circuit  system  in  cities  and  reducing  their 
size  in  rural  districts,  to  increase  pastoral  oversight,  the  first  noticeable 
effects  were  to  restrict  the  work  of  local  preachers.  To  meet  this  emergency 
and  create  a  stronger  bond  of  unity  and  fellowship,  the  local  preachers 
formed  the  unique  organisation  of  the  "  National  Association  of  Local 
Preachers  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,"  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century 
ago,  with  that  princely  local  minister,  Rev.  Thomas  T.  Tasker,  sen.,  as  its 
first  President,  and  the  speaker  as  Secretary  (who  has  filled  the  position 
over  twenty-two  years),  in  the  city  of  New  York.  The  primary  object  was 
to  enable  local  preachers  from  different  parts  to  become  acquainted  with 
each  other  in  spreading  Scripture  holiness.  But  its  scope  has  been  since 
enlarged — namely,  to  use  all  proper  means  to  elevate  ministerial  ability  and 
prevent  improper  persons  from  being  licensed,  unless  fully  up  to  the 
standard  required  by  the  Discipline.  Whilst  this  class  of  ministers  have 
no  powers  to  legislate,  and  hold  the  strangely  anomalous  position  accorded 
them  of  a  dual  relation,  laymen,  except  that  of  exercising  the  right  to  use 


118  EVANGELICAL  AGENCIES   OF   METHODISM. 

their  gifts,  by  preaching  and  performing  certain  ministerial  functions, 
if  ordained,  yet  they  may  and  have  the  right,  like  as  in  other  organised 
efforts  not  specially  recognised  by  tlie  Discipline,  to  use  all  legitimate 
means  for  their  improvement  and  better  methods  of  work.  This  Associa- 
tion meets  yearly,  and  will  hold  its  twenty-third  annual  meeting  next 
month  in  Washington  City,  D.C.,  the  vvidelj'-known  and  excellent  Rev. 
Isaac  P.  Cook,  D.D.,  presiding.  Its  nominal  membership  is  large,  and 
embraces  the  territory  of  numerous  Annual  Conferences  :  the  attendance 
yearly  is  from  one  to  two  hundred.  It  is  representative,  and  delegates  are 
elected  by  Conference,  District,  and  City  Associations,  and  wherever  none 
exist  an  accredited  local  preacher  may  be  constituted  a  member  for  the 
session.  This  body  holds  much  the  same  relation  to  local  preachers 
generally  as  a  national  medical,  scientific,  and  kindred  organisations  of  a 
national  cliaracter,  which,  while  not  authorised  to  speak  for  the  great  body 
of  local  preachers  they  represent,  nevertheless,  it  is  representative  in  its 
action,  and  their  carefully  prepared  papers  are  regarded  and  recognised  to 
the  same  extent  as  other  national  bodies  are  respected,  and  have  a  similar 
efEect  upon  them.  No  one  can  dispute  their  right  to  hold  such  meetings,  in 
or  out  of  the  Church,  so  long  as  they  do  not  encroach  upon  the  rights  of 
others.  This  body  of  uncompensated  workers,  at  the  loss  of  valuable 
time  from  their  professions  and  avocations  in  life,  and  at  considerable 
expense  to  themselves,  and  by  paying  all  necessary  expenditures  at  these 
meetings,  assemble  yearly  to  brighten  the  links  of  unity,  and  to  use  further 
efforts  to  render  their  labours  more  systematic  and  effective,  and  also  in 
elevating  the  standard  of  qualifications  for  the  pulpit.  The  evidence  of 
success  is  well  assured,  and  through  this  organisation  much  good  has  been 
done,  especially  in  certain  cities  and  rural  districts,  by  the  enlargement  of 
the  work  and  otherwise.  Steps  have  been  taken  through  the  law-making 
body  of  the  Church,  and  those  empowered  in  executing  the  same,  for  the 
general  good  of  local  preachers,  with  substantial  results  ;  it  carefully  guards 
their  interests  in  every  form.  It  is  unnecessary  to  give  details.  The 
Association  is  not  insensible  to  the  lack  of  work  which  should  be  assigned 
them,  and  specifically  enjoined  upon  chief  pastors  "  to  provide  for  local 
preachers,"  and  to  remove  the  barriers  now  restricting  them  in  their  work. 
This  matter  is  receiving  attention,  and  the  near  future  may  develop 
practical  results.  Among  the  unfortunate  eft'ects  arising  from  the  strange 
spirit  prevalent  in  cities,  especially  in  regard  to  this  class  of  preachers,  is 
the  forcing  of  a  countless  number  of  young  men,  who  feel  impressed  with 
the  duty  to  preach,  and  yet  do  not  see  their  way  open  to  enter  fully  into 
the  ministry,  to  decline  becoming  local  preachers.  With  these  hindrances 
they  frequently  enter  upon  some  outside  mission  work,  or  become  active  in 
the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association.  The  result  is,  the  Church  loses 
their  services,  and  in  some  instances  they  wander  away  into  other  denomina- 
tions. In  some  large  cities,  where  our  Church  fails  to  utilise  the  services 
of  local  preachers,  they  are  doing  a  grand  work  in  public  institutions 
instead  of  for  the  Church,  and  other  denominations  are  glad  to  call  upon 
them  for  supplies.  Their  work  is  reflecting  upon  the  Church  in  this  way 
for  not  utilising  their  services,  and  in  time  the  Church  will  be  aroused  and 
discover  its  great  loss.  There  is  a  future  for  local  preachers  and  a  bright 
history  in  the  past  as  well.  Among  the  plans  for  the  future  is  not  only  to 
press  with  persistent  energy  every  means  that  will  elevate,  elevate, 
BLEVATE  the  standard  of  culture  and  ability,  until  local  preachers  are 
thoroughly  prepared  to  command  access  to  any  pulpit  in  the  Church,  but 
also  strive  to  inspire  every  young  man  impressed  with  the  duty  to  preach 
and  exhort  to  do  so  with  the  official  sanction  of  the  Church,  instead  of 
labouring  for  irresponsible  and  outside  organisations  ;  and  thus  be  not 
only  a  recruiting  field  to  supply  candidates  for  the  travelling  connexion, 


GENERAL   REMARKS.  118 

but  supply  young  men  to  take  the  place  of  old  veterans  in  the  local  ranks 
as  well. 

Mr.  S.  D.  Waddy,  Q.  C.  (British  Wesleyan):  The  fear  in  discussing  this 
question  is  lest  we  Bhonld  allow  anything  like  jealousy  or  rivalry  to  creep  in 
between  the  two  branches,  as  they  now  are,  of  our  ministers.     It  ought  not  to 
exist ;  but  if  it  does  exist  in  anybody's  mind,  it  is  not  at  all  likely  to  exist  in 
mine.     My  grandfather  was  a  Methodist  itinerant  preacher,  my  uncle  is  one, 
my  brother  is  one,  my  father  does  not  need  that  marble  to  tell  his  tale,  and 
my  emotions  and  passions,  therefore,  are  in  favour  of  the  regular  ministry, 
by  which  I  mean  the  itinerant  ministry.     But  I  have  been  a  local  preacher 
thirty-three  years,  and  by  the  mercy  of  God  tAvo  of  my  sons  are  "on  the 
plan,"  and  therefore  I  stand  by  my  order  when  I  say  that  my  emotions 
are  also  in   favour   of  the   regular  ministry,   by  which  I  mean  the  local 
ministry.      We    ought    to    have     no    jealousy,    but    I    feel    a    difficulty 
about  the  title  of  the  subject  of  debate.      Our  friends  have  been  talking 
about  local  preachers.      That  is  not  the   question.      The  subject  as   it  is 
specified  here   (in  the   official   programme)   is  "lay  preachers."      Now,  in 
one  sense  all  our  preachers  are  lay  preachers.     Until  the  year  1822,  when 
somebody  chose  to  alter  that  tablet  to  the  memory  of  John  Wesley,  and 
to  substitute  a  new  one,  the  words  that  were  upon  it  were  these — that  "he 
was  a  patron  and  friend  of  the  lay  preachers,  by  whose  aid  he  extended 
the  plan  of  itinerant  preaching."     Somebody,  by  whose  authority  I  do  not 
care  now  to  inquire   (though   I  know   pretty   well),  chose   to    take   away 
the  original  tablet  and  to  substitute  the   present  one  in  which  the   lay 
preachers  are  done  away  with,  and   the  inscription  now  runs   thus — "He 
was  the  chief  promoter  and  pati'on  of  the  plan  of  itinerant  preaching."    In 
the  view  of  Wesley  and  in  the  ''Church"  view  of  us  your  status  is  still 
the  same.      You  doctors  of  divinity  who  wear  your  titles  so  honourably  and 
so  well — for  you  are  as  truly  divines  as  the  men  of  any  Church  ;  you  doctors 
of  law,  who  get  that  inappropriate  degree  as  I  suspect  because  you  know 
little  law  but  less  divinity  ;    yon  bishops  whom  we  delight  to  receive,  and  to 
honour  ;  you  are  all  lay  preachers  according  to  this  sense  of  the  term — 
not   "  ordained "   according  to   the  notions    of  some  Churches,   but   '*  set 
apart."    And  that  is  the  great  point — we  local  preachers  are  not  in  that 
sense  "  set  apart."     So  some  of  you  try  to  establish  a  distinction  between 
us.     You  afiect  too  much  of  the  uniform  and  the  livery — I  must  be  plain — 
of  other  Churches.     I  venture  to  say  that  what  we  want  now  is  not  that 
more   difference  should   be  made,  but  that  less  difference  should  be  made 
between   the  two.      You  say  we  are  poor  preachers  ;   we  do  not  enjoy  a 
monopoly  of  that.     I  have  met  with  a   poor  preacher  elsewhere  as  well 
as  amongst  local  preachers.     I  do  not  deny  his  existence  ;  I  would  to  God 
he  were  done  away  with.     Do  away  with  him — amongst  us,  I  mean  ;  make 
us  all  supernumeraries  till  we  pass  through  the  mill  again.      I  am  ready 
to  be  examined  to-morrow,  and  I  am  quite  prepared  to  say  that  those  local 
preachers  who  are  not  fit  to  take  their  place  in  any  pulpit  are  not  fit  to  be 
local  preachers.     I  do  not  at  all  believe  in  the  exclusive  notion  of  brother 
Allen's.     Send  local  preachers  to  mission-halls,  certainly;  but  send  travel- 
Hng  preachers  too  ;  send  local  preachers  to  commons  by  all  means,  but  send 
also  the  travelling  preachers ;  let  there  be  fair  play,  equal  work,  equal  rank, 
equal  call  in  the  sight  of  God  Almighty.     And  if  you  say  we  are  poor 
preachers,  educate  us  better.     Lay  hold  upon  our  most   cultivated  men. 
There  are  some  almost  within  the  reach  of  my  arm  at  this  moment,  men 
of  the  verj'  best  class  of  society  in  tliis  country.     Lay  hold  of  the  mer- 
chants and   professional   men — men   who    can   make    capital   speeches   on 
political  subjects  if  they  like,  professional  men  who  are  admirable  speakers. 
Why  do  not  you,  young  brethren,  and  some  old  ones,  consecrate  your  work 
to  God,  and  go  and   preach  ?     There   is   plenty  of  room   and  work   for 


120  EVANGELICAL   AGENCIES   OF  METHODISM, 

you.     I  sliould  like  to  say  a  great  deal  more,  but  if  I   do  the  bell  will 
rincf. 

Rev.  J.Watsford,  (Australia  Methodist):  I  think  our  people  generally 
recognise  the  importance  of  the  ministry,  and  everywhere  they  value  the 
work  of  the  local  preacher.  There  the  local  preachers  are  not  opposed  to 
the  ministers,  they  do  not  wish  to  take  the  place  of  the  ministers,  and  the 
ministers  do  not  despise  the  local  preachers.  The  two  are  working  together, 
and  we  think  any  man  who  would  try  to  set  one  against  the  other  is  not  a 
friend  of  Methodism.  We  believe  the  two  together  can  do  the  work  that 
the  one  cannot  do  without  the  other,  and  that  the  two  together  ought  to  do 
a  W'ork  that  in  our  days  is  being  done  by  some  other  people.  I  have  no 
faitli,  and  I  am  sure  the  people  among  wdiom  I  live  generally  have  no 
faith,  in  always  depending  on  special  men.  I  believe  in  special  men, 
men  raised  up  by  God  to  do  some  great  work  ;  but  I  do  not  believe  in 
any  Church  or  circuit  always  depending  upon  these  special  men  for  the 
revival  work.  A  great  evangelistic  association  in  my  country  wrote  to 
Mr.  Moody,  asking  him  to  come  to  Australia,  and  Mr.  Moody  wrote  back  to 
say  that  he  could  not  come  ;  and  at  our  meeting  I  said  to  my  brethren, 
"  What  a  pity  it  was  that  you  did  not  ask  the  Holy  Spirit  to  come  ;  He 
would  never  say  He  could  not  come,  and  He  would  work  by  the  instru- 
mentalities among  us  as  well  as  by  Moody  and  Sankey,  or  anybody  else." 
I  believe  that  a  grand  mistake  is  being  made  by  our  people  with  reference 
to  this  very  matter,  praying  specially  for  special  men,  and  neglecting 
prayer  for  the  ministers  and  local  preachers  labouring  among  them.  I  will 
give  you  one  case.  We  had  a  very  excellent  man,  an  evangelist,  about  to 
go  into  a  circuit  to  labour  there.  Special  prayer-meetings  were  held  for  a 
month.  The  new  minister  for  the  circuit  was  going  there  at  the  same 
time.  It  transpired  that  the  evangelist  could  not  go,  and  all  the  special 
prayer-meetings  were  abandoned.  Tln/re  was  no  need,  they  thought,  to 
pray  for  the  minister  or  the  local  preacher.  They  could  only  pray  for  some 
special  man  that  was  coming  to  work  among  them.  I  say  this  is  one 
source  of  our  weakness  to-day.  We  are  looking  away  from  the  blessed 
Spirit,  and  are  looking  to  men.  Whenever  the  day  comes  when  we  recog- 
nise more  the  power  and  work  of  the  Holy  Ghost  among  us  in  connection 
with  the  instrumentalities  we  have,  we  shall  have  a  revival  of  religion  the 
like  of  which  we  have  not  had  before. 

Rev.  J.  Travis  (Primitive  Methodist)  said  :  I  think,  Mr.  President,  that 
this  debate  is  going  on  the  assumption  that  lay  preaching  is  the  invention 
of  Methodism.  It  is  nothing  of  the  kind.  Methodism  organised  it  as  no 
other  section  of  the  Church  liad  done  before  ;  but  the  fact  is,  that  the  lay 
ministry  is  older  than  what  is  called  the  regular  ministry.  The  old 
patriarchal  fathers  were  lay  preachers,  and  Noah  was  a  ship  carpenter,  and 
yet  he  was  a  preacher  of  righteousness.  Solomon,  too,  offered  the  conse- 
cration prayer  at  the  dedication  of  the  Temple  ;  and  then  we  have  as  much 
apostolic  authority  for  the  employment  of  lay  preaching  as  we  have  for 
any  other  kind  of  preaching.  If  you  read  history,  you  find  that  the 
Church — at  least  in  its  purest  times— has  recognised  the  importance  of  lay 
preaching.  What  a  grand  work  they  did  in  the  Puritan  revival !  i  think 
myself,  in  some  remarks  that  have  been  made,  we  have  been  putting  the 
lay  preacher  a  little  bit  too  low.  The  only  difference  I  recognise  is  this, 
that,  as  a  travelling  preacher,  I  have  to  give  all  my  time  and  energies 
to  this  work.  The  lay  preacher  preaches  as  he  has  time  and  opportunity,  in 
addition  to  attending  to  ,his  secular  work.  We  are  both  called  as  regular 
preachers  ;  we  are  both  I'ay  preachers  of  the  Gospel ;  and,  in  some  periods 
of  their  history,  you  will  find  that  local  preachers  actually  did  administer 
the  sacraments.  If  they  had  not  done  so  in  the  backwoods  of  America, 
the  sacraments  never  would  have  been  administered  on  many  occasions. 


GENERAL   REMARKS.  121 

I  contend  that,  in  proportion  to  the  p;rowth  of  Methodism,  we  are  not 
keepin.i;-  pace  in  the  number  of  our  local  preachers.  I  question  whether 
Methodism  as  a  whole  to-day  has  as  many  local  preachers  as  it  had  ten 
years  ago.  Have  not  we  during  the  last  few  years  been  complaining  of 
diminution  or  small  increase  ?  Has  the  lack  of  local  preachers  nothing  to 
do  with  this  ?  I  think  we  want  local  preachers  in  our  best  pulpits,  in  order 
that  the  people  may  see  what  view  men  engaged  in  secular  callings  take  of 
their  duties.  The  non-employment  of  local  preachers  is  not  caused  by 
there  being  nothing  for  them  to  do,  for  there  are  some  large  towns  in 
England  that  have  not  a  bit  of  Methodist  agency.  Then,  again,  if  our 
local  preachers  continue  to  decline,  where  will  our  travelling  preachers  be 
in  a  few  years  ?  Other  Churches  are  doing  the  work  that  God  called 
Methodism  to  do  ;  and,  if  we  do  not  mind,  Ichabod  will  in  some  respects 
be  written  on  our  churches.  Why  cannot  we  do  work  that  a  certain  organi- 
sation is  doing  ?  Why  has  that  organisation  come  into  existence  ?  It  is 
because  the  Methodist  Churches  of  this  country  have  not  attended  to 
open-air  evangelisation  as  they  ought  to  have  done. 

Mr.  Snape  (United  Methodist)  :  I  wish  to  make  one  dissenting  remark 
on  a  paragraph  in  Mr.  White's  paper  with  reference  to  the  non-authorisa- 
tion of  local  preacliers  to  administer  the  sacraments.  I  pass  it  by  with 
the  simple  remark  that  I  find  no  warrant  for  such  a  statement  in  the  Scrip- 
tures. I  then  wish  to  call  attention  to  what  seems  to  me  the  practical 
aspect  of  this  question.  It  has  been  forced  of  late  on  my  mind  that  our 
local  preachers  in  the  Methodist  system  are  being  rapidly  outrun  by  the 
local  preachers  in  some  other  Church  systems.  The  Baptists  in  the  city 
from  which  I  come  have  many,  and  they  number  some  of  the  men  best 
known  in  the  city,  in  the  mart,  and  the  exchange ;  and  I  think  it  is  time, 
with  reference  to  our  own  local  preacliers,  that  a  call  should  be  made  on 
the  best  men  the  Churches  can  produce  to  occupy  our  pulpits.  I  can- 
not sj'mpathise  with  Mr.  Allen's  remark  that  a  stigina  and  reproach  are 
cast  on  the  local  preacher  system.  The  unwillingness  of  our  people  to 
hear  local  preachers  means  really  the  incapacity  of  the  local  preachers  to 
meet  the  wants  of  the  time.  Whilst  Methodism  appears  to  have  been 
progressing  rapidly,  I  very  much  fear  that  the  method  of  our  lay  preach- 
ing has  not  progressed  in  a  like  ratio.  We  therefore  need  to  have  the 
cultured  intellects  of  the  Church.  I  think  Mr.  White  will  admit  that  those 
intellects,  sanctified  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  and  glowing  with  the  love  of 
Christ,  can  descend  to  congregations  of  the  very  poorest  character,  and 
preach  to  them  with  eifect.  We  ought,  therefore,  to  call  upon  our  local 
preachers  to  rise  to  the  emergency,  not  always  seeking  to  preach  in  the 
big  chapels,  but  remembering  how  the  ILaster  went  out  to  preach ;  and 
when  they  are  called  to  the  country  meeting  and  smaller  chapels,  let  them 
preach  their  best  as  if  they  were  preaching  to  the  largest  congregations. 

Mr.  E.  Lumby  (Methodist  New  Connexion) :  We  are  not  here  to 
justify  or  argue  ourselves  into  a  justification  of  lay  operations  in  our 
Churches.  If  I  understand  anything,  Mr.  President  and  brethren,  of  the 
Avorking  of  the  Methodist  Connexions  of  this  country  and  of  the  new 
country  across  the  water — ^for  it  is  new  comparatively,  yet  it  has  many 
glorious  and  now  fast-ageing  associations  that  make  us  glory  in  it  as  we 
glory  in  our  old  land — I  think  the  fact  that  there  are  existing  in  the 
Methodist  world  eighty -four  thousand  local  preachers,  eighty -four  tliousand 
men  that  are  standing,  not  as  regularly  appointed  ministers,  but  as  men 
whom  God  has  called  out  to  preach  the  Word  of  Life,  and  they  have 
become  recognised  preachers  of  the  everlasting  Gospel,  and  thousantls  and 
tens  of  thousands  of  souls  that  are  now  in  heaven,  and  thousands  and  tens 
of  thousands  of  souls  that  are  yet  traversing  this  earth,  and  are  doing  in 
their  own  way  and  measure  of  ability  what  they  can  to  forward  the  work 


122  EVANGELICAL   AGENCIES  OF   METHODISM. 

of  God  in  tlie  world,  are  the  fruits  of  the  work  of  the  local  ministry — that 
fact,  I  think,  is  a  sufficient  justification  for  the  existence  of  the  system, 
and  should  make  us  cling  and  cleave  to  it,  and  never  subordinate  it  to  any 
instrumentality  in  the  world.  Those  Avho  know  me  know  well  how  I 
honour  the  itinerants  ;  they  know  well  how  they  are  my  choicest  friends, 
but  they,  every  one  of  them,  I  am  sure,  from  conversations  oft  repeated, 
hold  in  the  same  honour  and  in  due  measure  and  degree  the  work  of  the 
laity,  and  the  work  of  the  local  preacher,  especially,  is  honoured  amongst 
them.  As  a  local  preacher  of  forty  years'  standing,  I  think  I  may  say  the 
work  of  the  Lord  has  not  been  in  A'ain  in  our  hands  ;  and  therefore  we 
need  not  stand  here  this  morning  to  justify  the  existence  of  this  agency, 
to  cry  for  its  perpetuation,  or  to  assert  in  any  sense  its  proper  position  in 
relation  to  our  itinerant  brethren.  All  honour  to  them !  let  them  take  the 
lead  ;  but  still  let  us  cling  to  these  agencies,  without  which  many  parts  of 
the  country  would  never  be  reached,  many  villages  would  be  destitute,  and 
thousands  of  souls  that  are  now  in  glory,  or  on  their  way  to  glory,  would 
have  never  found  the  way  of  life. 


One  o'clock  having  arrived,  the  discussion  terminated. 

Eev.  J.  Bond  (Secretary)  read  a  letter  from  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association,  placing  their  rooms  at  Exeter  Hall,  Aldersgate 
Street,  and  King  William  Street,  entirely  at  the  disposal  of  the 
delegates  during  their  stay  in  London. 

The  Eeport  of  the  Business  Committee  was  then  read.  It  recom- 
mended that  the  whole  of  the  papers  read  should  be  regarded  as  the 
property  of  the  Conference,  and  be  placed  in  the  hands  of  the 
Publication  Committee  to  be  finally  dealt  with  on  the  part  of  the 
Conference.  Various  other  matters  of  detail  were  also  dealt  with 
in  the  report ;  among  them  being  a  recommendation  that  an  extra 
hour  should  be  added  to  the  Afternoon  Session  for  the  purpose  of 
listening  to  personal  testimonies  on  the  subject  of  Sanctification. 

Bishop  M.  Simpson  moved  the  adoption  of  the  report. 

Rev.  Francis  S.  Hoyt,  D.  D.  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church), 
seconded  the  motion. 

Rev.  Dr.  Buckley  said  the  manner  in  which  the  report  had 
been  presented  virtually  tied  the  Conference  so  tightly  that  it  was 
a  question  whether  the  members  would  have  as  much  room  to 
breathe  as  is  essential  to  life.  It  was  true  that  the  report  was 
privileged,  and  therefore  might  be  brought  forward  at  any  time ; 
but  the  committee,  in  the  exercise  of  their  discretion,  had  selected 
a  time  when  it  was  impossible  to  discuss  it.  There  were  several 
things  in  the  report  which  it  appeared  to  him  ought  to  be  discussed. 

The  resolution  was  put  to  the  meeting,  and  lost. 

Rev.  Dr.  George  moved  the  adoption  of  the  latter  part  of  the 
report,  referring  to  the  additional  hour, 


GENERAL   REMARKS.  123 

Rev,  Dr.  Buckley  said  to  transform  the  session  into  a  meetinc: 
for  the  giving  of  personal  testimony  did  not  commend  itself  to  that 
measure  of  common  sense  which  he  was  endowed  with. 

After  some  further  discussion,  a  delegate  suggested  that  the  sub- 
ject should  be  left  until  the  end  of  the  afternoon  meeting,  when,  if 
necessary,  the  suspension  of  the  Standing  Order  might  be  moved. 

The  President  said  that  the  time  for  closing  the  morning's  pro- 
ceedings had  arrived,  and  he  then  pronounced  the  Benediction. 


In  THE  Afternoon  the  Conference  reassembled  at  half-past  two 
o'clock,  Dr.  Stacey  again  occupying  the  chair.  The  Devotional 
Service  Avas  conducted  by  the  Eev.  W.  Wilson,  of  Birmingham. 

Eev.  J.  Bond  again  brought  forward  the  proposal  of  the  Business 
Committee — that  at  the  end  of  the  discussion  on  the  subject  of 
Scriptural  Holiness  there  should  be  narration  of  personal  testimony 
bearing  on  the  subject. 

Rev.  J.  SwANN  Withington  seconded  the  motion. 

Rev.  Dr.  Buckley  :  I  understand  the  motion  to  be  to  con- 
tinue our  exercises  beyond  the  usual  hour  for  the  purpose  of 
listening  to  personal  testimonies  upon  the  subject  of  entire  sanctifi- 
cation.  I  hope  that  the  motion  will  not  prevail.  Let  me,  to  avoid 
misunderstanding,  disavow  all  hostility  to  the  great  Wesleyan 
doctrine  of  holiness — a  doctrine  in  which  I  Avas  trained,  which  my 
ancestors  for  a  hundred  years  have  preached,  and  some  of  them 
have  professed,  I  believe,  without  any  scandal  to  the  cause.  But 
the  question  is,  What  is  a  proper  thing  for  us  to  do,  as  a  body 
consisting  of  representatives  of  Methodist  Churches  in  all  parts  of 
the  Avorld"?  Religious  experience,  Mr.  Wesley  declared,  was  one 
and  indivisible,  the  same  in  kind  from  the  first  dawn  of  religious 
life  to  perfect  love.  As  to  how  love  is  perfected  is  a  matter  of 
doctrine  and  debate ;  but  this  is  a  proposition  to  continue  this 
session  for  the  purpose,  not  of  listening  to  accounts  of  conviction 
and  conversion,  not  of  listening  to  statements  from  the  delegates 
concerning  the  dealings  of  God  with  them  in  the  various  vicissitudes 
and  trials  of  life  through  which  they  may  have  had  to  pass,  not 
to  listen  to  accounts  from  ministers  and  lay  preachers  of  the 
blessing  of  God  upon  their  labours.  If  all  the  forms  and  stages 
of  religious  experience  were  to  be  brought  before  us,  there  might  be 
less  objection.  But  this  is  a  proposition  as  part  of  the  business  of 
this  Q*]cumenical  Council  to  listen  to  personal  testimonies  in  respect 


124-      ■  EVANGELICAL  AGENCIES   OF  METHODISM. 

to  one  phase  of  the  universal  religious  life.     Now,  I  submit,  even  to 
those  who  might  be  supposed  to  be  most  interested  in  this  matter, 
that  is  not  a  wis3  thing  to  do.     Furthermore,  we  all  understand 
that  this  is  a  subject  that  is  most  discussed  in  its  doctrinal  aspects. 
In  our  country  especially  we  have  at  least  three  parties  upon  the 
doctrinal  aspects  of  this  subject ;    these  doctrinal  aspects  are  in- 
separably  interwoven   with    personal    testimonies.      And   it   is   a 
common  thing  with  us  for  persons  to  adduce  personal  testimonies  to 
prove  the  reality  of   certain  specific  statements   of  doctrine,   and 
it  is  not  an  uncommon  thing,  among  us  at  least,  to  find  personal 
testimony  adduced  in  opposition  to  the  plain  teachings   of  John 
Wesley  as  others  understand  them,  in  their  doctrinal  aspects.     If 
this  is  true,  what  can  be  more  unwise  than  an  attempt  to  bring 
these  statements  of  personal  experience  within  the  range  of  the 
regular  transactions  of  a  body  of  this  sort  1    Our  rules  are  extremely 
tight.     All  doctrinal  subjects  have  been  excluded ;  we  cannot  raise 
a  solitary  point  of  doctrine  in  the  discussions  of  this  Council.     In 
our  ordinary  proceedings,  if  an  erroneous  doctrine  is  advanced  by 
any  speakei',  another  speaker  can  rise  and  correct  him,  so  that  the 
general   forthgoings    of  the  body   may  not   misrepresent   its   pre- 
dominant spirit.     But  it  is  proposed  to  continue  this  session — for 
what  1     For  farther  discussion  1     If  that  were  so,  I  Avould  not  rise 
to  object ;  but  it  is  proposed  to  continue  the  session  in  order  to 
give   religious   experience   which    cannot   be   controverted,   which 
cannot  be  discussed  or  analysed,  whatever  bearing  it  may  have  upon 
the  doctrinal  views  which  are  supposed  to  be  its  substratum.     These 
considerations  appear  to  me  to  show  the  folly,  or,  at  least,  the  un- 
wisdom of  comprehending  this  matter  within  the  hour  given  to 
deliberations.     There  is  a  simple  and  unobjectionable  way  of  doing 
it — namely,  to  conclude  the  formal  session  at  the  end  of  the  debate 
according  to  our  rules,  and  then  for  the  President  (if  he  sees  fit)  to 
invite  guests  and  delegates  to  remain  for  a  devotional  meeting,  in 
which  reference  may  be  made  to  this  particular  phase  of  religious 
life. 

Bishop  Hood  said  he  should  like  to  propose,  as  an  amendment, 
"  That  a  meeting  be  held  at  the  close  of  the  session,  as  suggested  by 
Dr.  Buckley." 

Eev.  E.  E.  Jenkins  :  I  am  sure,  if  the  Business  Committee  had 
anticipated  a  discussion  on  this  subject,  it  would  not  have  entered 
into  their  heads  to  bring  it  forward.  The  extraordinary  address  of 
Dr.  Buckley  I  shall  never  forget — the  very  unusual  speech  which  we 


GENERAL   REMARKS.  125 

have  heard  from  a  man  of  whom  we  have  had  very  high  testimony, 
and  whom  I  jDersonally  respect.  It  seemed  to  me  that  the  latter 
part  of  his  speech  answered  the  first — not  an  unusual  thing  in  public 
addresses.  The  proposal  is  that  an  hour  should  be  spent,  after  the 
paper  has  been  read  and  the  address  which  is  to  follow  has  been 
delivered,  in  relating  to  each  other  what  God  has  done  for  our  souls, 
what  faith  in  Christ's  blood  has  accomplished  for  us ;  and  the  state- 
ment that  Methodist  people  cannot  occupy  an  hour  in  personal 
testimony  on  holiness  of  Christian  life  without  points  of  dispute 
arising,  is  a  statement  that  even  in  the  presence  of  the  representa- 
tives from  all  parts  of  the  world  I  cannot  entertain  for  a  moment. 
I  believe  if  the  dear  friend  who  has  objected  to  the  proposal  and  I 
were  to  talk  together,  we  should  be  able  to  tell  each  other  what 
Christ  has  done  for  us  without  any  dispute  whatever  on  doctrinal 
questions.  Doctrine  is  not  worth  much  if  it  cannot  be  illustrated  by 
life.  Dr.  Buckley  has  said,  and  I  agree  with  him,  that  we  are  very 
fast  bound  by  law.  There  is,  I  regret  to  say,  too  much  clockwork 
in  our  proceedings ;  the  discretion  of  the  chair  is  too  limited.  The 
President  of  this  Conference  has  a  difficulty  if  he  wishes  to  extend 
the  hour  of  devotion,  and  there  is  not  enough  prayer  in  the  Confer- 
ence. It  would  be  far  more  conducive  to  the  main  purposes  of  the 
Conference  if  a  little  more  time  were  allowed  for  prayer  and  for 
singing.  I  would  never  have  come  to  the  Conference  if  I  had 
thought  that  my  heart  would  not  be  improved  by  it  as  well  as  my 
own  departmental  work  in  the  ministry.  I  looked  forward  to  it  as 
a  feast  for  my  own  spirit ;  and  when  I  suggested  last  night  that 
there  should  be  a  testimony  meeting  it  was  really  that  I  might  sit  at 
the  feet  of  brethren  who  know  more  of  this  doctrine  experimentally 
than  I  do,  and  learn  something  from  them.  I  want  to  know  what 
is  the  meaning  of  the  prayers  which  anticipated  this  Conference 
months  ago,  that  every  man  of  us — layman  and  minister — might 
during  the  proceedings  he  filled  with  holy  power.  If  it  be  other- 
wise, the  Conference  is  to  me  a  pageantry,  a  mutual  admiration 
society  ;  but  if  every  delegate  learn  ssomething,  and  acquires  more 
power  and  more  love  to  Jesus,  then  the  Conference  will  have 
answered  all  these  expectations  that  we  had  formed  of  it.  I  hope 
the  Conference  will  not  discuss  the  matter  further,  but  that  it  will 
at  once  adopt  the  recommendation. 

The  motion  was  then  put  and  carried. 

Eev.  O.  H.  Tiffany,  D.D.,  raising  a  point  of  order,  inquired 
whether  it  was  competent  for  the  Assembly,  under  the  rules  esta- 


126  EVANGELICAL  AGENCIES   OF   METHODISM. 

blished  for  its  guidance,  to  act  in  accordance  with  the  recommen- 
dation. 

The  President  ruled  that  the  Conference  was  competent  to  do 
so.  After  a  hymn  had  been  sung,  the  Conference  proceeded  to  the 
consideration  of  the  next  topic. 

Rev.  F.  W.  Bourne  (Bible  Christian  Churches  of  Great  Britain), 
then  read  the  following  paper,  entitled  Women  and  their  Work  in 
MetJiodism. 

What  have  they  done?  The  only  possible  answer  is,  Almost  every- 
thing that  men  have  done.  Most  things  they  can  do  as  well  as  men, 
many  things  they  can  do  better,  some  things  they  alone  can  do. 
Dr.  Charles  Stanford  says  : — "  Cardinal  Manning  has  spoken  with 
stately  eloquence  about  the  primacy  of  Peter ;  but  I  think  something 
might  be  said  for  the  primacy  of  Dorcas.  .  .  .  The  lady  of  Joppa 
knew  how  to  make  the  very  needle  evangelical,  and  she  did  such 
beautiful  kindnesses  with  it  for  the  women  and  children,  that  with 
grateful  delight  they  fondly  lingered  on  her  name,  calling  her 
'  Gazelle.'  .  .  .  For  ourselves  we  are,  I  hope,  content  to  take  Florence 
Nightingale's  advice — '  Keep  clear  of  all  jargons  about  man's  work  and 
woman's  work,  and  go  your  way  straight  to  God's  work  in  simplicity 
and  singleness  of  heart,'  each  one  to  do  what  each  one  can  do  best." 
Women  are  not  required,  as  a  rule,  to  lead  the  "  sacramental  host  of 
God's  elect,"  to  launch  the  lifeboat,  or  to  save  the  State ;  and  yet  they 
have  done  each  one  of  these  things,  and  a  thousand  similar  ones,  when 
the  necessity  has  arisen.  Women  have  prophesied,  for  that  the  Word 
of  God  declares ;  they  have  spoken  to  edification,  as  the  famous 
Quakeress  preacheress,  Rebecca  Collier  did,  and  thereby  removed  the 
prejudices  of  the  author  of  the  Essay  on  the  Human  Understanding  to  a 
female  ministry  ;  they  have  visited  prisons  to  the  lasting  spiritual  good 
of  their  unhappy  inmates,  as  did  Elizabeth  Fry.  They  have  proved 
themselves  to  be  the  true  friend  of  the  navvy,  the  soldier,  the  sailor, 
the  outcast,  the  drunkard,  as  the  names  of  Marsh,  and  Daniell,  and 
Robinson,  and  Hopkins,  and  Havergal,  and  others,  "  familiar  in  our 
3uouths  as  household  words,"  will  testify.  And  yet,  speaking  for 
myself,  and  using  again  the  words  of  Dr.  Stanford,  I  would  say, 
"  Some  things  that  women  can  do  right  nobly  at  a  crisis,  are  not 
best  for  them  to  do  when  men  are  to  be  had.  As  a  rule,  I  think  it  is 
not  best  for  women  to  man  a  lifeboat ;  but  we  have  been  told  that  one 
black  night  at  Teignmouth  last  year,  when  the  men  were  all  out  of  the 
way,  or  else  were  not  sharp  enough,  the  women  got  the  lifeboat  out. 
With  shrill,  quivering  cheers  they  carried  it  through  the  battling 
breakers,  dragged  a  vessel  off  the  sandbar,  and  saved  precious  life. 
When  we  hear  that  they  did  all  this  without  any  help  from  the  unfair 
sex,  who  can  help  saying,  '  Well  done  '  ?    I  go  farther,  and  say  that,  as  a 


KEY.   F.   W.   bourne's  ADDRESS.  127 

rule,  in  rny  private  opinion,  it  is  not  best  for  women  to  preach  in  public ; 
but  where  in  exceptional  cases,  and  with  extraordinary  gifts,  women 
like  Mary  Fletcher  and  Priscilla  Gurney  go  out  of  their  way,  and  all  by 
themselves  publicly  launch  the  lifeboat  of  the  Gospel  to  snatch  souls 
from  the  sea  of  sin,  and  from  the  rocks  of  death,  again  I  say,  to  the 
praise  of  grace,  *  Well  done  ! ' " 

But  to  speak  more  particularly  of  the  work  of  women  in  Methodism. 
What  is  it  ?  What  have  they  done  ?  Dr.  Stevens  says  that  "  in  the 
household  of  the  Epworth  rectory  can  be  traced"  the  "real  origin" 
of  Methodism.  •'  An  '  elect  lady  '  there  trained  the  founder  and  legis- 
lator of  Methodism,  and  to  no  inconsiderable  degree,  by  impressing  on 
him  the  traits  of  her  own  extraordinary  character;  and  under  the 
same  nurture  grew  up  by  his  side  its  psalmist,  whose  lyrics  were  to  be 
heard  in  less  than  a  century  wherever  the  English  language  was 
spoken,  and  to  be  '  more  devoutly  committed  to  memory,'  and  '  oftener 
repeated  upon  a  death-bed  '  than  any  other  poems.'  "  •  Isaac  Taylor 
employs  the  stronger  expression,  "  thut  the  mother  of  the  Wesleys 
was  the  mother  of  Methodism."  Of  her  Dr.  Clarke  says,  "  Such  a 
woman,  take  her  for  all  m  all,  I  have  not  heard  of,  I  have  not  read 
of,  nor  with  her  equal  have  I  been  acquainted.  Of  pious,  devoted, 
extraordinary  women,  Susannah  Wesley  must  be  placed  at  the  very 
head,  and  the  most  popular  of  all  Methodist  historians  may  well  ask, 
"Who  can  doubt  that  the  practical  Methodism  of  the  rectory,  more 
than  any  other  human  cause,  produced  the  ecclesiastical  Methodism 
which  to-day  is  spreading  the  Wesleyan  name  around  the  world  ?  It 
received  there  also  much  of  its  thoroughly  spiritual  tone.  Religion 
impressed  the  habitual  life  of  the  familJ^  Susannah  Wesley  was  its 
priestess,  and,  more  than  the  rector  himself,  ministered  to  the  spiritual 
necessities  of  the  household.  During  his  absence  she  even  opened  its 
doors  for  a  sort  of  public  worship,  which  was  conducted  by  herself. 
She  read  sermons,  prayed,  and  conversed  directly  with  the  rustic 
assembly.  Her  husband,  learning  the  fact  by  her  letters,  revolted  as  a 
Churchman  at  its  novelty.  Her  self-defence  is  characteristically 
earnest,  but  submissive  to  his  authority.  *I  chose,'  she  says,  'the 
best  and  most  awakening  sermons  we  had.  Last  Sunday,  I  believe, 
we  had  about  two  hundred  hearers,  and  yet  many  went  away  for  want 
of  room.  AVe  banish  aU  temporal  concerns  from  our  society  ;  none  is 
suffered  to  mingle  any  discourse  about  them  with  our  reading  and 
singing.  We  keep  close  to  the  business  of  the  day,  and  as  soon  as  it  is 
over  they  all  go  home,  and  where  is  the  harm  in  this  ? '  .  .  .  Her 
husband  hesitated  to  approve  or  disapprove  the  extraordinary  pro- 
ceeding. Very  soon  she  assembled  around  her  a  larger  audience  than 
she  had  usually  met  at  the  church  itself.  Some  of  the  leadin" 
parishioners  and  Wesley's  curate  wrote  to  him  against  the  assembly 

*  History  of  Methodism,  Vol.  I.  pp.  16,  17.     Ed.  1878. 


128  EVANGELICAL   AGENCIES   OF  METIIODISil. 

as  a  '  Conventicle.'  Her  reply  is  full  of  good  sense  and  "womanly  feeling. 
She  states  that  the  measure  was  reclaiming  many  of  the  common 
people  from  immorality  ;  that  it  was  filling  up  the  parish  church  ;  that 
some  who  had  not  attended  the  latter  for  years  were  now  seen  there. 
She  prays  him  to  relieve  her  from  the  responsibility  of  ending  these 
useful  serviees  by  assuming  it  himself  as  her  husband  and  pastor.  A 
writer  on  Methodism  justly  remarks  that  when,  in  this  characteristic 
letter,  she  said,  '  Do  not  advise,  but  command  me  to  desist,'  she  was 
bringing  to  its  place  a  corner-stone  of  the  future  Methodism.  In  this 
emphatic  expression  of  a  deep  compound  feeling,  a  powerful,  con- 
scientious impulse,  and  a  fixed  principle  of  submission  to  rightful 
authority,  there  was  condensed  the  very  law  of  lier  son's  course  as  the 
founder  and  legislator  of  a  sect.  This  equipoise  of  forces,  which  if 
they  act  apart,  and  when  not  thus  balanced,  have  brought  to  nothing 
so  many  hopeful  movements,  gave  that  consistency  to  Methodism  to 
which  it  owes  its  permanence." 

The  conduct  of  Mrs.  Wesley,  in  reading  sermons,  praying,  and  con- 
versing  directly  with  the  people,  furnishes  the  example  by  which  her 
sagacious  and  distinguished  son  appears  to  have  regulated  and  deter- 
mined his  own.  In  this,  as  in  so  many  other  instances,  he  happily  and 
providentially  finds  the  "  golden  mean,"  and  throughout  life  his  course 
was  prudent  and  consistent.  There  was  no  reason  why  he  should  change 
his  position,  modify  his  views,  or  alter  his  course.  His  letter  to  one  of 
the  holy  women  of  Methodism,  in  1771,  contains  the  essence  of  all  his 
advice  on  the  subject  of  women  preaching.  "  I  think  the  strength  of 
the  cause  rests  there — on  your  having  an  extraoi-dinary  call.  So,  I  am 
persuaded,  has  every  one  of  our  lay  preachers  ;  otherwise  I  could  not 
countenance  his  preaching  at  all.  It  is  plain  to  me  that  the  whole  work 
of  God  termed  Methodism  is  an  extraordinary  dispensation  of  His  pro- 
vidence. Therefore,  I  do  not  wonder,  if  several  things  occur  therein 
which  do  not  fall  under  the  ordinary  rules  of  discipline.  St.  Paul's 
ordinary  rule  was,  '  I  permit  not  a  woman  to  speak  in  the  congrega- 
tion.' Yet,  in  extraordinary  cases,  he  made  a  few  exceptions ;  at 
Corinth  in  particular."*  The  fact  that  no  woman  was  chosen  "by 
Christ  to  be  apostle — and  I  know  no  reason  to  suppose  that  any  one 
was  included  among  the  seventy,  except  the  difficulty  to  imagine  the 
Saviour  must  have  had  to  find  such  a  number  among  the  other  sex — 
and  such  injunctions  as  "  Let  your  women  keep  silent  in  the  churches, 
for  it  is  not  permitted  them  to  speak,"  and  "  I  suffer  not  a  woman  to 
teach,"  must  be  regarded  as  decisive  against  women  teaching  and 
preaching  except  in  special  circumstances.  There  are,  however,  some 
limitations  and  exceptions.  They  are  to  be  silent,  as  Mr.  Wesley  says 
in  his  Notes  on  the  New  Testament  "  unless  they  are  under  an  extraordi- 
nary impulse  of  the  Spirit,"  when  they  may  both  pray  and  prophesy, 


*  Quoted  in  Tyerman's  Wesley,  Vol.  III.  p.  112. 


REV.   F.   W.   bourne's  ADDHESS.  129 

that  is,  publicly  expound,  provided  they  do  so  with  their  head  covered. 
And  in  favour  of  this  interpretation,  which  does  not  lack  the  authority 
of  great  names,  surely  much  more  can  be  said  than  of  the  vievr  advo- 
cated by  Alford,  Stanley,  and  others,  who  maintain  that  the  apostle 
not  only  forbids  the  uncovered  head  in  these  services,  but  forbids  the 
sei-vice  by  women  at  all.  "  But  why,"  as  the  latest  Methodist  com- 
mentator on  the  New  Testament  inquires,  '*  should  he  forbid  praying 
uncovered,  when  he  condemns  and  prohibits  their  j)raying  at  all  ?  The 
Corinthian  query  clearly  was,  Ought  women  to  have  their  head  uncovered 
in  their  public  prophesying  f  And  St.  Paul's  brief,  plain  answer  should 
have  been.  There  is  to  he  no  women's  piddic praying  and  prophesying  at  all. 
Prohibiting  the  incident,  permits  the  main  thing.  It  assumes  that  if 
the  incident  is  set  right  the  whole  thing  is  right."  By  the  way,  it  is 
not  a  little  singular  that  one  of  the  strongest  opponents  of  women 
preaching,  good  old  John  Trapp,  of  commenting  fame,  should,  on  the 
verse  in  Timothy,  that  a  woman  should  keep  silence,  ask  this  question, 
"  Wliere  should  the  tongue  be  but  in  the  head  ?  "  His  question  irre- 
sistibly suggests  the  remark,  "  And  what  is  it  in  the  head  for  except  to 
speak?"  though  one  can  hardly  imagine  that  he  meant  to  suggest  that 
the  woman  was  always  to  speak  for  the  man. 

The  genius  of  the  Gospel  should  be  considered  in  dealing  with  such 
a  question  as  this.  "  There  is  neither  Jew  nor  Greek,  there  is  neither 
bond  nor  free,  there  is  neither  male  nor  female ;  for  ye  are  all  one  in 
Christ  Jesus."  "  Nevertheless,  neither  is  the  man  without  the  woman, 
neither  the  woman  without  the  man,  in  the  Lord ; "  or,  to  quote  Mr. 
Wesley  again,  "Nevertheless,  in  the  Lord  Jesus  there  is  neither  ruale 
nor  female— neither  is  excluded  ;  neither  is  preferred  before  the  other 
in  His  kingdom." 

Women  must  be  ever  under  obedience  to  their  own  husbands,  but, 
as  Dr.  Whedon  says,  "  When  that  obedience  requires  a  lady  of  talent 
to  lecture  before  an  audience  or  preach  before  a  congregation,  it  may 
be  as  proper  as  it  was  for  Miriam,  in  obedience  to  Moses,  to  prophesy 
before  the  camp  of  Israel."  And  if  every  one  that  heareth  tlie  Gospel 
invitation  is  to  say  "  Come,"  to  forbid  women  to  preach  in  all  circum- 
stances and  on  all  occasions  is  to  violate  both  the  letter  and  sjpirit  of 
Christianity,  and  the  teaching  of  Christ  and  His  apostles. 

At  the  Wesleyan  Conference  of  1803  "it  was  asked,  '  Should  women 
be  allowed  to  preach  among  us  ?  '  The  answer  was  that  in  general 
they  ought  not.  Two  reasons  were  given ;  one  was  that  a  vast 
majority  of  the  people  were  opposed  to  female  i)reaching :  the  other, 
that  it  was  not  necessary,  there  being  a  suflficiency  of  iDreachers,  whom 
God  had  accredited,  to  supply  all  the  places  in  the  Connexion.  '  But,' 
added  the  Minutes,  '  if  any  woman  among  us  thinks  she  has  an 
extraordinary  call  from  God  to  speak  in  public  (and  we  are  sure  it 
must  be  an  extraordinary  call  tliat  can  authorise  it),  we  are  of  opinion 
that  she  should  in  general  address  her  own  sex,  and  those  only.'' " 

K 


130  EVANGELICAL   AGENCIES   OF  METHODISM, 

Dr.  Stevens,  after  quoting  Mr.  Wesley's  letter  of  1771  on  this  subject, 
adds,  "The  example  would  seem  perilous  ;  but  under  proper  regulations 
it  bad  assumed,  in  the  '  Society  of  Friends,'  even  a  graceful  beauty, 
and  was  not  productive  of  extravagances."  *  And  Dr.  Whedon  observes 
that  no  women  in  modern  times  present  more  perfectly  the  ideal  of 
female  modesty  than  the  women  of  that  sect  which  has  always  had  its 
female  preaching  —  The  Friends;  and  in  the  early  history  of  the 
denomination  to  which  I  have  the  honour  to  belong,  a  large  portion  of 
the  good  that  was  effected  was  unquestionably  due  to  their  instrumen- 
tality. Delicately  -  nurtured,  and  in  many  instances  well-educated 
women,  at  what  they  believed  to  be  the  call  of  God,  left  their  comfort- 
able homes  to  become  the  pioneers  of  evangelistic  work,  and  wherever 
they  went  God  magnified  His  sovereign  grace.  And  whatever  defects 
have  defaced  the  lives  of  the  public  teachers  among  us  belonging  to 
the  other  sex,  I  believe  not  one  of  the  sisters  ceased  to  be  a  pattern  of 
purity  and  good  works. 

And  it  should  not  be  forgotten  that  many  who  object  the  most 
strongly  to  this  agency  do  as  strongly  object  to  institutions  and  usages 
such  as  lay  preaching  and  class-meetings,  held  by  us  as  essential  to  our 
Church  work  and  spiritual  life,  and  as  inseparable  therefrom,  and,  in 
fact,  by  persons  who  deny  our  claim  to  be  a  Church  at  all. 

And  yet  the  practice  has  almost  fallen  into  disuse,  and  is  not  likely 
to  be  extensively  revived  unless  there  be  a  revival  of  the  spiritual  life, 
and  even  then,  as  a  rule,  the  chief  work  of  woman,  never  unimportant, 
never  without  influence,  will  be  found  in  the  home  and  in  the  school, 
in  visiting  the  poor,  in  conducting  mothers'  meetings,  in  aiding  the 
temperance  reformation,  in  leading  classes,  in  nursing  the  sick,  in 
collecting  funds  for  missionary  organisations,  and  it  may  be  in  India, 
and  in  some  other  countries,  in  direct  missionary  work  among  the 
female  part  of  the  pojjulation.  And  women  possessing  the  spirit  and 
character  of  those  we  have  mentioned  and  of  many  others  that  we 
might  name^^Ann  Cutler,  Hester  Ann  Rogers,  Lady  Maxwell — are 
always  true  helpers  in  the  Gospel  of  Clirist.  "  It  was  tlirough  the 
instrumentahty  of  Barbara  Heck  that  Embury  and  his  Methodist 
associates  were  led,  in  17G5,  to  resume  in  the  New  World  the  Methodistic 
discipline  and  labours  which  they  had  adopted  in  Ireland."  And  oh ! 
how  marvellous  the  results.  "  Behold,  how  great  a  matter  a  Uttle  fire 
kindleth,"  One  kind  of  work  that  the  women  of  Methodism  have  done 
during  the  last  few  years  may  be  specifically  mentioned  as  a  stimulus 
and  an  incentive  to  those  greater  exertions  in  many  directions  which 
are  so  imperatively  required.  The  Wesleyan  Women's  Foreign  Mis- 
sionary Society,  organised  in  1861,  has  since  that  date  collected  more 
than  ^32,000,  has  eighty  auxiliaries,  and  has  sent  out  fifty-one  ladies, 
employs  twenty  native   agents,  entirely  supports  eighty-one  schools, 

•  Stevens's  History,  Vol.  II.  p.  207. 


KEY.    F.    W.    bourne's   ADDEESS.  131 

and  assists  many  others ;  while  a  similar  organisation  belonging  to 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  the  United  States  has  raised  since 
18G9  nearly  ^140,000,  has  2,350  auxiliaries,  has  sent  out  sixty-one 
ladies,  has  210  native  agents,  supports  and  assists  thirteen  schools, 
three  hospitals  and  ten  dispensaries. 

Oh,  ye  -wives  and  mothers,  daughters  and  sisters  in  all  our  Methodist 
Churches,  "  Come  ye  to  the  help  of  the  Lord,  to  the  help  of  the  Lord 
against  the  mighty!"  Ye  mothers  especially,  our  appeal  is  to  you. 
And  in  your  own  homes  every  one  of  you  may  be  a  "  gentle  Monica," 
and  before  your  children  leave  the  nursery  they  shall  take  their  "  first 
degree."  You  have  only  to  make  your  explanations  of  the  sacred  story 
as  delightful  as  did  the  mother  and  grandmother  of  Timothy  or  Mrs. 
Wesley,  and  sweeten  as  well  as  simplify  the  sacred  truths,  and  there 
will  be  a  succession  of  young  Timothys  in  whom  aged  Pauls  will  delight, 
or  of  evangelists  only  less  successful  than  the  founder  of  Methodism, 
whose  memory  to-day  millions  revere.  So  train  your  daughters  that, 
should  they  become  the  wives  of  ministers  and  missionaries,  they  shall 
lead  classes  with  the  same  success  as  did  Mrs.  Eogers,  on  these  very 
premises,  and  thus  fill  our  sanctuaries  and  increase  our  members,  or 
be  in  our  homes  what  Mary  Moffat  was  in  the  home  of  Livingstone, 
•'  the  best  sisoke  in  the  wheel ;"  or  if  of  our  merchants  that  they  may 
by  their  simple  tastes  and  self-denying  habits  influence  their  husbands  • 
and  consecrate  their  great  wealth  unto  the  work  of  Christ ;  or  of  our 
senators  and  statesmen  that  they  may  exhibit  a  courage  and  a  devo- 
tion and  a  persistent  faith  equal  to  that  heroic  lady  whose  conduct 
during  the  last  few  weeks  has  won  tlie  admiration  of  the  world ;  pray, 
oh,  continually  pray,  as  did  Ann  Cutler,  and  even  such  men  as  Bram- 
well  shall  testify  that  there  is  an  amazing  power  of  God  attending  yonr 
prayers,  and  the  Lord  shall  make  use  of  you  to  promote  genuine  and 
extensive  revival  of  His  work !  Oh,  cherish  and  cultivate  such  rapt, 
constant  communion  with  Jesus  as  did  Mrs.  Fletcher,  and  many  a 
man,  eloquent  as  Apollos,  shall  you  teach  the  way  of  God  more  per- 
fectly; cultivate  the  grace  of  hospitality  and  kindness,  as  did  Mrs. 
Brackenbury,  a  modern  type  of  the  mother  of  John  Mark ;  and  your 
homes  shall  become  the  favourite  resort  of  the  most  gifted,  the  most 
useful,  the  most  laborious  of  Christ's  servants ;  only  speak  of  the  grace 
of  God  with  Christian  sim]5licity,  and  other  John  Buuyans  shall  be 
enlightened  and  saved ;  and,  with  that  sweet,  persuasive  grace  which 
is  all  your  own,  you  only  improve  your  opportunities,  especially  those 
that  are  the  most  private  and  precious,  your  influence  will  be  more 
and  more  widely  felt,  and  the  blessings  that  come  to  others  shall  be 
your  reward. 

♦*  For  what  delights  can  equal  those 
Which  stir  the  spirit" s  inner  deeps, 
"VNTien  one  who  loves,  but  knows  not,  reaps 
A  truth  from  one  who  loves  and  knows? " 
k2 


132  EVANGELICAL   AGENCIES   OF   METHODISM. 

Eev.  C.  H.  Payne,  D.  D.,  LL,  D.  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church),  in 
delivering  the  invited  address,  said :  No  religious  body  ever  honoured 
woman  as    Methodism    has  done,  and    none   ever   enjoyed  so   richly 
the    fruit    of    her    peculiar    endowments.      Scan    the    goodly    temple 
of  Methodism  from  foundation  to  finial,  and  everywhere  you  trace  the 
handiwork  of    woman.      In   estimating  woman's   influence,  we  must 
especially  remember  that  she  is  often  the  inspiration  of  a  work  which 
it  is   not    given    her    directly    to   achieve.     The   virtual    founder   of 
Methodism  on  both  sides  of  the  ocean  was  a  worhan.     Unquestionably, 
Susannah  Wesley  was  the  royal  mother  of  the  whole  royal  family 
of  Methodism.     To  that  obscure  descendant  from  the  refugees  of  the 
Palatinate,  Barbara  Heck,  belongs  the  honour,  under  God,  of  originating 
this  greatest  religious  movement  of  modern  times,  in  the  New  World. 
That  pack  of  cards,  snatched  from  the  Irish  emigrants  and  thrown  by 
her  hands  into  the  fire,  kindled  a  flame  which  has  illuminated  the 
whole  Western  world  and  lighted  a  multitude  to  the  heavenly  country. 
The  first  Methodist  sermon  preached  in  America  was  the  result  of  her 
impassioned  call  in  the  ears  of  Philip  Embury ;  the  first  Methodist 
congregation   assembled   there  was   gathered  by  her   zeal ;   the  first 
Methodist  house  of  worship  erected  was  the  product  of  her  prayers 
and  plans.     Dr.  Edwards,  in  his  able  paper  on  statistics,  truthfully 
and  forcefully  said,  "  There  is  no  gender  in  Christian  work."     It  is, 
however,  true  that  the  quality  and  efficiency  of  Christian  work  are 
often  much  affected  by  the   gender  of   the   worker,  and  it  must  be 
acknowledged  that,   by   virtue   of    woman's   wealth   of    endowments, 
superior  work  usually  comes  from  the  feminine  side  of  humanity.     It 
is  always  difficult  to  trace  resiilts  back  to  their  causes,  to  estimate 
rightly  the  product  of  forces ;  and  the  more  silent  and  undemonstrative 
the  force  the  greater  the  probability  of  under-estimating  its  power. 
Hence  the  world  may  never  know   how  much  it  is  indebted  for  its 
best  thought  and  its  noblest  life  to  those  who  have  never  occupied  a 
conspicuous  place  on   its   sj)ectacular  stage.      So  it  is  impossible  to 
estimate  how  much  richer  the  world  is  to-day  in  all  that  ennobles  the 
life  of  man,  by  reason  of  the  saintly  lives  and  sanctified  work  of  the 
devout  women   of    Methodism.     Society   jsays    homage   to   men    and 
women  of  literary  distinction.     The  name  of  George  Eliot — or  Marian 
Evans — is  heralded  through  the  land  by  the  trumpet  of  fame ;  but 
who  proclaims  the  greater  greatness  of  that  Methodist  heroine,  her 
kinswoman,  Dinah  Evans,  by  whose  holy  influence  in  her   younger 
years,  undoubtedly,  much  that  was  best  in  George  Eliot's  character 
and  will  be  most  enduring  in  her  writings,  was  inspired  ?     Who  of  the 
world's  most  honoured  heroes  or  heroines  has  so  touched  with  trans- 
forming power  the  troubled  hearts  of  men,  and  left  to  them  such  a 
heritage  of  blessing,  as   has   that   modest   disciple   of   the  Wesleyan 
faith,  whose  lowly  life  was  radiant  with  Christ's  transfiguration  glory, 


o 


EEV.    C.   H.   PAYNE'S  ADDRESS.  13* 

Elizabeth  Wallbridge,  "the  Dau-yman's  Daughter?"  Not  until  you 
can  grasp  the  sun  and  count  the  stars  can  you  measure  the  beneficent 
influence  of  that  one  obscure  life.  What  department  of  Christian  life 
and  work  has  not  felt  the  refining  and  inspiring  touch  of  the  ^lect 
ladies  of  Methodism  ?  In  the  all-inclusive  work  of  Christian  educa- 
tion, the  helping  hand  of  woman  has  been  potently  felt.  At  the 
beginning,  the  counsel  and  beneficence  of  Lady  Huntingdon  were 
exhibited  in  Trevecca  College,  and  its  successor  Cheshunt  College, 
and  from  that  day  forward,  in  multiplied  ways,  our  women  have  been 
indispensable  helpers  in  promoting  sanctified  learning.  In  America, 
one  of  our  foremost  theological  seminaries,  the  Garrett  Biblical 
Institute,  was  founded  by  the  donations  of  the  noble  Christian  woman 
whose  name  it  perpetuates.  A  stately  building  of  the  Ohio  Wesleyan 
University — Monnett  Hall — bears  the  name  of  its  founder,  a  young 
Methodist  woman,  whose  generous  gift  has  provided  an  attractive 
home  for  more  than  a  hundred  young  women  who  are  pressing  up  the 
steps  of  higher  education,  while  the  same  institution  has  a  professor- 
ship endowed  by  another  worthy  lady,  Mrs.  Chrisman,  who  is  one  of 
the  chief  patrons  and  benefactors  of  the  University.  Other  institutions 
have  shared  their  benevolence,  but  time  forbids  their  mention. 

If  we  turn  to  our  missionary  work,  the  hand  of  our  noble  women 
is  again  most  clearly  seen.  The  modern  missionary  naovemeut  has 
received  no  greater  impulse  than  has  been  given  to  it  by  the  for- 
mation of  Women's  Missionary  Societies.  I  may  truthfully  say  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  that  it  has  no  more  efiicient  auxiliary  in 
the  work  of  the  world's  evangelisation  than  it  posseses  in  that  most 
vigorous  and  successfully  managed  organisation,  the  Woman's  Foreign 
Missionary  Society,  which  in  the  eleven  years  of  its  history  has  col- 
lected and  disbursed  098,798  dollars,  sent  out  sixty-one  female  mis- 
sionaries, and  supported  210  native  teachers.  Similar  organisations  in 
the  other  branches  of  Methodism  have  doubtless  made  a  correspond- 
ingly encouraging  record,  but  I  have  not  their  statistics  at  command. 
The  number  of  female  labourers  engaged  in  our  Sunday-schools  con- 
stitutes a  vast  army  worthy  of  highest  honour.  Nor  ought  the  historic 
fact  to  be  forgotten  that  the  high  distinction  of  originating  and 
crystallising  into  form  the  Sunday-school  idea  belongs  to  a  Methodist 
woman.  Twelve  years  before  Mr.  Raikes  commenced  his  work,  this 
Wesleyan  lady,  Hannah  Ball,  formed  the  first  Sunday-school  in  Eng- 
land. And  another  Methodist  woman,  Sophia  Cook,  is  said  to  have 
suggested  the  idea  tp  Mr.  Raikes  which  determined  his  illustrious 
course.  In  respect  to  reformatory  and  philanthropic  work,  the 
women  of  the  great  Methodist  family  have  ever  been  distinguished  as 
leaders. 

Not  to  mention  other  forms  of  such  work,  we  can  only  glance  at 
the  most  important  reform  of  the  nineteenth  century — the  Tem- 
perance  movement.     The    pre-eminent   place   which  the   women   of 


134  EVANGELICAL  AGENCIES   OF   METHODISM. 

Methodism  occupy  in  this  reform  in  America — I  am  not  so  well  in- 
formed concerning  the  facts  in  British  Wesleyanism — is  universally 
acknowledged.  Always  active  in  this  great  reform  from  its  incipiency, 
a  new  impulse  was  given  to  their  activity  in  that  remarkable  religious 
phenomenon  known  as  the  Women's  Temperance  Crusade,  which 
originated  in  1874  in  the  State  of  Ohio,  and  swept  over  the  whole 
country  like  a  tidal  wave  of  spiritual  power.  That  idiosyncratic  move- 
ment was  commenced  and  largely  carried  forward  by  heroic  Methodist 
women,  many  of  whom  were  of  high  social  standing,  who  were  always 
nobly  sustained  by  the  best  women  of  all  Christian  denominations. 
The  simple  recital  of  that  wonderful  story  of  their  toils  and  perse- 
cutions and  triumphs,  if  time  permitted,  would  stir  the  heart  of 
every  lover  of  Christ  and  of  humanity.  Holy  women  praying, 
singing,  pleading,  reading  God's  message  in  the  ears  of  the  drunkard- 
maker  and  his  besotted  victims,  usually  listened  to  with  reverent 
attention,  often  with  tears  coursing  down  sin-furrowed  cheeks ; 
sometimes  arrested  by  order  of  an  opposing  magistrate,  led  to  the 
station-house  and  locked  in  with  criminals,  but,  like  Paul  and 
Silas,  making  the  prison  shake  with  the  mighty  power  of  their 
prayers  and  hymns,  and  striking  terror  to  the  hearts  of  keeper 
and  magistrate  alike — all  this,  and  much  more  that  cannot  now  be 
enumerated,  was  enacted  amid  the  intensest  excitement  of  com- 
munities. And  Heaven's  favour  was  manifest  in  daily  victories,  in 
the  closing  of  drinking  dens,  and  the  multiplication  of  reformed  and 
converted  men.  The  work  was  not,  indeed,  permanent  in  form  any 
more  than  are  the  blossoms  that  lu'ecede  the  fruit  of  the  orchard ;  but, 
like  the  blossom,  though  passing  away  itself,  its  fruit  remained,  and  in 
that  fruit  the  whole  Christian  world  has  largely  shared.  The  impulse 
of  that  movement  is  felt  to-day  throughout  Christendom,  and  the  vic- 
tories of  the  Temi)erauce  reform  were  never  so  great  in  all  lands  as 
from  that  day  forward  until  the  present  moment.  The  thousands  of 
honoured  women  worthy  of  mention  in  connection  with  this  reform,  as 
well  as  other  Christian  work,  will  not  deem  the  allusion  invidious  if  I 
mention  two  distinguished  representatives  of  their  sex,  conspicuous 
from  their  position,  both  loyal  daughters  of  Methodism,  whose  influence 
in  this  cause  no  human  power  can  estimate, — the  one  is  the  President 
of  the  Women's  Christian  Temperance  Union,  Miss  Frances  E.  WUlard, 
whose  eloquent  words  are  stirring  the  whole  country,  and  summoning 
it,  as  with'  a  bugle  call,  to  holy  warfare  against  this  greatest  curse  of 
Christendom ;  the  other  is  that  elect  lady,  the  noble  Mrs.  ex-President 
Hayes,  whose  loyalty  to  temperance  principles,  in  the  Presidential 
mansion,  has  furnished  the  world  an  illustrious  example,  the  influence 
of  which  can  no  more  be  measured  than  can  the  power  of  the  sun  to 
lighten  and  gladden  the  earth. 

But  not  alone  in  conspicuous  positions  have  the  women  of  Methodism 
achieved  greatest   victories   and    merited    highest    honour.      Let    us 


REV.  c.  H.  Payne's  address.  135 

not  fail  to  recognise  the  fact  that  they  have  done  their  best  and 
most  abiding  work  in  the  retired  sphere  of  the  domestic  circle,  in 
the  training  of  their  children  for  God  and  His  Chm-ch.  Cornelia,  the 
Eoman  matron,  is  justly  honoured  in  literature  and  in  art  because, 
when  asked  to  disjplay  her  jewels,  she  ijroudly  exhibited  her  children. 
Surely  the  mothers  of  Methodism  may  rejoicingly  point  to  that  living 
temple  of  God,  the  Church,  which  is  largely  the  product  of  their  faith- 
ful Christian  nurture.  The  visitor  to  your  St.  Paul's  Cathedral  is 
directed  by  a  conspicuous  inscription,  if  he  would  see  the  monument  of 
its  builder,  to  look  around  him.  Do  we  inquire  for  the  monument  of 
our  honoured  Methodist  women?  We  have  but  to  "look  around"  us, 
and  everywhere  the  work  appears,  pointing  in  silent  eloquence  to  its 
worthy  authors.  Look  over  this  distinguished  assembly  of  the  sons  of 
Methodism  gathered  here  from  the  ends  of  the  earth  to  represent  the 
Church  they  love.  Who  are  they  ?  Loyal  sons  of  devout  Methodist 
mothers,  to  whose  godly  training  and  fervent  prayers  and  holy  example 
we  all  owe  whatever  is  best  in  character  and  noblest  in  achievement. 
Look  again,  with  wider  field  of  vision,  and  behold  that  vast  temple  of 
Methodism  covering  almost  the  entire  habitable  globe ;  see  the  nearly 
five  millions  of  communicants  bowing  at  her  sacramental  altars.  This 
is  the  monument  whose  "  living  stones  "  eloquently  proclaim  the  glory 
of  those  patient  workers  by  whose  ministries  many  of  them  were 
builded  into  this  "  holy  temple  of  the  Lord."  Nor  does  this  broader 
view  fully  present  the  work  which  we  seek  to  estimate.  The  entire 
Protestantism  of  the  Christian  world,  alike  with  the  paganism  of  the 
heathen  world,  has  felt  the  quickening  touch  of  Methodism.  It  is  not  too 
much  to  say,  with  all  becoming  modesty,  that  there  is  not  a  denomina- 
tion of  Christians  in  the  world  that  is  not  broader,  stronger,  and  more 
efiicient  in  its  work  by  reason  of  the  impulse  given  to  it  from  that 
"  great  religious  movement  called  Methodism."  And  it  is  a  fact  worthy 
of  special  emphasis  that  in  no  respect  has  Methodism  accomplished 
more  in  this  direction  than  in  widening  the  sphere  of  woman's  activity 
and  increasing  the  volume  of  her  influence.  There  is  probably  not  a 
woman  in  connection  with  any  branch  of  Christ's  Church  who  does  not 
breathe  a  freer  air,  and  move  in  a  circle  of  wider  influence,  because  of 
the  wise  policy  which  Methodism  has  ever  practised  toward  its  female 
adherents,  and  the  commendable  example  which  they  have  exhibited 
in  wisely  using  this  Scriptural  liberty.  To  have  thus  enlarged  the 
field  of  Christian  usefulness  of  nearly  or  quite  two-thirds  of  all  the 
discii)les  of  Christ  is  a  work  of  no  insignificant  moment.  Deeply  do 
we  regret  that  not  a  moment  remains  in  which  to  pay  fitting  ti-ibute  to 
other  forms  of  Christian  activity,  such  as  that  of  providing  orphanages 
and  homes  for  the  worthy  poor  in  which  many  of  our  women  are 
actively  engaged,  j^rominent  among  whom  I  shall  be  pardoned  if  I 
mention  the  wife  of  the  senior  bishop  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  Mrs.  Simpson.     Nor  can  we  even  mention  an  honoured  though 


136  EVANGELICAL  AGENCIES   OF  METHODISM. 

nnnamed  host  whose  epitaphs  are  graven  on  the  hearts  of  men,  and 
"uhose  works  will  follow  them.  The  great  Methodist  family,  here 
assembled,  bids  all  these  thousands  of  worthy  female  workers  in  the 
Church  at  home  and  abroad  a  hearty  God- speed,  and  gratefully 
recognises  the  efl&ciency  of  their  godly  toil.  But  great  as  is  the  past 
by  vh-tue  of  the  spirit  and  deeds  of  the  honourable  women  of  Methodism 
as  well  as  its  worthy  men,  the  future  must  be  greater.  The  historic 
record  is  assuring,  the  prophetic  view  is  inspiring.  Not  yet  have  the 
sons  or  the  daughters  of  Methodism  achieved  their  greatest  victories. 
Not  yet  has  their  work  reached  its  summit  of  moral  sublimity.  To 
the  women  as  to  the  men  of  Methodism  comes  to-day  the  call  of  duty, 
summoning  them  to  greater  deeds  and  grander  triumphs  than  were 
possible  to  the  fathers  and  mothers  of  the  infant  Church.  Never  in 
any  age  or  clime  was  woman  honoured  with  such  fulness  of  liberty, 
such  largeness  of  privilege,  such  wealth  of  opportunity,  such  grandeur 
of  possibiHties  as  to-day  invite  the  loyal  daughters  of  Methodism  to 
participation  in  theii"  regal  heritage.  May  the  heroic  spirit  of  the 
honoured  mothers  of  our  Israel  rest  with  sevenfold  increase  upon  all 
the  daughters  and  all  the  sons  of  the  Wesleyan  household  of  faith, 
endowing  us  all  with  greater  power  for  the  gi-eater  work  to  which  this 
advanced  hour  of  the  Christian  centuries  summons  us. 

Rev.  J.  C.  Antliff,  M.A.  (Canada)  :  I  presume  there  is  some  dif- 
ference of  opinicni  amongst  us  about  the  advisability  of  Hcensing  women 
to  preach  ;  but  I  think  we  are  all  of  opinion  that  there  is  plenty  of  room 
for  the  women  of  Methodism  outside  the  pulpit  to  do  very  effective 
work  for  the  Master.  I  think  we  may  learn  a  lesson  from  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church.  When  I  see  their  Sisters  of  Mercy  going  up  and  down 
the  streets  of  Toronto  and  other  towns  and  cities,  I  cannot  but  wish  that 
Methodist  ladies  would  devote  some  time  to  visitation  and  to  works  of 
mercy.  I  mean  ladies  of  position  and  wealth.  I  wish  they  would 
systematically  devote  some  portion  of  time  to  visiting  amongst  the  poor 
and  neglected  classes  in  our  large  centres  of  population.  I  think  all  <^£  us 
who  are  ministers  have  found  that  ladies  can  often  do  work  that  we  cannot 
do — that  they  can  get  at  certain  classes  of  tiie  community  far  better  than 
we  can.  With  that  persuasive  eloquence  that  they  have,  I  cannot  but 
believe  that  they  might  lead  many  poor  fallen  and  wretched  women  in  our 
towns  to  a  knowledge  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  I  am  not  about  to 
suggest  that  we  should  have  guilds,  but  I  think  that  the  High  Church 
party  in  the  Established  Church  of  this  country  are  showing  a  good  deal 
of  worldly  wisdom'  in  the  guilds  that  they  have  for  ladies,  and  in  the  work 
that  they  are  setting  those  ladies  to  do.  I  hope  that  one  of  the  results  of 
this  discussion  will  be  that  some  ladies  will  feel  that  they  have  a  call  to 
devote  a  portion  of  their  time  in  visiting  amongst  the  neglected  classes. 
Then,  again,  in  class-meetings  I  think  there  is  a  line  field  for  ladies'  work. 
I  think  that  ladies  in  conducting  classes  may  often  do  the  work  better  even 
than  the  ministers.  Mr.  Wesley,  you  know,  had  a  great  objection  to 
ministers  leading  classes,  and  I  think  we  ought  to  utilise  the  ladies  as  far 
as  we  can  in  regard  to  this  work,  w-hich  they  can  do  so  well  and  effectively. 
But,  after  all,  the  mother's  work  is  amongst  her  children,  and  many 
women  with  large  families,  who  have  not  the  opportunity  of  going  hither 
and  thither  visiting  amongst  the  poor,  and  who  do  not  feel  that  the}-  ha\'e 


GENERAL   REMARKS.  137 

a  talent  for  leading  clai3ses,  are  doing  a  great  work  for  the  Master  in  the 
quietude  of  the  home  circle.  There  is  a  great  deal  of  work  heing  done 
that  is  not  seen  by  us  who  occupy  higher  positions  in  the  ministry  of  the 
Church. 

General  Cyrus  Bussey  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church)  :  When  I  came  into 
this  Conference  I  had  no  idea  of  raising  my  voice  among  a  class  of  men  whose 
business  it  is  to  speak  to  the  people.  But  in  the  eloquent  addresses  to  which 
I  have  listened  I  have  heard  no  tribute  paid  to  a  class  of  women  whom  I  feel 
I  shouM  be  recreant  to  my  duty  if  I  did  not  bring  to  the  notice  of  this 
assembly.  As  a  layman  it  may  be  proper  for  me  to  pay  a  tribute  to  the 
wives  of  ministers  of  the  Church,  such  as  I  fail  to  recognise  in  either  of 
the  addresses  that  have  been  delivered.  I  have  only  to  ask  these  gentle- 
men to  consider  for  a  moment  how  many  of  them  would  have  been  borne 
down  but  for  the  counsel  and  encouragement  and  the  prayers  of  their 
faithful  wives.  A  minister  must  alwa3's  be  presentable  in  the  pulpit,  and 
often  his  scanty  means  will  not  permit  him  to  provide  as  he  would  like  for 
his  family.  It  is  the  faithful  wife  under  those  circumstances  that  must 
bear  the  sacrifice.  She  is  at  home  taking  care  of  her  children  and  family 
in  order  that  his  work  may  be  efficiently  done.  In  a  long  period  of  the 
existence  of  the  Church  in  America,  when  there  were  circuits,  about  which 
we  have  heard  to-day,  where  the  pastor  had  to  leave  his  home  and  be  gone 
four  weeks,  returning  to  stay  only  two  or  three  days,  the  entire  charge  of  a 
large  family,  and,  to  a  great  extent,  their  sustenance  and  support,  often 
depended  upon  the  faithful  wife.  If  we  could  get  at  statistics  which  Dr. 
Edwards  made  so  interesting  in  his  address  before  us,  I  have  no  doubt  it 
Avould  be  found  that  a  large  number  of  all  the  accessions  to  the  Church 
would  be  credited  to  the  account  of  tlie  noble  women  in  our  past  history 
who  were  the  wives  of  the  pastors  of  the  Church,  We  all  know  how  the 
wife  has  gone  forth  from  her  home  in  order  to  open  avenues  of  industry 
and  success  for  her  husband  ;  but  although  they  have  performed  their 
duties  so  well  they  have  not  been  credited  with  their  share  of  the  work  in 
the  statistics  of  our  societies.  I  should  be  glad  to  see  some  statistics 
properly  set  before  the  Church  showing  the  amount  of  credit  wliich  should 
be  given  to  these  faithful  and  laborious  workers  who  have  accomplished  so 
much  in  the  years  that  have  passed.  We  have  had  a  few  illustrious  names 
brought  before  us  to-day,  but  they  are  not  in  the  proportion  of  one  to  ten 
thousand.  The  wife  of  almost  every  pastor  is  just  as  illustrious,  but  not 
so  notorious,  as  those  that  have  been  mentioned  to-daj'.  Their  work  has 
not  been  so  conspicuous,  because  the  avenues  are  not  open  by  which  their 
name  can  come  before  the  public.  There  are  avenues  for  Barbara  Hecks 
to-day,  but  the  wife  of  the  pastor  maj^  in  her  limited  sphere,  exhibit  as 
nmch  energy  and  tidelity,  and  her  work  may  be  crowned  with  as  much 
success  as  followed  the  labours  of  the  most  illustrious  names  mentioned  in 
the  history  of  the  Church. 

'Mil.  Alderman  Charlton  (Primitive  Methodist)  said  there  seemed  great 
unanimity  in  eulogising  the  ladies  for  the  toil  and  labour  they  gave  as 
auxiliaries  in  all  useful  work,  but  we  seem  studiously  to  avoid  all  idea  of 
bringing  them  to  the  front  of  the  battle.  In  the  early  history  of  Primitive 
Methodism,  female  preachers  occupied  a  prominent  position  and  did  a 
noble  work,  and  in  recent  years  their  labours  have  been  much  blessed  in 
the  north.  At  the  inauguration  of  the  British  Women's  Temperance  Asso- 
ciation the  meeting  was  addressed  by  ladies  only,  and  it  was  one  of  the 
most  hupressive  and  effective  meetings  ever  held  in  Newcastle ;  the  fruits 
of  it  arc  seen  to  this  day.  In  mission  work  their  success  is  far  beyond 
ours  with  the  working  men  :  we  frequently  bring  out  their  combativeness, 
while  if  addressed  with  the  winning  persuasiveness  of  ladies  they  are  as 
docile  as  children.     And  it  is  a  du^p  conviction  with  me  that  women  will 


138,  EVANGELICAL   AGENCIES   OF   METHODISM. 

have  a  much  more  important  part  to  play  before  there  is  much  improve* 
ment  in  the  world. 

Rev.  Dr.  Rigg  (Wesleyan  Methodist)  :  I  think  we  must  all  of  us  be 
prepared  to  say  that  tlie  success  of  women,  especially  in  reclaiming,  or 
assisting  in  reclaiming,  some  of  those  who  are  the  hardest  to  be  dealt  with, 
has  of  late  years  been  shown  to  have  been  exceedingly  remarkable — I  may 
lefer  in  particular  to  the  agency  of  women  in  connection  with  the  Salvation 
Army.  But  although  we  recognise,  as  we  never  did  before,. the  talents, 
the  genius,  and  the  sympathies  which  women  display  in  evangelical  work, 
the  idea  of  having  separate  statistical  accounts  of  the  work  of  Avonien  is 
one  that  we  ought  to  be  exceedingly  careful  about.  What  would  be  the 
efEect  of  it  ?  It  would  be  to  create  a  feeling  of  preference  for  the  work  of 
women  beyond  the  home.  You  cannot  register  what  women  do  in  tlie 
home,  and  that  after  all  is  the  most  precious  and  the  most  proper  ;  and  if 
you  had  separate  statistics  showing  what  women  can  do  outside  the  home, 
I  believe  the  tendency  would  be  unnatural  and  evil.  Notwithstanding  all 
the  good  that  has  been  accomplished,  I  would  deprecate  any  tendency  to 
stimulate  ostentatious  exertions  of  that  kind.  Let  women  do  the  work 
which  their  sympathies  and  their  genius  make  them  fit  to  do  :  but  do  not 
let  us  have  a  separate  schedule  of  their  performances.  It  may  be  proper 
that  they  should  preach,  especially  where  the  men  are  not  sufficiently 
gifted,  but  I  should  be  sorry  to  see  separate  statistics  as  to  the  number  of 
souls  brought  to  Christ  by  men  and  by  women. 

Rev.  R.  Fenwick  called  attention  to  the  hospitality  displayed  by  women 
in  entertaining  lay  and  clerical  friends,  providing  for  them  the  comforts 
of  home  when  from  liome,  and  thus  enabling  them  to  visit  outlying  and 
thinly  populated  districts  ;  and  their  many  disinterested  labours  in  con- 
nection with  bazaars,  and  other  means  of  raising  funds  for  the  promotion 
of  religious  objects. 

Rev.  Thomas  McCdllagh  (Wesleyan  Methodist)  said :  While  on  this 
topic,  the  name  of  the  late  Miss  McCarthy  should  be  mentioned.  He  had 
known  her  well ;  and  while  sorry  that  his  time  would  not  allow  of  details, 
he  must  testify  to  the  self-denying  and  successful  labours  of  the  heroine 
of  Chequer  Alley,  amongst  the  most  degraded  classes  in  some  of  the  worst 
slums  of  London.  On  the  subject  of  bazaars  he  said  that  the  late  Dr. 
Selwyn,  Bishop  of  Lichfield,  used  to  say  that  seeing  ladies  working  for 
bazaars  reminded  him  of  the  barbariiins  of  New  Zealand,  who  made  their 
women  work.  He  (Mr.  McCullagh)  thought  it  was  a  sliarae  for  the  men 
of  IVIethodism,  who  might  supply  the  money,  to  get  it  out  of  the  fingers 
and  hard  toil  of  the  ladies.  The  work  of  the  women  of  Methodism  was 
principally  in  connection  with  Sunday-schools,  collecting  money  for 
missions,  and  acting  as  class-leaders, — all  of  which  was  very  important. 
But  he  was  afraid  that  in  regard  to  domiciliary  visitation  their  work  was 
too  much  neglected.  As  far  as  his  observation  went,  the  ladies  of  the 
Church  of  England  were  outdoing  Methodist  ladies  in  house-to-house 
visitation.  Perhaps  the  ministers  were  at  fault  in  not  providing,  better 
organisations.  They  did  not,  of  course,  believe  in  the  sisterhoods  of  the 
Ritualists  in  the  Church  of  England  and  of  the  Church  of  Rome ;  they 
were  abhorrent  to  their  Protestantism,  and  they  believed  them  to  be  un- 
scriptural ;  but  there  ought  to  be  a  certain  amount  of  organisation,  and 
that  was  what  they  neglected.  The  Church  of  England,  he  had  noticed, 
in  several  large  towns,  had  its  lady  visitors,  and  Methodist  ladies,  he 
thought,  might  follow  their  example.  He  desired  to  lay  the  greatest 
possible  stress  on  the  influence  of  women  in  the  work  of  Methodism.  Let 
it  not  be  forgotten  that  it  was  of  a  woman  that  our  Saviour  once  said,  in 
vindication  of  an  action  of  which  men  complained,  "She  hath  done  what 
she  could." 


BEV.   J.   P.   NEWMAN'S   ADDKESS.  139 

Hon.  G.  W.  Frost  (Metliodist  Episcopal  Church)  said  he  should  be 
recreant  to  all  his  early  associations  if  he  did  not  say  a  word  on  tiiu  subject 
of  discussion.  He  came  from  an  old  Methoaist  stock,  and  a  large  number 
of  clergymen  were  connected  with  his  family.  His  mother  Avas  the  best 
preacher  of  them  all.  Not  that  she  ever  ascended  a  pulpit,  but  he  referred 
to  the  influence  that  she  exercised  wherever  she  lived.  He  wished  to  ask 
if  a  woman  had  the  power  of  bringing  men  to  Christ  by  preaching,  why 
she  should  not  be  allowed  to  preach.  There  was  one  woman  in  America 
through  whose  influence  thirty  thousand  souls  had  been  converted  to  God. 
If  women  had  the  power  to  speak  for  Christ,  he  saw  no  reason  why  they 
should  not  preach  in  the  churches.  He  believed  the  time  was  coming 
when  sex  would  be  unknown  in  regard  to  the  pi-eaching  of  the  Gospel,  and 
when  every  one  who  felt  himself  or  herself  called  upon  to  proclaim  the 
glad  tidings,  would  do  so  without  let  or  hindrance. 

Rev.  J.  P.  Newman,  D.  D.  ,  LL.  D.  (Metliodist  Episcopal  Church), 
read  the  following  essay  on  Scriptural  Holiness,  and  the  Special  Fitness 
.  of  Methodist  Means  of  Grace  to  Promote  it. 

I.  What  is  Scriptural  Holiness  ? 

n.  Wherein  is  the  special  fitness  of  Methodist  means  of  grace  to 
promote  it  ? 

God  declares  in  His  Word  that  "  without  holiness  no  man  shall  see  the 
Lord."  A  condition  so  absolute  in  its  character  and  so  important  in 
its  results  demands  of  us  the  utmost  precision  in  definition.  What  is 
Scriptural  Holiness  ?  Can  we  reach  its  germinal  idea  ?  May  we  rely 
upon  Divine  aid  to  ascertain  the  mind  of  the  Spirit  ? 

Holiness  is. an  inspired  term  which  does  not  appear  to  indicate  any 
particular  virtue  nor  all  the  virtues  combined,  as  it  does  the  recoil  of  a 
pure  soul  from  the  commission  of  sin.  In  its  radical  sense  it  seems  to 
be  a  peculiar  affection  wherewith  a  being  of  perfect  virtue  regards  moral 
evil.  In  a  word  it  is  evidently  the  abiding  abhorrence  of  whatever  a  holy 
God  has  forbidden  "  Thou  art  of  i^urer  eyes  than  to  behold  evil."  No 
severer  test  than  this  can  be  applied  to  our  spiritual  condition.  No 
penance,  no  devotion,  no  charity  can  equal  the  scrutiny  of  such  a  test. 
No  profession,  no  zeal,  no  raj)ture  is  comparable  to  it.  The  Father's 
eulogy  of  His  Son,  and  the  reason  He  assigns  for  the  Sou's  eternal 
Kingship  is,  "  Thou  hast  loved  righteousness  and  hated  iniquity,  there- 
fore God,  thy  God  hath  anointed  Thee  with  the  oil  of  gladness  above 
Thy  feUows  "  (Revised  Version).  In  this  hatred  of  sin,  and  love  of  holi- 
ness, is  the  deep  significance  of  the  command,  "Ye  shall  be  holy,  for  I 
the  Lord  your  God  am  holy."  In  this  transcendent  sense  is  the  holiness 
of  God  the  type  and  measure  of  the  holiness  of  man. 

If  from  the  old  dispensation  we  pass  to  the  new,  we  find  that  holiness 
therein  also  implies  a  state  of  purity  and  an  act  of  obedience.  Christ 
is  the  only  religious  teacher  known  to  man  who  demands  of  His  people 
a  moral  condition  antecedent  to  the  act.  He  goes  behind  the  act, 
behind  the  motive,  behind  the  thought,  and  takes  cognisance  of  that 


140  EVANGELICAL  AGENCIES  OF  METHODISM. 

moral  state  out  of  whicli  all  these  spring  as  the  effects  of  a  persistent 
cause.     His  doctrine  is,  that  what  we  think  and  feel  and  do,  are  ex- 
pressions of  character  which  lies  deeper  than  the  will,  deeper  than  the 
affections,  deeper  than  the  conscience ;  that  this  character  is  man  in 
his  modes  of  thought,  in  his  emotional  transitions,  in  the  trend  of  his 
passional  being  ;  that  this  character  is  the  sum  of  what  a  man  is  in  all 
his  api)etites,  passions,  tendencies  ;  and  that  out  of  this  character  issue 
man's  totality  and  finality.     If  God  is  not  a  respecter  of  persons,  He  is 
of  character,  and  that  He  has  foreordained  unto  eternal  life.     Christ's 
demand  for  a  moral  condition  antecedent  to  all  mental  and  physical 
action,  is  in  harmony  with  the  order  of  nature.     There  is  a  passive 
state  of  our  muscular  force  and  intellectual  powers  upon  which  the 
active  depends,  and  of  which  the  active  is  the  living  expression.     If 
the  arm  is  strong  to  defend,  there  must  be  liealtlifulness  in  the  muscles 
thereof.     If  the  faculties  of  the  mind  respond  to  the  will,  there  must 
be  latent  vigour  in  the  intellect.     Man's  moral  nature  is  both  passive  . 
and  active,  and  experience  is  in  proof,  that  as  is  the  passive,  so  is  the 
active.     If  the  affections  resj^ond  only  to  objects  of  purity,  if  the  con- 
science only  to  the  voice  of  right,  if  the  will  only  to  the  call  of  duty, 
there  must  be  inherent  purity  and  strength  in  all  our  moral  powers, 
when  quiescent ;  this  is  the  glorious  significance  of  our  Lord's  words— 
"The  prince  of  this  world  cometh,  and  he  hath  nothing  in  Me;" — 
nothing  in  my  nature  or  spirit,  nothing  in  my  thoughts  or  motives, 
nothing  in  my  desires  or  purposes,  nothing  in  my  appetites  or  passions, 
nothing  in  my  words  or  deeds,  for,  underlying  all  these  is  my  state  of 
purity.     Christ  is  the  Saviour  and  Sovereign  of  the  heart  wherein  He 
incarnates  holiness.     He  must  be  at  the  fountain-head  of  life  that  the 
issues  thereof  may  be  Divine.     This  is  the  high  import  of  His  sermon 
on  the  Mount,  when  He  opened  His  mouth  and  taught  the  people, 
saying — "Blessed  are  the  pure  in  heart,"  implying  an  antecedent  state 
of  purity.     He  consents  that  the  law  is  founded  on  the  eternal  dis- 
tinctions of  right  and  wrong,  including  in  their  essence  every  vice  and 
virtue  known  to  our  race,  commanding  what  ought  to  be  done  and 
forbidding  what  ought  not  to  be  done.     He  commands  the  external 
observance  of  the  Ten  Commandments,  but  He  searches  as  with  the 
candle  of  the  Lord  for  the  secret  of  the  heart.     Hence,  He  pronounces 
him  a  murderer  who  hates  his  brother ;  an  adulterer,  where  look  is 
lascivious  ;  a  perjurer,  where  oath  is  unnecessary.     And,  therefore,  He 
demands    that    self-abnegation    shall  take    the   place  of    equivalent 
revenge ;  that  love  shall  span  both  friend  and  foe ;  that  charity  shall 
serve  in  modest  secrecy ;   that  prayer  shall  be  offered  in  holy  solitude ; 
that  fasting  shall  be  a  private   self-denial ;   and  all  this  to  fulfil  the 
command,  "Ye  therefore  shall  be  perfect  as  your  Heavenly  Father  is 
perfect." 

In  this  evangelical  sense,  and  as  lying  back  of  this  hatred  of  sin  and 
this  state  of  purity,  h^oliness  is  the  readjustment  of  our  whole  nature. 


KEY.  J.  P.  Newman's  address.  141 

whereLy  the  inferior  appetites  and  propensities  are  subordinated,  and 
the  superior  intellectual  and  moral  powers  are  restored  to  their 
supremacy ;  and  Christ  reigns  in  a  completely  renewed  soul^'  **  And 
that  ye  put  on  the  new  man,  which  is  after  God  created  in  righteous- 
ness and  true  holiness."  In  man's  original  estate  the  superior  faculties 
were  commanding  because  of  his  normal  condition.  He  was  holy 
inasmuch  as  heavenly  order  reigned  throughout  his  being.  Two  effects 
followed  the  first  transgression — a  criminal  act  and  a  subjective 
change.  "When  man  consented  to  sin  God  withdrew  the  fellowship 
of  His  presence.  In  the  darkness  of  the  conscious  guilt  that  followed 
the  soul  became  confused,  and  in  that  confusion  the  inferior  propen- 
sities usui'ped  the  mastery  over  the  superior  powers  ;  sense  became 
supreme,  and  with  a  mad  sway  held  reason  and  conscience  in 
subjection.  This  is  the  unnatural  state  of  man.  This  is  the  condition 
of  a  fallen  soul  transmitted  from  parent  to  child.  The  history  of  the 
world,  the  hves  of  men  eminent  for  intellect  and  iniquity,  and  our  own 
experience,  sadly  prove  that  the  wickedness  and  the  wretchedness  of 
humanity  is  the  dominance  of  tlie  animal  in  man,  swj,ying  reason  and 
disregarding  conscience:  "  The  lust  of  the  flesh,  the  lust  of  the  eyes, 
and  the  pride  of  life  is  not  of  the  Father,  but  is  of  the  world."  Hence 
St.  Paul's  meaning,  "For  I  keep  under  my  body,  and  bring  it  into 
subjection.''  But  this  subjection  is  not  self-destruction,  nor  the  eradi- 
cation of  some  annoying  passion,  nor  the  brutal  humiliation  of  the 
body  as  sometimes  i^ractised  by  monks  and  fakirs,  but  rather  the 
subordination  of  the  same  to  law.  All  the  appetites  of  the  body,  all 
the  passions  of  the  mind,  have  their  origin  in  the  order  and  con- 
stitution of  nature,  and  are  designed  for  the  hai)pine3s  of  man.  A 
mastering  propensity  is  a  j)erversion.  That  which  is  innocent  within 
the  hmitatious  of  law  is  vicious  when  the  gratification  is  unlawful. 
Gluttony  is  the  excess  of  temperance  ;  adultery,  of  the  lawful  rights 
of  marriage ;  revenge,  of  anger ;  pride,  of  self-respect ;  vanity,  of  a 
decent  regard  for  the  good  opinion  of  mankind.  The  perfect  man  in 
Clirist  is  he  whose  physical,  mental,  and  moral  powers  are  in  full  force 
but  subject  to  law.  .  In  this  completed  restoration  nothing  but  sin  is 
destroyed.  All  that  is  natural  is  regulated,  purified,  exalted.  To 
such  God  reappears  in  the  fellowship  of  His  presence,  conscience  is 
strengthened,  and  its  dictates  are  obeyed ;  the  affections  are  cleansed 
and  enshrine  the  Holy  One  ;  the  will  is  emancipated,  and  responds  to 
the  Divine  law.  All  i)assions  find  their  contentment  in  normal  in- 
dulgence ;  all  desires  have  their  aj)propriate  gratification ;  aU  tempta- 
tions are  met  with  instant  recoil.  The  equipoise  of  the  soul  is 
restored.     Love  is  supreme,  Eest  is  perfect.     Christ  is  all  and  in  all. 

Out  of  such  a  condition  flows  a  life  "  holy,  guileless,  and  undetiled," ' 
for  holiness  is  an  act.     It  is  ]Dcrfect  obedience  in  love  to  a  law  that 
is  "holy,  and  just,  and  good."     It  is  more  than  devotion.     It  is  holy 
living.     It  is  the  spirit  of  devoutness  carried  into  all  the  relations  and 


142  EVANGELICAL   AGENCIES   OF   METHODISM. 

concerns  of  life.  It  is  self-abnegation,  which  seeks  no  other  reward 
than  the  consciousness  of  duty  done.  It  is  calmness  amid  turbulence, 
meekness  amid  provocation,  humility  amid  the  pride  and  fashion  of 
life.  It  is  the  reign  of  love  amid  the  anarchy  of  this  world's  hate.  It 
is  the  charity  that  thinketh  no  evil.  It  is  a  brotherly  kindness  that 
worketh  no  ill  to  man.  It  is  benevolence  incarnated.  It  is  a  horizon 
which  takes  in  the  whole  of  each  day,  so  that  conversation  is  pure 
as  the  breath  of  prayer ;  laughter  as  holy  as  a  psalm  of  praise ;  the 
pursuit  of  wealth,  pleasure,  honour,  saintly  as  the  Eucharistic  least- 
such  a  life  is  beautiful  with  "  Whatsoever  things  are  true,  whatsoever 
things  are  honourable,  whatsoever  things  are  just,  whatsoever  things 
are  pure,  whatsoever  things  are  lovely,  whatsoever  things  are  of  good 
report."     In  such  a  life  the  Sabbath  of  the  soul  never  ends. 

But  is  not  such  a  state  rather  a  lofty  ideal  to  awaken  holier  aspira- 
tions never  to  be  realised  ?  a  goal  of  renown  to  excite  heroic  struggles 
never  to  be  triumphant  ?  than  one  of  the  grand  possibilities  of  Christian 
faith?  God  never  commands  what  He  does  not  require.  He  never 
requires  where  there  is  not  ability  to  i^erform.  He  is  ever  consistent 
with  Himself.  Through  all  the  ages,  under  all  dispensations.  He  has 
made  requisition  for  this  one  thing.  He  foreshadowed  His  will  in  the 
shoeless  feet  of  Moses  on  the  Mount,  in  the  spotless  garments  of  the 
priests  in  the  sanctuary ;  in  the  blemishless  sacrifices  on  the  altar  of 
atonement,  and  transcending  all  these  in  glory  in  the  sinless  life  of  His 
Son.  This  requirement  rests  upon  a  necessity,  and  the  necessity  rises 
to  a  privilege.  Pri\'ilege  is  the  correlate  of  duty.  As  where  there  is  a 
wing  there  is  air ;  as  where  there  is  a  fin  there  is  water ;  as  where 
there  is  an  eye  there  is  light ;  so  where  there  is  a  demand  there  is 
grace  to  comply.  God  cannot  demand  less ;  He  does  not  require  more. 
As  worship  is  companionship,  there  is  a  manifest  fitness  in  this 
ordination.  If  a  soldier  should  be  brave,  a  teacher  learned,  a  friend 
true,  man  should  be  pure. 

It  is  the  belief  of  the  Christian  Church  that  Christ  is  a  Saviour  ;  that 
His  mission  was  twofold ;  objectively,  to  readjust  our  relations  with 
the  Divine  Government,  so  that  "  God.  could  be  just  and  the  justifier 
of  him  who  believeth  in  Jesus,"  and  subjectively  to  re-create  us  in  His 
own  image.  But  by  a  laxity  of  faith  this  re-creation  is  held  to  be  but 
partial  at  most.  Nevertheless  he  is  esteemed  a  Saviour  from  some 
depravity,  from  some  besetting  sin,  from  some  downward  tendency ; 
that  He  so  renews  us  that  the  outline  of  His  image  is  seen,  and  that 
He  imparts  to  us  some  love,  some  hope,  some  faith.  This  is  the 
comfortable  profession  of  the  Catholic  Church  of  Jesus  Christ.  But  it 
is  not  sufficient.  It  is  an  inception  without  a  consummation.  Either 
it  is  not  His  plan  to  complete  the  work  prior  to  death,  or  He  has  not 
the  ability  or  the  believer  does  not  exercise  the  faith  equal  to  the  end. 
Accepting  the  latter  as  the  underlying  cause  of  the  deficiency  in  the 
common  experience  of  the  Church,  let  a  nobler  faith   measure   the 


IIEV.   J,   P.   NEWMAN'S   ADDKESS.  143 

possiLility  of  His  power,  and  find  in  Christ  one  who  saveth  to  the 
uttermost.  Scripture  and  experience  are  in  accord  tliat  man  may  be 
holy  and  live.  The  exhortation  is — ■"  Having  therefore  these  promises, 
beloved,  let  us  cleanse  ourselves  from  all  defilement  of  the  flesh  and 
spirit,  perfecting  holiness  in  the  fear  of  God."  Over  against  this 
apostolic  injunction  let  us  place  one  declarative  promise  which  shall  be 
the  measure  of  His  ability  and  our  privilege.  "  If  we  walk  in  the 
light  as  He  is  in  the  light,  we  have  fellowship  one  with  another,  and 
the  blood  of  Jesus,  His  Son,  clcanseth  us  from  all  sin."  This  is  more 
than  pardon  of  actual  transgression  ;  more  than  subjugation  of  inherited 
depravity  ;  more  than  deliverance  from  the  dominion  of  sin.  It  is  the 
completion  of  regeneration,  it  is  entire  sanctification. 

But  this  exalted  state  of  grace  is  not  immunity  from  the  infirmities 
incident  to  an  imperfect  body ;  or  from  the  mistakes  inevitable  to  a 
weak  understanding ;  or  from  the  liability  to  sin ;  or  from  the  ne- 
cessity and  possibility  of  growth  in  grace.  Structural  imperfections, 
disease,  and  death,  imply  man's  fall,  and  because  of  which  he  cannot 
respond  fully  to  that  primal  law  under  which  he  was  created  a  perfect 
being.  These  are  defects  not  to  be  remedied  by  entire  sanctification ; 
but  by  the  resurrection  of  the  just :  "  He  knoweth  our  frame,  remem- 
bereth  that  we  are  dust."  Yet  to  the  pure  is  given  the  grace  of 
patience  and  resignation  to  endure  the  ills  of  a  body  which  is  the 
temple  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  And  it  is  a  fact,  that  by  the  sobriety  it 
demands,  by  the  restfulness  it  imparts,  by  the  joy  it  creates,  holiness 
tends  to  health  and  length  of  days :  "  With  long  life  will  I  satisfy  him, 
and  show  him  My  salvation."  Nor  is  this  entire  consecration  to  Christ 
inconsistent  with  the  possible  errors  which  arise  from  an  enfeebled 
intellect,  or  from  limited  knowledge.  Such  may  not  be  inseparable 
from  the  purest  intention  and  the  holiest  life  ;  yet  liability  to  such  will 
be  largely  diminished  by  the  presence  of  an  informing  and  guidin<T 
spirit.  And  it  is  a  matter  of  experience  that  with  holiness  there  comes 
an  intellectual  elevation,  a  sharpening  and  quickening  of  all  the  mental 
powers,  whereby  the  "perfect  man  in  Christ"  discerns  more  readily 
between  right  and  wrong.  And  the  heavenly  calm  that  reigns  in  all  his 
being,  and  the  "  perfect  peace"  wherein  he  is  ever  kept,  conduce  to  tran- 
quillity of  intellect,  correctness  of  taste,  candom-  of  intention,  carefulness 
of  judgment,  and  impartiality  of  decision.  Perfect  knowledge  and  per- 
fect love  may  be  separable,  yet  in  this  higher  state  of  gi-ace  even  the 
thought-life  of  the  soul  is  subject  to  the  sway  of  the  Lord.  "  Brinoincr 
into  captivity  every  thought  to  the  obedience  of  Christ."  What  thought 
is  we  may  not  define ;  how  thoughts  originate  we  may  not  explain  ; 
but  whether  thoughts  come  from  original  perceptions,  or  fi-om  the 
combined  action  of  the  memory  and  the  imagination,  or  are  projected 
by  Satanic  influence,  the  mind  may  be  master  of  itself,  and  evil 
thoughts  may  become  our  possessions  by  retention,  or  be  dismissed  at 
■will.     Thought  is  a  mental  act,  and,   like  the   "idle  word,"  or  the 


14'4!  EVANGELICAL   AGENCIES   OF   METHODISM. 

"deeds  done  in  the  body,"  has  a  moral  character.  *' Out  of  the 
heart  ]proceed  evil  thoughts. "  The  imagination  acts  directly  on  the 
moral  character,  and  by  its  abuse  the  will  is  -weakened,  the  mental 
energj^  is  dissipated,  and  the  whole  life  is  jjolluted.  Hence  the  prayer 
of  the  Church  :  "  Cleanse  the  thoughts  of  our  hearts  by  the  inspiration 
of  Thy  Holy  Spirit,  that  we  may  perfectly  love  Thee,  and  worthily 
magnify  thy  holy  name."  Nor  is  there  any  warrant  in  Scripture,  or 
any  proof  in  experience,  that  holiness  is  freedom  from  temptation 
or  liability  to  sin.  Temi^tation  is  the  appointed  test  of  virtue,  and 
liability  to  sin  belongs  to  probation.  The  tendencies  to  sin  may  be 
arrested,  and  will  diminish  as  the  believer  abides  in  Christ.  But  the 
terrible  struggles  against  the  tempter  will  continue  to  the  dying  hour. 
Many  will  be  the  fierce  conflicts,  and  in  unguarded  moments,  and 
under  i^owerful  satanine  influence,  there  may  be  a  blind  impulse  to 
yield  to  some  attractive  object  of  solicitation ;  but  the  pure  spirit  will 
recoil  therefrom  as  from  the  breath  of  pestilence.  All  solicitations 
to  disobedience  are  harmless  till  the  soul  is  conscious  of  a  disposition 
to  comply  therewith.  In  the  heat  of  the  desperate  strife  the  mind 
may  realise  intense  excitement,  but  when  there  is  no  surrender,  the 
tempter  is  never  hurtful.  Of  the  Saviour  it  is  said,  "  "Who  was  in  all 
points  tempted  like  as  we  are,  yet  without  sin."  "Nay,  in  all  these 
things  we  are  more  than  conquerors  through  Him  that  loved  us."  And 
it  is  no  part  of  our  belief  in  the  doctrine  of  "Christian  Perfection" 
that  growth  in  grace  is  not  a  duty  and  a  possibility.  There  may  be 
an  end  of  conscious  sinning  and  impurity,  but  under  the  law  of  spiritual 
development  the  heavenly  virtues  expand  for  ever.  The  maturity  of 
the  graces  possessed  is  that  of  exclusion  of  their  opposite  vices. 
Beyond  that  there  is  an  infinite  hereafter.  There  is  no  height  of 
purity  beyond  which  a  redeemed  spirit  may  not  attain  a  higher 
ascension.     Heaven  will  be  an  eternal  approach  to  God^ 

But  what  special  fitness  is  there  in  Methodist  means  of  grace  to 
promote  Scriptural  Holiness  ?  For  more  than  a  hundred  years 
Methodists  have  testified  to  this  great  truth.  Their  testimony  has 
been  intelligent,  conscientious,  joyful.  The  word  of  their  testimony 
has  been,  "  We  speak  that  we  do  know  and  testify  that  we  have  seen." 
For  this  purpose  were  they  called  to  be  a  Church.  To  give  prominence 
to  this  central,  subjective  doctrine  was  Wesley  chosen  by  Providence 
to  be  chief  in  a  religious  movement  scarcely  second  in  majesty  and 
importance  to  the  Reformation  under  Luther.  Rising  superior  to 
the  ecclesiastical  questions  over  which  others  had  fought,  and  that 
triumphantly,  he  invited  the  people  to  their  Bibles,  to  the  spirituality 
of  the  apostolic  Church,  to  the  "  kingdom  of  God,  wliich  is  not  eating 
and  drinking,  but  righteousness,  peace,  and  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost." 
And  the  universal  spread  of  these  sentiments  is  now  esteemed  the  high 
mission  of  a  Church  which  has  survived  Mm  just  ninety  years. 

It  would,  however,  be  a  crime  against  history  to  create  the  impres- 


EEV.   J.    P.   NEWMAN'S   ADDRESS.  145 

sion  that  Wesley  was  the  forerunner  of  the  revival  of  this  cardinal 
truth.  What  Wycliff  and  Huss  and  Savonarola  were  to  Lutlier,  Kempis 
and  Law  and  Taylor  were  to  Wesley.  They  called  his  attention  to  the 
necessity  of  that  purity  of  thought,  to  that  self-abnegation,  to  that  per- 
sonal crucifixion  and  resurrection,  wherein  is  the  fulness  of  the  Divine 
life  in  man.  But  it  was  for  him  to  take  an  advanced  step,  His  "Imita- 
tion of  Christ "  was  to  be  a  joyous  realisation ;  his  *'  Christian  Perfec- 
tion "  was  to  be  a  conscious  attainment ;  his  "  Holy  Living  and  Dying  " 
were  to  be  sublime  realities.  What  they  wrote  he  translated;  what 
they  thought  he  experienced ;  what  they  prescribed  he  practised. 

Intent  on  his  special  mission,  his  marvellous  genius  for  organisation  \ 
was  consecrated  to  the  creation  of  such  methods  in  the  formation  of  < 
his  societies  as  were  most  efiicieut  in  holy  living.  From  the  "  Holy 
Club  "  at  Oxford  to  his  dying  chamber  in  City  Road  he  aimed  at  this  ! 
one.  objective  point.  With  the  calm  courage  of  a  Divine  conviction, 
sustained  and  inspired  by  a  personal  experience,  he  solemnly  committed 
the  Wesleyan  movement  to  the  entire  sanctification  of  the  believer. 
Neither  controversy,  nor  misunderstanding,  nor  persecution  diverted 
him  from  his  high  calling.  Whatever  else  he  did  for  Christian  educa- 
tion, for  Christian  charity,  for  Christian  civilisation,  he  did  to  promote  ■ 
this  chief  end.  As  other  religious  movements  had  had  their  providen- 
tial origin,  and  that  for  a  definite  mission,  he  and  his  followers  were  to 
be  distinctive  in  spreading  Scriptural  Holiness  over  all  lands.  Resolved 
on  this,  he  opened  the  door  to  those  who  desired  to  flee  from  the  wrath 
to  come,  and  then  organised  all  who  had  entered,  into  classes  subject  , 
to  negative  and  positive  General  Rules,  best  adapted  to  develop  the 
Christian  life  to  maturity.  In  nothing  more  is  his  genius  for  method 
to  attain  sainthood  so  apparent  as  in  the  class-meeting,  wherein  the  life 
of  each  week  is  reviewed,  for  the  correction  of  errors,  for  the  removal 
of  doubts,  and  wherein  those  who  are  mature  in  this  grace  become  the 
teachers  of  those  who  "hunger  and  thirst  after  righteousness;"  the 
class-meeting  is  the  nursery  of  Scriptural  holiness.  So  effective  is  this 
means  of  grace  in  this  regard,  that  similar  gatherings  are  held  in  other 
denominations,  not  a  few  of  whose  ministers  and  laymen  are  rejoicing 
in  the  light.  Through  all  the  decades,  since  1791,  when  Wesley 
ascended  to  his  reward  from  yonder  parsonage,  Methodists  have 
recognised  their  special  mission  to  promote  personal  holiness.  It  is 
prominent  in  their  discipline,  it  is  conspicuous  in  their  standard  works, 
it  is  the  burden  of  their  noblest  hymns.  Their  theology  is  essentially 
that  of  full  salvation,  their  literature  is  permeated  therewith,  their 
ministers  are  educated  therein,  their  experience  thereof  is  a  sublime 
fact,  and  their  record  of  it  is  in  the  biographies  of  their  glorified  hosts. 
While  on  one  point  there  has  been  an  honest  difference  of  opinion  on 
the  part  of  some,  whether  perfected  holiness  is  a  consummation  at  the 
time  of  conversion,  or  subsequent  thereto,  and  that  b}'  an  act  of  faith, 
yet  aU  are  in  accord  on  the  essential  point ;  and  while  the  common 

L 


14G       EVANGELICAL  AGENCIES  OF  METHODISM. 

belief  and  experience  of  the  Church  are  in  harmony  with  the  views 
of  Mr.  Wesley,  in  his  sermon  on  Sin  in  Believers ;  with  Mr.  Watson, 
in  his  Institutes;  with  Bishop  Foster  in  his  Christian  Purity,  jet  the 
feeling  prevails  that  zeal  for  a  holy  Hfe  is  preferable  to  zeal  for  a 
dogma.  Fidelity  to  this  great  mission  will  be  in  the  future,  as  it 
has  been  in  the  past,  the  secret  power  of  Methodism.  That  power 
is  not  in  her  doctrines,  for  they  are  as  old  as  the  Lord.  Not  in  her 
itinerancy,  for  it  is  as  old  as  the  apostles.  Not  in  love-feasts,  for 
they  are  as  old  as  the  primitive  Church  ;  but  rather  in  the  "  word  of 
her  testimony."  If  to-day  her  people  are  numbered  by  milHons; 
if  her  altars  are  thronged  with  penitents ;  if  her  schools  of  learning 
and  houses  of  mercy  bless  all  lands;  if  her  children  are  taught  of 
the  Lord ;  if  her  literature,  like  the  leaves  of  the  tree  of  life,  is  for 
the  healing  of  the  nations ;  if  her  sons  have  risen  to  honour  in  every 
department  of  Hfe ;  if  her  missions  encircle  the  globe — these  are  the 
fruits  of  her  holy  living. 

The  President  (Rev.  Dr.  Stacey),  as  the  invited  speaker  on  this 
subject,  said :  Scriptural  holiness  may,  I  think,  be  regarded  generally 
as  identical  with  Scriptural  sanctification  ;  and  this,  so  far  as  I  can 
see,  cannot  be  much  more  intelligibly  expressed  than  in  the  customary 
formula  of  entire  deliverance  from  the  guilt  and  defilement  of  sin,  and 
the  full  consecration  of  the  whole  heart  and  life  to  God.  It  might, 
perhaps,  be  closer  to  an  exact  definition  of  it  to  say  that  holiness  is 
what  the  believer  personally  becomes  and  personally  obtains — what  he 
gains  and  what  he  realises  in  actual  experience  and  character — when 
this  twofold  process  has  taken  complete  effect  upon  him.  In  other 
words,  it  is  the  moral  and  spiritual  state  into  which  he  is  thereby 
actually  and  consciously  brought,  making  him  a  partaker  of  the  Divine 
holiness,  and  so,  therefore,  a  partaker  of  the  Divine  nature. 

But  whatever  the  precise  definition,  holiness  in  man,  in  our  con- 
ception of  it,  includes  always  the  two  things  I  have  mentioned.  We 
think  of  it  as  moral  purity  and  as  moral  goodness  and  beauty ;  and  of 
these  as  gained  by  purgation  from  sin,  as  the  direct  opposite  of  holiness, 
and  by  consecration  to  God,  in  their  supreme  direction  and  habitiial 
movement  towards  Him,  of  the  entire  affections  and  will.  Each  of 
these  implies  the  other,  and  both  occur  at  the  same  time.  The  process 
is  one,  as  the  agent  is  one :  just  as  darkness  disappears  by  the  streaming 
in  of  the  hght  ;  just  as  ignorance  gives  way  in  the  acquisition  of 
knowledge;  just  as  disease  is  vanquished  and  expelled  by  the  stimu- 
lation to  vital  action  of  the  disordered  part  or  organ,  so  spiritual 
defilement  is  cleansed  away  in  the  renewal  and  exaltation  of  man's 
affections  and  will  to  the  image  of  God  by  the  presence  and  power  of 
the  Holy  Ghost.  The  work  thus  accomplished  may  be  jjartial  or 
complete,  though  it  can  never  be  final ;  and  it  is  complete  while  yet 
capable  of  further  addition,  only  when  sin,  the  alienating  and  corrupting 


EEV.    DR.    STACEY'S   ADDRESS.  147 

element  in  man's  nature,  is  wholly  destroyed,  and  the  nature  becomes, 
in  conscious  and  blessed  activity  of  each  of  its  powers,  and  hence  of  all 
of  them  in  their  harmonious  operation,  entirely  the  Lord's.  This  is 
the  practical  fulfilment  of  the  Saviour's  great  purpose— the  destruction 
of  the  works  of  the  devil — in  the  individual  soul.  It  is  what  the  writer 
of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  calls  salvation  to  the  "  uttermost  " — that 
is,  in  the  totality  and  fulness  of  its  promised  benedictions  and  beati- 
tudes. It  is  what  St.  Paul  speaks  of  as  sanctification  "wholly," 
sanctification  of  the  entire  realm  and  territory  of  man's  nature,  and  of 
each  part  in  particular — of  spirit,  soul,  and  body.  It  is,  yet  again,  the 
answer  in  actual  experience  and  fact  of  his  wondrously  grand  and 
elevating  prayer  for  the  Ephesians,  and  therefore  for  us — for  apostolic 
prayers  are  for  all  for  whom  apostles  wrote — that  Christ  might  dwell 
in  their  hearts  through  faith ;  to  the  end  that,  being  rooted  and 
grounded  in  love,  they  might  be  able  to  apprehend  with  all  saints 
what  is  the  breadth  and  length  and  height  and  depth,  and  to  know  the 
love  of  Christ  which  passeth  knowledge,  that  they  might  be  filled  unto 
all  the  fulness  of  God. 

If  I  had  to  give  the  supreme  principle  and  absolute  essence  of  entire 
sanctification,  I  should  speak  of  it  as  an  all-commanding  and  self- 
absorbing  love  to  God ;  and  I  would  reason  thus :  Sin,  whatever  its 
form,  has  but  one  nature.  St.  John,  as  our  Revisers  correctly  render 
his  expression,  says  sin  is  "  lawlessness."  But  lawlessness  is  not  being 
unthout  law,  but  being  opposed  to  law ;  and  opposition  to  law  is  rebellion 
against  the  authority  whose  law  it  is  ;  while,  again,  rebellion,  when 
the  law  is  just  and  good,  resolves  itself  essentially  into  personal  enmity. 
And  thus  at  enmity  with  God  the  carnal  mind  is.  Destroy  this  carnal 
mind,  and  the  enmity  ceases ;  substitute  the  mind  of  the  spirit  for  it, 
and  love  reigns  in  its  place.  Let  this  operation  be  complete — that 
is,  let  the  sanctification  be  entire,  and  then  love  becomes  the  sovereign, 
the  imperial  passion  of  the  soul,  and  the  believer,  in  a  transport  of 
spiritual  dehght,  is  ready  to  say,  as  he  does  say,  though  in  whispers, 
it  may  be,  which  only  God  and  the  angels  can  hear,  "  Thou  art  my 
portion,  O  Lord."  "  Whom  have  I  in  heaven  but  Thee  ?  And  there 
is  none  upon  earth  that  I  desire  beside  Thee."  It  is  hardly  necessary 
to  say  that  God  Himself  is  the  Author  of  the  great  change  thus 
wrought  in  the  soul  of  the  believer,  but  it  is  never  out  of  place  to 
emphasise  the  fact  that  He  is  the  sole  Author  of  it,  from  first  to  last. 
"Ye  are  His  workmanship,"  says  the  apostle,  in  a  passage  of  remark- 
able energy  and  fulness  of  meaning,  "  created  in  Christ  Jesus  in 
order  to  good  works ; "  His  handiwork,  that  is,  and  so  much  so,  that 
the  work  done  is  nothing  less  than  a  real  spiritual  "  creation." 
So,  when  desiring  the  entire  sanctification  of  the  Thessalonians,  he 
prays  that  God,  as  the  God  of  peace,  would  Himself  bestow  the  blessing 
upon  them,  expressing  his  conviction  at  the  same  time  that  His  faith- 
fulness was  a  sure  pledge  that  He  would. 

l2 


148  EVANGELICAL   AGENCIES   OF   METHODISM. 

And  yet  this  work,  though  so  essentially  Divine,  is,  at  the  same  time, 
so  really  human,  that  God  imperatively  commands,  "Be  ye  holy,  for  I 
am  holy  ;  "  while  on  the  ground  of  our  inheritance  in  His  "  exceedingly 
great  and  precious  promises  "  the  apostle  exhorts  us  to  "  cleanse  our- 
selves from  all  filthiness  of  the  flesh  and  spirit,  perfecting  holiness  in 
the  fear  of  God."  It  is  human,  however,  not  in  the  sense  of  our  adding 
anything  of  our  own  to  the  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  but  only  in  the 
sense  of  our  yielding  and  responding  to  the  life-giving  influences  which 
He  Himself  pours  in  upon  our  hearts  ;mcL  uiuds.  We  unite  with  Him 
in  the  work  because  we  are  intelligent  and  responsible  creatures ;  but 
we  cannot  therefore  claim  any  vital  share  in  the  work  itself.  Co-opera- 
tion in  this  matter  does  not  necessarily  imply  co-efiiciency.  How  the 
two  agencies  thus  concur  and  act  together,  so  as  to  maintain  the  com- 
plete supremacy  of  the  one,  and  yet  preserve  the  unfettered  freedom 
of  the  other,  we  may  not  know ;  and  need  not  care  to  know,  especially 
as  the  mystery  is  a  common  one,  pervading  the  whole  course  of  human 
life.  We  are  concerned  only  with  the  fact.  Divine  agency  is  stimula- 
tive and  directive,  without  being  in  any  degree  destructive,  of  human 
agency ;  and  the  result  of  both  agencies  in  harmonious  operation  is 
that  moral  and  spiritual  perfection  of  nature  which  constitutes  the 
"  high  calling  "  of  believers  in  Christ  Jesus. 

In  considering  the  "  special  fitness  of  Methodist  means  of  grace"  to 
promote  this  holiness,  I  would  give  a  large  interpretation  to  the  word 
"  means,"  iacluding  among  them  several  things  not  usually  called  by 
that  name.  1.  There  is  the  original  idea  and  purpose  of  Methodism. 
Its  declared  design  was  to  "  spread  Scriptural  holiness  through  the 
land ; "  not  to  formulate  another  creed,  not  to  establish  another  eccle- 
siastical system,  but  to  generate  another  spirit,  by  means  of  a  living 
ministry  of  the  simple  Gospel,  which  should  carry  men  forward  from 
the  first  step  in  conversion  to  the  highest  attainments  of  the  sons 
of  God.  The  causative,  the  germinant  idea  of  any  institution,  particu- 
larly where  the  institution  is  manifestly  of  Providential  origin,  becomes 
an  influential  tradition  and  a  self-oi^erative  power.  2.  The  original 
design  of  Methodism  is  still  its  conscious  heritage  and  its  pervading 
inspiration.  And  this  inspiration  is,  I  think,  a  perpetually  directive 
and  impellent  motive  towards  the  accomplishment  of  its  chief  and 
most  characteristic  end.  3.  The  kind  of  ministry  that  Methodism 
adopted  at  the  beginning,  and  still  for  the  most  part  favours  and 
practises,  conduces  to  the  same  result.  Its  sermons  are  not  essays 
and  dissertations  on  subjects  interesting  mainly  to  meditative  and 
cultured  intellects,  but  deliveries  of  fundamental  truth  and  messages 
of  immediate  salvation,  equally  needed  by  all,  and  intended  as  spirit 
and  life  to  every  one  that  hears.  4.  Its  psalmody,  too,  must  take  high 
rank  among  its  Divine  provisions  and  fitness  of  special  means.  Habit- 
ually to  read  and  sing  such  hymns  as  Mr.  Charles  Wesley's  almost 
inspired  supplication  grounded  on  the  great  promise  in  Ezekiel,  "  I 


EEV.    DR.    STACEY'S   ADDRESS.  149 

•will  sprinkle  clean  water  uj)on  you,"  &c.,  and  commencing,  "God  of 
all  power,  and  truth,  and  grace,"  &c.,  is  to  live  under  a  perpetual 
baptism  of  sanctifying  influence.  5.  But  perhaps  the  "means  of 
grace  "  in  Methodism  best  fitted  to  promote  "  Scriptural  holiness,"  are 
those  instituted  ordinances  for  spiritual  communion  and  edification 
that  belong  to  Methodism  specially  and  peculiarly.  These  are  the 
band-meeting,  where  it  exists,  the  fellowship-meeting,  the  love_- 
feast,  and,  chief  of  all,  the  class-meeting.  This  last  has  been  called 
the  "germ  cell  of  Methodism."  Whatever  it  may  be  ecclesiastie^iij, 
it  hag  religiously  a  rank  and  character  that  it  would  not  be  easy  to 
over-estimate.  Its  value  is  seen  in  this,  that,  as  a  sujpplementary 
ministry  of  the  Gospel,  it  carries  the  teachings  of  the  pulpit  into 
minuter  detail,  and  gives  them  a  director  personal  apphcation  to  the 
varying  spiritual  requirements  of  those  who  constitute  its  members. 
It  furnishes  periodical  opportunities  for  intimate  self-examination,  and 
the  due  and  faithful  appraisement  of  individual  character,  thereby 
bringing  into  a  clearer  and  more  definite  consciousness  the  defects  and 
failures  of  the  past,  and  quickening  to  greater  strength  and  activity 
the  motives  that  constrain  to  a  higher  Christian  life  in  the  future.  It 
pledges,  as  if  by  an  oft-rei^eated  covenant,  to  a  daily  "  conversation 
as  it  becometh  the  Gospel  of  Christ,"  and  supplies,  by  the  frequently 
recurring  suggestions  and  memories  that  spring  out  of  it  through  the 
week,  the  most  salutary  admonitions  in  the  presence  of  seductive 
temptation,  and  the  most  exalting  and  invigorating  encouragements  in 
the  endurance  of  fiery  trials.  It  unites  together  in  the  closest  re- 
ligious fellowship  those  of  like  precious  faith,  developing  and  fostering 
among  them  a  spirit  of  personal  interest  in  each  other's  religious 
character  and  progress ;  and  thus,  binding  their  hearts  togetlier  in  the 
very  holiest  ties,  attaches  them  ever  more  intimately  and  consciously 
to  Christ  and  His  cause.  It  generates  and  encourages  a  habit  of 
free  and  unreserved  communication  among  them  on  Divine  things  in 
general,  and  on  these  as  they  concern  their  own  Christian  life  in  par- 
ticular, which  makes  religion  a  topic  of  conversation  with  them  almost 
as  familar  as  science  and  literature  and  politics  are  to  other  people, 
and  in  this  way  tends  continually,  and  tends  effectually,  to  their  reli- 
gious "  f lu-therance  and  joy  of  faith."  It  hence  becomes  a  kind  of 
universally  distributed  pastorate  and  form  of  spritual  communion,  by 
which  believers  in  Christ  Jesus  are  led  to  "  hold  fast  the  profession  of 
their  faith  "  without  wavering,  and  to  consider  one  another,  "  to  provoke 
unto  love  and  good  works  ; "  or,  to  use  other  words  of  the  great  ax)Ostle, 
by  which,  "teaching  and  admonishing  one  another  in  psalms  and  hymns 
and  spiritual  songs,  singing  with  grace  in  their  hearts  unto  the  Lord," 
they  become  "  strong  in  the  Lord  and  in  the  power  of  His  might,"  and 
so  "established  in  their  hearts  unblamable  in  holiness  before  God, 
even  the  Father,  at  the  coming  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  with  all  His 
saints." 


150  EVANGELICAL   AGENCIES   OF   METHODISM. 

I  concltide  first,  in  the  wordg  of  Mr.  "Wesley,  who  says  in  his  Journal 
for  August,  1776,  that  "  Christian  perfection  is  the  peculiar  doctrine 
committed  to  our  trust;"  and,  secondly,  in  those  of  Mr.  Dale,  who 
writes  that  "  the  class-meeting  "  is  the  "  natural  product "  of  Methodism, 
and  that  "  the  Methodist  people  should  take  good  care  how  they  treat 
so  precious  and  wonderful  a  growth  ! "  Both  are  so  related  in  Methodism, 
that  neither  could  he  sacrificed  without  practical  injury  to  the  other. 
The  doctrine  gives  to  the  class-meeting  one  of  its  chief  utilities,  and 
the  class-meeting  again  gives  to  the  doctrine  one  of  its  best  means  of 
experimental  verification.  Both  must  therefore  be  held  steadfastly 
and  firmly  if  the  Methodism  of  the  future  is  to  be  at  aU  eq^ual  to  the 
Methodism  of  the  past. 

Eev.  J.  W.  McDonald,  D.  D.  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church) :  I  have  some 
strong  convictions  in  regard  to  this  subject,  and  though  I  may  not  be  able 
to  express  them  as  well  as  others  might,  yet  I  feel  that  they  are  important 
in  themselves.  And  in  the  first  place  I  have  realised  more  and  more  the 
importance  of  this  great  subject  of  holiness.  We  liave  had  quite  a  grand 
review  here,  and  reviews  are  very  proper.  We  have  marshalled  our  forces, 
our  regiments,  battalions,  and  army  corps  ;  we  have  brought  in  array  our 
artillery  and  our  weapons  of  warfare  ;  we  have  looked  over  the  wide  field 
as  it  seems  to  us,  and  I  suppose  have  rejoiced.  And  yet  while  I  have  been 
thankful  to  God  for  what  He  has  done,  I  confess  that  I  have  not  been 
astonished  at  what  He  has  done,  but  I  have  rather  wondered  that  more  has 
not  been  done.  It  often  occurs  to  me  that  there  is  an  immense  outlay  of 
means — of  preaching,  of  organising,  and  of  general  outside  church  work — 
in  comparison  with  the  meagre  returns  which  we  realise.  Why,  we  have 
Sunday-schools  that  are  perfection  in  all  external  things,  and  complete 
Church  organisations,  and  weapons  of  warfare,  and  yet  we  preach,  year 
after  year,  and  comparatively  few  are  converted,  and  we  see  but  compara- 
tively little  result.  We  seem  to  struggle  on  as  if  it  were  for  a  mere 
existence  in  the  world.  Now,  when  I  compare  these  things  with  the  high 
standard  that  we  find  in  the  Bible,  and  with  the  descriptions  of  triumphs 
which  it  gives,  it  seems  to  me  we  are  far  below  the  position  God  intended 
that  we  should  occupj',  for  He  intended  that  the  Church  should  go  through 
this  world  from  conquering  on  to  conquest,  triumphant  always,  not 
trembling  in  the  presence  of  foes,  nor  growing  pale  because  somebody  has 
made  some  discovery  in  science.  We  have  not  reached  to  the  true  point 
of  Pentecostal  power,  or  if  we  have  been  there  we  have  moved  a  little 
away  from  that  point.  And  now  while  we  have  before  us  this  great 
theme,  the  question  with  me  does  not  seem  so  much  the  power  to  improve 
the  organisation,  as  how  to  secure  the  internal  power  to  work  this  organisa- 
tion, W^e  have  multiplied  machinery,  and  added  to  its  weight,  until  by  its 
friction  and  weight  it  has  almost  overcome  the  central  force,  and  we  are 
moving  languidly  when  we  ought  to  move  with  vigour.  The  question 
comes  up  how  we  may  come  back  to  this  point  of  holiness,  which  is  the 
point  of  power.  Some  one  has  said  that  we  have  absolutely  ceased  to 
preach  upon  this  subject,  and  there  are  two  statements  that  I  want  to  make. 
I  believe  that  the  more  you  think  of  them  the  more  you  will  find  there  is 
in  them,  and  they  are  these  :  If  there  is  any  one  point  upon  which  we 
have  been  at  sea,  it  is  this  subject  of  entire  sanctification.  If  there  is  any- 
thing that  Wesley  left  incomplete,  it  is  his  treatise  upon  that  doctrine  ; 
and  now  in  our  country,  and  I  suppose  elsewhei'e,  we  have  various  views 
on  this  great  subject.     When  our  modern  theologians  deal  with  it  they  are 


GENERAL   REMAEKS.  151 

quoted  and  criticised,  the  fact  being  that  we  are  not  at  one  on  this  question, ' 
and  that  we  have  not  come  to  the  point  of  distinct  and  plain  statement  of 
this  doctrine,  though  we  all  believe  in  it  and  try  to  carry  it  out.     It  seems 
to  me  a  pressing  want  of  the  Church  that  in  some  way,  by  coming  together 
and  by  discussion,  and  bringing  the  light  of  various  minds  to  bear  on  this 
question,  we  should   come  to  some   more  exact  statement  of  this   great  ; 
doctrine,  and  put  it  in  the  form  in  which  we  have   other  doctrines  put,  so 
that  it  may  become  so  plain   and  exact  that  the  common  preachers  among 
us  can  go  forth  and  teach  those  that  are  under  their  care.     Various  ideas  of 
entire  sanctiticatiou  have  crept  into  our  churches.     We  go  and  preach  what 
we  consider  to  be  the  Bible  view  on  this  subject,  and  we  think  that  we  ', 
have  the  weight  of  evidence  on  our  side  ;  but  still  there  are  those  who  say   ' 
that  is  not  it,  and  we  find  ourselves  in  controversy,  and  we  feel  that  con- 
troversy is  doing  more  harm  than  our  preaching  will  do  good.     We  there- 
fore become  sensitive  and  cease  to  preach  on  this  subject.     What  we  want 
is   that   by   some    effort   we    should   come   to   a   clear   definition    of  this 
important'doctrine,  and  I  for  my  part  would  be  very  glad  to  see  half  a  day 
devoted  to  the  discussion  of  this  question. 

Hon.  W.  C.  DePauw  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church)  said:  I  have  some 
clear  and  satisfactory  convictions  on  this  question,  at  least  satisfactory  to 
my  own  mind  and  heart,  and  I  want  to  express  them  very  briefly.  First 
of  all,  as  to  the  suggestion  of  my  brother  McDonald  as  to  how  we  are  to 
come  back  to  the  old  landmarks.  We  must  come  back  by  consecrating 
ourselves  and  our  homes,  our  lives,  our  pocket-books,  our  business,  every- 
thing that  we  have  to  Christ.  Take  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  as  senior 
partner  in  all  our  business  ;  never  write  a  letter,  never  make  an  entry  in 
our  ledger,  or  say  or  do  anji;hing  that  we  would  not  be  willing  to  say  or 
do  or  wi'ite  in  the  presence  of  the  Master.  Brethren,  I  think  we  have 
fallen  away  in  this.  And  now  I  want  to  say  I  have  long  ceased  to  measure 
arms  with  God  ;  I  have  long  ceased  to  liniit  His  power  and  ability  ;  God 
can  do  anything.  He  can  fully  cleanse  any  man  and  make  him  whiter 
than  snow,  no  matter  how  defiled  he  is,  and  how  far  gone  in  sin.  I  thank 
my  friend,  Kev.  Dr.  Newman,  for  his  valued  paper.  It  is  clear.  Scriptural, 
and  comforting,  just  what  our  Saviour  taught  when  on  earth  preaching 
His  own  Gospel,  and  just  what  earnest  Christian  men  are  hungering  for, 
and  gladly  hear  to-day.  A  word  of  personal  testimony.  Glory  be  to 
Jesus !  the  blood  hath  cleansed.  The  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  can  cleanse 
from  all  sin,  and  it  doth  cleanse  ;  and  I  want  to  repeat  again  in  this 
temple  where  John  Wesley  preached,  and  where  such  sacred,  hallowed 
memories  surround  us,  that  the  power  of  Wesleyanism  and  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  and  of  all  the  branches  of  Methodism,  in  my  judgment, 
largely  depends  on  our  reconsecrating  and  giving  ourselves  anew  to  Christ. 
Let  us,  as  an  assembly  of  400  men,  go  down  on  our  knees  before  the  Lord 
and  give  ourselves  anew  to  the  work  of  the  IMaster,  and  then  let  us  go 
abroad  to  do  good.  I  want  such  a  baptisn;i  to  take  home  with  me  to 
America  that  I  may  do  more  for  Christ  and  bear  more,  and  live  nearer  to 
the  cross,  love  God  more,  and  do  more  for  humanity,  that  is  the  great 
desire  of  my  heart.  And  now  just  another  word  of  personal  testimony, 
and  that  is  this  :  that  the  most  j()3^ous  tiling  that  ever  came  to  my  heart  is 
the  religion  of  Christ ;  and,  glory  be  to  God,  it  abides  this  afternoon.  The 
religion  of  Christ  is  not  only  a  joy,  it  is  a  luxury  ;  bless  God,  it  is  a  lirst- 
class  luxur}',  and  I  want  it  to  abide  in  my  heart  for  ever  I 

Rev.  J.  Ferguson  (Primitive  Methodist)  said  :  I  have  been  settled  in 
the  Methodist  ministry  for  some  years  past,  and  upon  the  question  of 
entire  sanctification  I  must  say  I  have  been  most  perplexed.  Isentto  America 
and  bought  books  the  titles  of  which  I  will  not  name  ;  I  bought  books 
from  the   Primitive  Methodist  book-room  and   the  Wesleyan  book-room, 


152  EVANGELICAL   AGENCIES   OF   METHODISM. 

and  went  to  a  certain  publishing  house  in  this  city,  and  I  bought  other 
books,  and  read  and  read,  and  the  more  I  read  the  more  I  seemed  to  be 
perplexed  about  the  doctrine  of  entire  sanctification.  But  I  found  that  in'my 
ministry  there  was  a  certain  lack.  I  preached  Sunday  after  Sunday  in  my 
own  way,  and  very  few  people  were  converted  to  God.  I  read  the  New 
Testament  carefully,  and  discovered  that  this  glorious  doctrine  was  within 
the  reach  of  possibilitj',  and  might  become  part  and  parcel  of  my  own 
experience.  I  therefore  began  to  seek  it,  hut  before  I  found  it  I  began  to 
preach  it.  I  gave  a  series  of  sermons,  according  to  my  conccpLion  of  the 
truth,  as  I  discovered  it  in  the  New  Testament ;  and  no  sooner  did  I  begin 
to  preach  this  doctrine,  than  a  marvellous  change  came  over  myself  and 
the  people  of  my  charge.  In  many  cases  people  stopped  me  in  the  midst 
of  my  sermon,  crying  out  for  mercy,  and  I  may  say,  without  any  religious 
egotism,  that  to-day  I  do  publicly,  in  the  presence  of  my  people  and  in 
your  presence,  announce  the  enjoyment  of  that  blessing  which  I  believe  is 
so  clearly  exhibited  in  the  New  Testament.  When  I  found  this  myself  I 
called  my  local  preachei'S  together,  and  told  them  my  experience,  how  I 
had  been  struggling  for  more  than  twelve  months  to  secure  what  I  thought 
to  be  this  great  blessing.  What  was  the  result  ?  The  local  preachers  them- 
selves began  to  seek  the  same  blessing,  and  the  very  first  quarter  after  I 
received  it  myself,  we  reported  an  increase  to  our  quarterly  meeting  of 
ninety-eight.  Our  increase  for  the  last  quarter  was  more  than  one  hundred, 
and  never  does  a  week  go  by  without  God  adding  to  us  many  precious  souls. 
Whatever  may  be  the  points  of  difference  between  us,  as  ministers,  we  are, 
as  Methodists,  settled  in  this  one  grand  fact,  that  we  can  enjoy  this  blessed 
sanctification  through  faith  in  the  precious  blood  which  "  cleanseth  from 
all  sin." 

Rev.  William  Arthur  (Wesleyan  Methodist)  :  You  alluded,  sir,  in  your 
paper,  to  the  characteristics  of  lawlessness.  Looking  at  the  other  side,  we 
remember  that  the  characteristics  of  holiness  are  these,  that  one  by  one  the 
fruits  of  the  Spirit  are  given  to  us,  and  against  such  there  is  no  law  ;  "  love, 
joy,  peace,  long-suffering,  meekness,  gentleness,  charity,  temperance, 
brotherly  love,"  and  against  such  there  is  no  law  anywhere  in  earth  or 
heaven.  There  is  no  law  of  the  mind  ;  the  mind  will  never  be  injured  by 
any  of  these.  The  intellect  will  grow,  and  never  will  intellect  be  ruined 
by  them.  No  law  of  the  body  ;  the  body  will  never  be  ruined  by  any  of  the 
graces  of  the  Spirit  of  God.  No  law  of  society  ;  society  will  uever  be  ruined 
by  them,  whether  you  take  the  family,  or  the  town,  or  the  nation,  or  the 
human  race.  There  is  no  law  that  brings  evil  on  any  person  for  these 
graces  of  the  Spirit.  And  there  is  no  law  of  the  conscience.  A  man  in 
following  it  will  never  feel  that  between  himself  and  liis  conscience  there 
has  been  something  wrong.  All  that  he  feels  that  has  been  wrong  is 
wherein  he  has  departed  from  these  things  against  which  there  is  no  law. 
Whenever  we  find  that  against  which  there  is  no  law,  we  find  holiness  ;  and 
in  all  these  points  of  Christian  holiness  we  can  face  even  eternity  itself,  and 
feel  that  against  them  there  is  no  law.  A  good  deal  has  been  said  about 
differing  views,  and  I  am  afraid  there  are  differing  views.  I  sometimes 
hear  people  who  are  good  Methodists  putting  growth  in  contrast  to  entire 
sanctification— growth  in  contrast  to  life.  No  ;  we  cannot  have  growth 
without  antecedent  life.  And  nothing  hinders  growth  so  much  as  sin. 
Men  do  not  grow  up  out  of  sin  without  help,  but  when  God  endues  a  man 
with  a  clean  heart  and  renews  a  right  spirit  within  him,  then  he  is  prepared 
to  grow  and  grow  with  a  rapidity  with  which  he  can  never  grow  as  long  as 
sin  abideth  in  him.  The  Methodist  doctrine  of  sanctification  does  not  either 
exclude  or  ignore  growth,  but  it  founds  growth  upon  an  antecedent  of 
life,  and  that  life  was  in  the  Son,  and  that  life  was  imparted  by  the  quickening 
power  of  the  Spirit  of  God.     I  believe,  sir,  we  are  doing  more  to-dav  to 


GENERAL    REMARKS.  153 

get  near  to  what  we  want  to  ij-et  to,  than  if  we  were  attempting::,  according 
to  the  suggestions  of  a  brotlier,  to  find  a  closer  dehnition  in  words.  I 
believe  seeking,  as  we  are  now  seeking,  to  get  our  ideas  and  experience 
clear,  we  are  in  the  direct  way  to  obtain  what  we  want.  We  have  been 
talking  of  woman  and  of  woman's  work.  The  holiness  of  a  woman  is  that 
which  makes  a  perfect  woman.  Let  us  not  be  afraid  of  the  word 
"  perfection  ;  "  and  I  say  that  anything  that  makes  a  woman  into  a  man 
is  a  deduction  from  the  holiness  of  a  woman,  and  anything  that  makes 
a  man  into  a  woman  is  a  deduction  from  the  holiness  of  man.  In  ]>ro- 
portion  as  the  woman  is  womanly  in  all  perfectness,  and  in  proportion 
as  the  man  is  manly  in  all  perfectness,  so  do  they  approach  to  the  type  of 
Chr'st  in  holiness.  And  oh,  how  much  His  holiness  was  spent  in  common 
work  !  Thirty  silent  years,  about  which  there  is  hardly  a  word  spoken, 
in  a  carpentei-'s  shop,  doing  common  work,  among  common  men  and 
women  ;  common  work,  nothing  heroic  or  wonderful  ;  and  holiness  in 
common  work  is  the  grandest  of  all  holiness. 

Eev.  J.  C.  Emcry  (African  Methodist  Episcopal  Church)  said  :  The 
subject  under  consideration  at  present  I  confess  to  be  one  of  the  most 
interesting  to  me  of  all  the  subjects  to  which  I  have  listened  since  the 
commencement  of  the  proceedings  of  this  Conference,  whatever  may  be 
said  concerning  the  blessed  influences  and  glory  of  our  Methodism,  the 
glories  and  honours  which  belong  to  its  founders  and  its  coadjutors.  After 
all,  when  we  get  round  to  the  consideration  of  questions  like  that  before 
us,  it  seems  to  me,  not  without  some  sense  of  humiliation,  that  I  have 
suffered  from  perplexity  on  this  question  more  than  on  all  other  questions 
in  the  circle  of  doctrines  embraced  and  taught  by  Methodism.  The  want 
of  exact  terms  and  of  exact  deiinitions  has  left  thousands  of  minds  perhaps 
like  my  own,  for  want  of  strength,  or  for  want  of  light,  in  confusion  some- 
what, and  somewhat  wavering  as  to  the  manner  in  which  we  should  grasp 
thoughts  contained  in  this  doctrine  of  Christian  holiness.  Some  men  speak 
of  "perfection,"  What  is  that?  Then  we  allude  to  it  bj^  the  term 
"sanctification."  What  is  that  ?  We  turn  to  our  dictionaries  and  inquire. 
So  we  get  back  to  some  other  definition,  which  shows  us  that  when  a  man 
is  sanctified  he  is  "  set  apart ; "  so  that  many  of  them  among  the 
Methodists  of  the  United  States,  so  far  as  my  experience  and  intercourse 
among  Methodists  go,  have  done  concerning  this  doctrine  as  I  did  years 
ago,  contented  ourselves  with  concluding  in  our  own  minds  to  leave  tl 


le 


matter  with  God,  and  to  work,  and  pray,  and  wait  until  our  work  is 
done.  Dr.  Newman  seemed  to  me  to  throw  very  much  light  on  the  subject, 
and  yet  his  explanation  was  couched  in  lofty  diction,  and  in  involved 
logical  sentences  which  would  be  difficult  for  common  people,  such  as  I  am, 
to  get  at,  even  when  you  have  fixed  it  witli  type  on  paper.  What  I  hoped 
for  in  the  Oecumenical  Council  of  Methodism,  where  its  learning  and  its 
experience  sat  in  council  together,  was  (that  the  blessing  of  God  would 
come  down  upon  some  soul,  and  give  him  the  power  to  translate  thi- 
doctrine  into  the  simple  language  of  the  common  people,  and  fix  it  so  th;ii 
we  might  all  understand  it.^ 

Dr.  C.  K.  IMarsiiall  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South)  said  :  I  havr 
listened  with  unbounded  gratification  to  the  exposition  of  this  great  theme  by 
my  honoured  friend,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Newman,  and  you  may  imagine  how  deeply 
my  heart  yearns  for  comnumion  and  sympathy  with  all  true  men  and 
spiritual  souls,  when  I  tell  you  lliat  Dr.  Newman  belongs  to  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  (Jhurch,  in  the  Northern  States,  and  I  belong  to  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  South  ;  and  that  during  the  late  unhappy  strife  between 
the  two  sections,  there  was  not  a  more  intense  patriot  on  the  side  of  the 
Union  than  Dr.  Newman  ;  nor  do  I  supjxise  I  was  behind  any  man  in 
desiring  the  indeuendence  of  the  South.    Tlieu  we  were  opposed  in  politics, 


154!  EVANGELICAL   AGENCIES   OF   METHODISM. 

which  belong  to  the  past,  and  are  buried.  But  we  meet  here  in  perfect 
concord,  on  the  great  theme  under  discussion.  This  doctrine  unites  the 
hearts  of  all  Christians  in  one  bond.  It  is  uniting  the  North  and  South. 
The  love  oi:  Christ  reconciles  all  sections,  and  harmonises  all  differences  ; 
the  love  of  Christ  will  reconcile  all  discordant  things  in  the  Church.  I 
desire,  however,  to  say  that  1  do  not  agree  Avith  the  brother  who  desires 
an  exact  definition  and  full  explanation  of  this  doctrine.  It  can  never  be 
defined.  It  never  was  intended  that  it  should  be  defined.  Sanctification 
and  holiness  are  terms  that  convey  a  very  imj/erfect  idea  of  the  great  doc- 
trine. Here  we  see  through  a  glass  darkly  ;  but  it  is  not  more  mysterious 
and  inexplicable,  or  easier  to  "  define,"  than  the  doctrines  of  faith  and 
justification,  and  other  like  truths  of  revelation.  There  are  cardinal  truths 
and  mysteries  in  the  universe  that  never  will  be  comprehended.  Not  all 
the  ages  of  eternity  that  bankrupt  the  powers  of  imagination  to  contem- 
plate, will  be  able  to  explain  the  nature  of  God.  And  man  himself  will 
remain  through  eternity  as  great  a  mystery  as  its  broad  bosom  will  contain. 
These  doctrines,  revealed  by  infinite  wisdom  in  order  to  our  eternal  well- 
being,  were  never  intended  to  be  reduced,  like  the  multiplication  table,  to 
the  comprehension  of  a  finite  being,  by  analysis  and  definition.  If  I  under- 
stand the  teachings  of  Christ  and  His  apostles  in  this  momentous  scheme, 
and  also  the  doctrines  of  faith  and  justification,  they  are  to  be  experienced, 
not  explained,  and  their  experience  supplies  the  best  explanation  and  defini- 
tion. "  He  that  doeth  My  will  shall  know  of  the  doctrine."  One  need  not 
ask  what  Mr.  Wesley's  definition  is,  or  what  he  believed  in  the  form  of 
words.  That  is  not  my  care  or  study.  But  my  daily  prayer  is,  "  Cleanse 
Thou  my  heart,  and  let  it  be  for  ever  closed  to  all  but  Thee  ;"  fill  me,  0 
God,  with  Thy  love,  and  make  me  useful  by  Thy  grace.  This  I  believe  to 
be  the  true  and  needed  exposition  of  the  doctrine  of  holiness. 

Bishop  Peck  said  that  in  his  experience  he  had  never  had  any  difficulty 
with  regard  to  the  Wesleyan  theory  of  Christian  holiness  which  was  not 
entirely  dissipated  by  an  hour  or  two  of  special  cumnam'on  with  God  ;  and 
he  hacl  the  conviction  that  the  gracious  power  by  which  he  was  able  to 
claim  a  full  Saviour  was  the  theory  and  essence  of  the  true  Wesleyan 
doctrine. 

Rev.  Dr.  McFerrin  (of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South)  said 
he  belonged  to  a  Church  numbering  nearly  900,000  members,  and  he 
was  happy  to  say,  so  far  as  his  knowledge  extended,  there  was  very  little 
diversity  of  opinion  on  the  great  doctrine  of  sanctification  as  taught  by  the 
Methodist  Church.  They  had  no  great  trouble  with  the  doctrine  ;  their 
trouble  was  that  they  were  not  seeking  after  the  blessing.  He  did  not  say 
that  men's  minds  were  not  confused  when  they  got  into  technicalities,  but 
a  man  seeking  after  holiness  with  the  New  Testament  before  him  could 
scarcely  be  at  a  loss  to  attain  that  purity  of  heart  wliich  so  changed  and 
refined  and  elevated  a  man's  nature  as  to  bring  him  into  communion  with 
God. 

The  remarks  wliich  followed  took  the  form  of  personal  testi- 
mony, and  the  Conference  was,  for  some  time,  transformed  into 
a  "  love-feast."  (No  report  was  made  of  these  personal  testi- 
monies.) 

After  the  hymn  had  been  sung — 

"  Saviour,  I  thank  Thee  for  Thy  grace," 

Rev.  E.  E.  Jenkins  (Wesleyan  Methodist)  agreed  with  Mr.  Arthur  that 
Christian  holiness  meant  rather  the  basis  than  the  stopping  of  growth.    He 


GENERAL    REMARKS.  155 

confirmed  tlie  experience  of  those  who  had  attained  the  desired  blessing, 
not  by  studious  apphcation,  but  througli  the  visitation  of  the  Holy  Ghost 
upon  their  own  spirit.  He  sincerely  hoped  that,  as  one  result  of  this  con- 
versation, the  blessing  might  descend  ujjon  some  hearts,  and  induce  them, 
whether  ministers  or  laymen,  to  take  a  new  course  of  life  aud  work,  for 
his  belief  was  that  the  possession  of  this  Divine  gift  would  be  the  great 
bulwark  against  the  assaults  of  the  enemy,  especially  to  ministers,  who 
could  then  preach  the  doctrine  from  personal  knowledga 

The  conversation  was  continued  by  Mr.  King  (Australia),  Bishop 
Hood  (African  Methodist  Episcopal  Zion  Church),  the  Rev.  J. 
Watsford  (Australia),  and  Dr.  Goodman  (Primitive  Methodist), 
who  all  agreed  that  the  enjoyment  of  sanctification  enhanced  personal 
usefulness  in  the  Church.  Some  of  the  speakers  had  experienced 
considerable  embarrassment  from  the  various  views  which  were 
taken  of  "  Scriptural  Holiness,"  and  desired  some  clear  definition 
of  the  doctrine  which  might  enable  them  as  ministers  to  preach 
upon  the  subject  with  confidence  and  acceptance.  To  this  others 
replied  from  their  own  experience  that  they  had  found  relief  from 
similar  embarrassment  by  studying  the  Word  of  God,  and,  with  the 
aid  of  His  Spirit,  accepting  it  in  faith  simply  as  it  stood. 

Prayer  aud  praise  brought  the  session  to  a  close. 


FOURTH  DAY,  Saturdaij,  September  10th. 


President— Rev.  S.  B.  Southerlaxd,  D.D.,  Protestant  Methodist  Church. 


Subject : 
•♦METHODISM  AND  THE  YOUNG." 


rpHE  CONFERENCE  resumed  at  Ten  o'clock,  tlie  Devotional 
-*-  Services  being  conducted  by  tiie  Rev.  L.  S,  Burkhead,  D.D. 
(Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South). 

The  minutes  of  yesterday's  proceedings  were  read  and  confirmed. 

The  report  of  the  Business  Committee  having  been  read,  it  was 
decided  to  take  the  several  recommendations  seriatim,. 

The  first  was  as  follows  :  **  As  to  the  unread  portions  of  the 
papers  referred  by  the  chairman  to  the  Business  Committee  for 
advice,  the  Committee  advises  that  the  whole  of  the  papers  be  re- 
garded as  the  property  of  the  Conference,  and  be  placed  in  the  hands 
of  the  Publication  Committee,  to  be  finally  dealt  Avith  by  them  on 
behalf  of  the  Conference." 

The  adoption  of  the  recommendation  having  been  moved  by  the 
Rev.  E.  H.  Dewart,  and  seconded  by  the  Rev.  J.  Wakefield, 

A  Delegate  thought  it  would  be  better  to  order  that  the  papers  be 
printed  in  full. 

Rev.  J.  Bond  (Secretary)  said  the  Conference  had  not  heard 
certain  portions  of  the  papers,  and  therefore  could  not  judge  as  to 
whether  or  not  those  portions  should  be  published. 

Rev.  C.  C.  M'Kechnie  (Primitive  Methodist  Church)  suggested 
that  provision  should  be  made  for  correspondence  between  the 
Publication  Committee  and  the  respective  essayists,  should  any 
material  alterations  be  thought  necessary. 

Rev.  Dr.  Walden  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church)  considered  that 


GENERAL   JREMARKS.  157 

the  portions  of  the  addresses  that  had  not  been  read  before  the  Con- 
ference should  be  subject  to  such  revision,  or  at  least  such  modifica- 
tion, as  might  be  deemed  necessary  when  the  size  of  the  volume 
had  been  determined.  Correspondence  between  the  Publication 
Committee  and  the  essayists  and  speakers  would  cause  an  embarrass- 
ing delay. 

Rev.  Dr.  McFerrin  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South)  Avas  of 
opinion  that  no  committee  should  have  authority  to  alter  any  essay 
or  speech.  The  volume  to  be  published  should  give  a  correct 
history  of  what  had  taken  place,  and  no  man  should  have  the  right 
to  change  his  essay  and  write  a  new  cne  when  he  went  home. 

Rev.  Dr.  J.  M.  Reid  said  the  adoption  of  the  suggestions  made 
this  morning  would  put  some  of  us  upon  reinserting  in  our  essays 
the  parts  that  we  had  struck  out,  and  would  induce  others  who  were 
expected  to  read  to  write  new  essays  presenting  more  fully  than  they 
could  have  hoped  to  do  the  subjects  committed  to  them  within  the 
space  of  twenty  minutes.  He  thought  the  brethren  who  had  pre- 
pared essays  which  they  could  not  read,  in  extenso,  ought  to  arrange 
the  matter  themselves  with  the  Business  Committee. 

Rev.  Dr.  Sutherland  thought  they  should  not  be  apprehensive 
that  any  of  the  essays  were  constructed  on  the  scorpion  principle  of 
having  the  sting  in  the  tail  only,  and  when  they  had  heard  them 
with  so  much  delight  and  satisfaction,  they  need  not  be  so  dreadfully 
afraid  that  there  was  something  heterodox  in  the  paragraph  or  two 
that  was  not  read.  The  brethren  who  had  to  read  the  essays  could 
be  trusted  just  as  well  as  the  Publication  Committee. 

The  resolution  having  been  amended  as  follows,  was  agreed  to  : 
"As  to  the  unread  portions  of  the  papers  referred  by  the  chair- 
man to  the  Business  Committee  for  advice,  the  committee  advises 
that  the  whole  of  the  papers  be  regarded  as  the  property  of  the  Con- 
ference, and  be  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  Publication  Committee  to 
be  finally  dealt  with  by  them  in  behalf  of  the  Conference ;  but  that 
no  alterations  be  made  in  the  portions  which  have  been  read  to  the 
Conference;  and  if  any  alteration  be  made  in  the  unread  portions 
they  be  made  with  the  concurrence  of  the  writers." 

The  clause  of  the  report  recommending  the  discussion  of  the  reso- 
lution on  the  Temperance  question  on  Tuesday  next  was  agreed  to. 

Bishop  Warren  announced  the  names  of  representatives  selected 
to  fill  the  places  of  absentees  in  delegation  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church. 

Rev.  Dr.  George  reported  from  the  joint  Executive  Committee 


158  METHODISM   AND    THE  YOUNG. 

that,  in  pursuance  of  the  resolution  referred  to  tliem  by  the  Con- 
ference, they  had  reconsidered  the  rules  and  regulations  originally 
framed  by  them,  and  had  amended  them  in  one  or  two  particulars. 
The  second  regulation  was  altered,  so  that  its  last  two  sentences 
would  read — "  All  questions,  proposals,  resolutions,  communications, 
or  other  matters  not  included  in  the  regular  programme  of  exercises 
which  may  be  presented  to  the  Conference,  shall  be  passed  to  the 
secretary,  read  by  their  titles  only,  and  referred,  without  debate  or 
motion,  to  the  Business  Committee.  A  period  at  the  close  of  the 
regular  programme  of  the  second  session  of  each  day  shall  be  set 
^art  for  reports  from  the  Business  Committee  and  from  other  com- 
mittees, but- the  reports  of  the  Business  Committee  shall  at  all  times 
be  privileged,  and  shall  take  precedence  of  any  other  matter  which 
may  be  before  the  Conference."  An  additional  rule  was  provided — 
"  The  first  session  of  each  day  shall  be  closed  at  one  o'clock  by  lapse 
of  time,  and  the  second  session  by  resolution  of  the  Conference." 

Rev.  Dr.  Waldex  moved  the  adoption  of  the  rules  as  amended, 
which  was  agreed  to. 

The  Conference  then  proceeded  to  the  consideration  of  the  topic 
of  the  day. 

Eev.  Joseph  Wood,  M.A.  (Primitive  Methodist  Church  of  Great 
Britain),  then  read  an  essay  on  The  Training  of  Children  in  Christian 
Homes,  so  as  to  bring  them  to  Christ,  and  attach  them  to  Methodism. 

We  regret  that  the  time  is  so  limited  for  the  discussion  of  a  subject 
which  is  most  closely  related  to  the  permanent  prosperity  and  the 
universal  extension  of  Methodism.  Upon  this  subject,  we  think,  more 
than  upon  any  other,  Methodists  need  educating.  There  are  few  things 
that  we  have  not  learned  to  do  better  than  to  train  our  youth  and 
attach  them  to  our  churches  and  institutions.  It  cannot  be  said  that 
we  do  not  know  how  to  mission,  how  to  evangelise  the  heathen  at 
home  and  abroad,  and  to  turn  adult  sinners  "from  darkness  to  light, 
and  from  the  power  of  Satan  unto  God."  The  Great  Head  of  the 
Church  has  given  us  special  qualifications  for  aggressive  work,  and  the 
time  has  not  come  for  us  to  abandon  that  work.  There  never  was 
more  of  it  to  be  done  in  England,  to  say  nothing  of  other  countries, 
than  there  is  to-day;  and  no  people  have  the  means  of  doing  it  as  well 
as  we  can,  if  we  only  will. 

But  have  not  we  failed  to  fulfil  another  obligation  imposed  upon  us  ? 
Providence  has  brought  under  our  teaching  and  influence  vast  numbers 
of  young  people,  and  thus  made  us,  to  some  extent,  responsible  for 
their  salvation.  Have  we  understood,  and  rightly  discharged,  our  duty 
to  them  ?     Have  not  we  allowed  a  very  large  proportion  of  them  to  go 


REV.   JOSEPH   wood's   ADDRESS.  159 

into  the  world,  and  grow  np  in  ungodliness  and  sin?  Has  not  tlie 
religion  of  children  been  viewed  with  distrust,  and  therefore  scarcely 
ever  attempted  on  a  lai'ge  scale?  We  have  sought  with  an  almost 
unbounded  faith  the  conversion  of  adults,  but  have  done  comparatively 
little  for  the  regeneration  of  child-life.  Here  is  one  of  the  weak  points 
of  Methodism,  to  remedy  which  we  should  earnestly  and  unitedly 
address  ourselves. 

The  subject  limits  us  to  the  consideration  of  one  institution  for 
leading  our  children  "to  Christ  and  attaching  them  to  Methodism," 
viz.,  their  "training  in  Christian  homes."  It  is  obligatory  upon  parents 
to  bring  up  their  families  "in  the  nurture  and  admonition  of  the  Lord." 
The  lessons  imparted  at  the  fire-side,  the  spirit  of  Christianity  per- 
vading the  house,  and  the  gentle  courtesies  and  sweet  attachments  of 
home,  ought  to  engrave  the  words  of  God  and  the  Gospel  of  His  Son 
upon  the  heart  and  mind  of  every  child  and  every  member  of  the 
household.  We  shall  lay  down  and  briefly  discuss  several  proposi- 
tions : — • 

I.  That  the  religion  of  Methodists  ought  to  be  transmitted  to, 

AND  REPRODUCED  IN,  THEIR  CHILDREN. 

What  is  the  religion  of  Methodists  ?  Has  it  any  peculiarities — any 
distinctive  features  ?  It  is  not  simply  a  creed  or  a  profession  ;  it  is  life 
and  energy,  a  power  in  the  heart,  controlling  the  centre  of  our  being. 
John  Wesley  had  to  insist  on  a  reUgious  hfe.  He  found  the  profession 
without  the  power  of  godliness,  and  his  great  object  was  to  revive  vital 
Christianity.  We  want  to  see  Methodism  in  its  true  import  handed 
down  from  generation  to  generation.  We  do  not  desire  to  alter  its 
form  or  principles,  but  to  diffuse  its  living  spirit  and  power.  It  will 
profit  our  children  but  little  to  have  the  name  of  Methodists,  and  to 
cHng  to  the  traditions  of  their  fathers,  if  they  be  destitute  of  the  gi'eat 
reality,  the  inward  and  spiritual  change.  The  kingdom  of  God  is  not 
'  in  word  only  but  also  in  power,  and  in  the  Holy  Ghost  and  in  much 
assurance." 

Our  subject  speaks  of  "  bringing  children  to  Christ,"  and  "  attaching 
them  to  Methodism  ;"  that  is  the  order,  "to  Christ,"  and  then  "to 
Methodism."  It  would  not  be  desirable  to  retain  such  as  are  alienated 
from  Christ.  Our  churches  have  but  few  attractions  for  the  unre- 
newed. They  lack  those  external  elements  which  are  the  great  charm 
and  fascination  of  worldly  minds.  The  world  will  love  its  own.  Then  to 
abide  with  us,  our  sons  and  daughters  must  be  born  again,  partake  of 
our  faith,  and  repeat  our  life.  If  they  have  no  sa-viug  relation  to  Christ, 
their  relation  to  the  Church  cannot  profit  either  them  or  us.  To  hold 
in  connection  with  it  ungodly  persons,  would  diminish  the  power  and 
tarnish  the  glory  of  any  Church.  A  worldly  and  impure  element  is 
an  element  of  weakness  and  decay.  To  be  satisfied  with  anything 
less  than  the  new  birth  for  our  members  we  should  lower  tlie 
standard  which  our  fathers  set  up,  and  suiTen^ler  the  object  for  which 


160  METHODISM   AND   THE   YOUNG. 

Metliodism,  by  the  Providence  of  God,  was  called  into  existence.  If 
we  cannot  persuade  our  young  jieople  to  fulfil  the  conditions  of  such 
change,  and  thereby  pass  from  dea,th  unto  life,  we  shall  not  have 
power,  and,  it  is  hoped,  shall  not  desire  to  retain  them  in  our  com- 
munion. 

Then   follows    the    prodigiously   important   question.   How   far  are 

parents  responsible  for  the  regeneration  of  their  children  ?  We  do 
not  believe  any  more  in  a  spiritual  "birthright  membership"  in  the 
Church  than  we  do  in  baptismal  regeneration.  All  are  bora  in  sin. 
Every  child  must  be  won  to  Christ  personally,  and  be  renewed  by  the 
Holy  Ghost,  or  that  child  remains  under  the  condemnation  due  to  sin, 
even  though  its  parents  are  as  godly  as  Elkanah  and  Hannah  of  old.  Is 
there  any  ground  for  the  general  belief  that,  whatever  be  the  training, 
it  is  wholly  uncertain  what  our  sons  and  daughters  in  character  will 
become,  as  uncertain  as  if  it  were  a  case  of  lottery  ?  The  best  is 
hoped  for  them  ;  but  there  is  no  fixed  law  on  which  a  confident  expec- 
tation may  be  entertained.  When  we  know  the  character  of  the 
fountain  we  can  judge  of  the  streams.  By  virtue  of  a  like  sequence, 
may  we  not  determine  the  character  of  children  when  we  have  ascer- 
tained that  of  parents  ?  There  is  as  real  a  connection  between  means 
and  ends  in  the  spiritual  economy  as  in  the  natural  economy.  We 
reap  what  we  sow ;  the  harvest  answereth  to  the  seed. 

In  its  doctrines  and  precepts  the  Bible  sees  the  religious  character 
of  the  chUd  in  that  of  the  parent.  Gen.  xviii.  19 ;  Deut.  iv.  40 ;  Isa. 
xliv.  3,  5  ;  Eze.  xx.  5,  6  ;  Psalm  cxlvii.  13  ;  Jer.  xxxii.  39 ;  Acts  ii.  89, 
xvi.  31 ;  1  Cor.  vii.  14.  The  Divine  purpose  evidently  is,  that  from 
godly  parents  there  should  be  a  godly  seed,  walking  m  all  the  ordi- 
nances and  commandments  of  the  Lord  blameless ;  that  as  the  race  is 
a  body  under  Adam,  the  Church  should  be  a  body  under  Christ, 
crrafting  its  children  into  the  living  vine,  and  teaching  all  to  know  the 
Lord,  from  the  least  unto  the  greatest.  The  home  teaching  of  the 
Hebrews  was  intended  to  produce  regeneration  of  character  in  the 
children,  to  make  them  Jews  inwardly  as  well  as  outwardly,  that  they 
might  not  be  "  a  stubborn  and  rebellious  generation,"  but  might  "set 
their  hope  in  God "  and  "  keep  His  commandments."  When  Paul 
directed  Christian  parents  to  bring  up  their  children  "in  the  nurture 
and  admonition  of  the  Lord,"  the  intention  was  not  that  they  should  be 
trained  to  be  merely  Christian  formalists,  but  that  they  should  have 
that  kingdom  of  God  in  the  heart  which  is  "  righteousness,  and  peace, 
and  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost." 

The  practicability  of  this  work  belongs  exclusively  to  God.  Our 
business  is  to  obey  His  commands.  Since  it  is  His  method  to  re- 
generate children  by  means  of  Christian  nurture,  it  is  our  duty  to 
assume  that  what  He  contemplates  can  be  done,  and  to  adapt  our 
machinery  to  the  work.  There  is  no  Scriptural  foundation  for  the 
theory  that  all  children  must  grow  into  sin  before  they  can  grow  into 


REV.   JOSEPH    wood's   ADDRESS.  161 

Christ ;  that  all  education  will  produce  a  crop  of  iniquity  before  it  can 
produce  a  crop  of  holiness.  So  far  as  human  instrumentality  is  con- 
cerned, it  is  easier  to  persuade  the  young  to  decide  for  Christ  than  it 
is  those  who  are  hardened  in  sin.  The  work  must  be  attempted  on  a 
large  scale,  and  if  Methodists  can  solve  the  problem  of  transmitting 
vital  religion  from  generation  to  generation,  the  ultimate  triumph  of 
Christianity  will  become  a  matter  of  course. 

The  theory  of  the  Church  of  England  in  relation  to  children  is  no 
idle  dream.  That  Church  takes  it  for  granted  that  infants  ought  to 
be  formally  dedicated  to  God  by  being  baptised  in  the  name  of  the 
Adorable  Trinity — that  this  solemn  rite  should  be  followed  by  careful 
and  ample  evangelical  instruction — that  the  instruction  will,  at  an 
early  age,  result  in  personal  conversion  to  God ;  hence  at  thirteen  or 
fourteen  children  are  to  be  examined  and  urged  to  take  upon  them- 
selves the  vows  made  at  their  baptism,  one  of  which  is  that  they  will 
"keep  God's  holy  will  and  commandments,  and  walk  in  the  same  all 
the  days  of  their  life."  The  order  is  baptism,  evangelical  instruction, 
and  official  examination.  Methodists  ought  to  take  hold  of  this  theory 
and  turn  it  into  a  Uviug  reality.  We  do  not  require  all  the  details 
of  it,  but  the  general  principle.  We  have  the  baptism  ;  that  is  the 
beginning  of  the  j)lan.  Instead  of  the  godfathers  and  the  godmothers, 
the  real  j)arents  are  obligated  to  undertake  the  religious  instruction 
of  the  child.  In  place  of  the  confirmation  and  the  laying  on  of  the 
bishop's  hands,  there  must  be  examination,  an  individual  appeal  to  the 
conscience  to  gain  the  personal  consent  a,nd  formal  promise  of  each 
youth  to  submit  to  Christ,  and,  as  a  present  guarantee  that  this 
promise  will  be  fulfilled,  now,  at  once,  to  join  the  Church  by  going 
to  some  class. 

In  our  ministry  and  pastoral  work  we  must  make  this  duty  clear 
to  heads  of  households,  and  render  them  all  the  assistance  we  can  in 
the  performance  of  it.  For  the  ignorance  and  neglect  which  prevail 
in  regard  to  it  ministers  are  largely  responsible.  In  our  sermons  we 
have  assumed,  if  we  have  not  directly  taught,  that  young  people  are 
to  live  several  years  to  the  world,  and  then  be  converted.  We  have 
looked  for  our  increases  more  from  revival  meetings  and  the  ijenitents' 
form  than  from  the  family  altar  ;  and  been  more  hojieful  of  converts 
from  the  ranks  of  those  who  are  well  bronzed  in  iniquity  and  have 
passed  through  a  kind  of  tragical  exiierience  in  turning  to  God,  than 
of  those  who  have  been  trained  in  the  way  they  should  go  from 
eaxhest  infancy  ;  and  to  whom  the  Christian  spirit  of  their  home 
has  been  a  process  of  domestic  conversion,  leading  them  into  the  path 
of  life  before  they  had  wandered  in  the  way  of  sin  and  death.  Let 
the  great  design  of  baptism,  and  especially  its  covenanting  character, 
be  duly  impressed  upon  parents,  showing  that  the  ordinance  is  part 
of  a  great  plan ;  that  it  is  to  be  followed  by  suitable  treatment  in 
order  that  the  baptised  may  become   true  and  living  Christians  as 

M 


162  METHODISM   AND  THE   YOUNG. 

soon  as  moral  existence  begins  ;  then  shall  we  realise  what  Methodism 
most  needs,  and  what  is  enforced  in  the  Scriptures — viz.,  an  adult 
Church  which  transmits  vital  religion  to  "  the  generation  to  come." 
II.  That   the    family  life   and  habits   of   Methodists  should  be 

KEGULATED  WITH  A  VIEW  TO  THAT  END. 

What  are  the  elements  of  a  truly  Christian  and  Methodist  training  ? 

1.  High-toned  piety  in  the  house  and  in  the  daily  life  of  the  parents. — In 
the  family  more  than  anywhere  else  is  it  true  that  example  is  better 
than  precept.  It  is  what  parents  are,  rather  than  what  they  say,  that 
will  take  effect.  They  are  the  child's  first  gospel.  He  reads  them 
before  he  can  tell  a  letter  in  his  primer.  He  imbibes  the  spirit  of  the 
house  before  he  is  able  to  judge  of  the  moral  character  of  it.  The 
atmosphere  of  many  a  Christian  professor's  house  is  very  unfavourable 
to  the  salvation  of  the  young.  The  malaria  of  worldliness  infects  the 
whole  family.  Commands  to  he  good  are  made  a  substitute  for  good- 
ness. There  may  be  the  morning  and  evening  devotion,  strict  attention 
to  the  public  means  of  grace,  wise  counsels  frequently  given ;  but  a 
defective  example  will  neutralise  the  whole.  Religion  should  not  be  a 
separate  subsistence  occasionally  introduced  to  serve  a  ;purpose  as 
masks  are  worn ;  but  the  very  life  and  soul  of  the  family,  ever  present, 
pervading,  regulating,  and  sanctifying  all  events.  Not  simply  sum- 
moned to  soothe  and  cheer  in  times  of  affliction  and  adversity ;  but  its 
voice  blending  with  the  merriest  moods,  and  shedding  "  sweet  glories  " 
on  those  moments  when  the  loved  ones  meet,  and  affection,  gushing 
from  warm  and  full  hearts,  sparkles  in  the  gleams  of  pleasant  wit  and 
humour.  The  homes  of  Methodists  ought  to  be  the  brightest  and 
happiest  out  of  heaven.  We  have  all  the  essential  elements  to  make 
them  such;  the  literature,  the  hymns,  the  tunes,  the  devotion,  the 
social  enjoyments — in  fact,  everything  to  render  them  cheerful  and 
attractive  with  a  living  piety. 

Such  homes  would  be  nurseries  for  our  churches — a  perpetual  means 
of  grace  to  the  children.  There  the  young  would  grow  up  lilie  Samuel 
and  Timothy,  a  seed  to  serve  God  in  their  generation.  The  rule  would 
be  for  them  to  be  saved  at  home,  and  not  in  a  preaching  service  or  a 
revival  meeting.  Baxter  says,  "  I  do  verily  believe  that  if  parents  did 
their  duty  as  they  ought,  the  Word  publicly  iDreached  would  not  be 
the  ordinary  means  of  regeneration  in  the  Church,  but  only  without 
the  Church,  among  practical  heathens  and  infidels."  He  was  greatly 
troubled  about  his  own  salvation,  because  he  could  not  call  to  mind 
any  distinct  time  when  he  was  saved,  until,  tracing  his  experience  as 
far  back  as  he  could,  he  found  that  he  had  been  saved  too  soon  to 
recollect  the  time  of  it.  The  particular  moment,  if  there  was  one,  was' 
lost  in  the  dim  memories  of  childhood.  The  love  of  God  had  mingled 
with  the  blessings  of  infancy,  and  the  way  of  sin  he  had  not  known. 

John  Wesley  was  awakened  to  a  sense  of  religion  when  a  child  at 
home,  and  was  so  remarkable  "  for  the  seriousness  of  his  spirit,  and 


REV.   JOSEPH   WOOD^S   ADDRESS.  1G3 

tlie  general  propriety  of  his  behaviour,"  that  "  at  the  age  of  eight  years 
he  was  admitted  to  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper."  Methodism, 
traced  up  to  its  fountain  head,  must  be  regarded  as  the  outcome  of 
all  domestic  piety,  rather  than  of  any  special  evangelistic  enterprise. 
We  are  more  indebted  to  Susannah  Wesley  than  to  Peter  Bohler.  To 
be  like  our  founder,  our  members  must  begin  to  serve  the  Lord  in 
childhood  under  the  influence  of  parental  training  and  example,  and 
continue  to  walk  before  God  in  holiness  and  righteousness  to  the  very 
end  of  life. 

2.  The  institution  of  suitable  means  in  the  house  for  the  spiritual  enlighten- 
ment and  7-egeneration  of  children. — All  must  not  be  left  to  the  involuntary 
influence  of  the  life.  The  reading  of  the  Scriptures  with  veneration 
and  prayer  is  of  supreme  importance,  and  cannot  in  any  house  be 
omitted  without  immense  loss.  To  read  with  profit,  it  is  necessary  to 
have  a  sj'stem  and  to  accompany  the  reading  with  explanatory  remarks 
and  occasional  questions.  When  this  cannot  be  done  twice  a  day  nor 
even  once,  as  is  often  the  case  in  this  busy,  bustling  age,  in  most 
houses,  if  proper  efforts  were  made,  one  hour  a  week  could  be  set  apart 
for  it,  and  something  like  a  regular  service  be  held.  It  was  the  custom 
in  Puritan  households  to  spend  the  Sunday  evening  in  giving  Bible 
lessons  and  catechetical  instruction  to  the  children  and  the  servants. 
This  cannot  be  done  in  Methodists'  homes,  because  we  have  our  most 
imijortant  jjublic  service  at  that  hour,  when  we  should  have  the  whole 
family  with  us  in  the  house  of  God.  But  if  there  be  a  will  to  have  it 
done,  time  will  no  doubt  be  found  for  teaching  the  family  the  way  of 
salvation,  and  building  them  up  in  the  most  holy  faith. 

Should  not  all  Methodists  be  urged  to  use  their  Connexional  cate- 
chisms in  home  training?  Every  child  and  servant  might  have  a  copy, 
and  a  question  or  two  be  asked  and  answers  required  daily,  and  the 
whole  reviewed  at  the  weekly  service.  This  would  furnish  the  young 
with  distinctions  and  definitions  of  doctrine  and  Christian  evidences, 
and  thus  fortify  them  against  the  errors  and  sophistries  of  the  age.  If 
such  duties  were  faithfully  attended  to  in  all  our  homes,  we  would  have 
no  fear  respecting  the  next  generation  of  Methodists.  We  might  defy 
either  Popery  or  infidelity  to  lead  our  youth  astray. 

The  prayers  of  the  family  should  be  short  and  simple,  and  refer  to 
the  incidents  which  are  occurring.  Singing  adds  much  to  the  interest 
of  the  service,  and  prepares  the  family  to  join  more  freely  in  the 
praises  of  the  sanctuary.  No  house  is  as  it  ought  to  be  which  has 
not  stated  times,  not  only  for  worship,  but  for  conversation  with  the 
children,  to  ascertain  their  mind  in  relation  to  Divine  things  and  per- 
suade them  to  decide  for  Christ.  Should  not  Methodists  have  a  family 
class-meeting  weekly,  when  all  would  feel  perfectly  free  to  ask  any 
question  relative  to  their  circumstances,  trials,  and  temptations,  and 
all  be  encouraged  to  praj'  a  few  words,  even  down  to  the  lisping  little 
one,,  who  asks,  "  Pleathe  God  bleth  little  mammy;  bleth  uth  all  for 

M  2 


]64  METHODISM  AND  THE  YOUNG. 

Jetliuth  thake  ? "  Besides  this,  it  is  well  to  take  the  children  apart 
occasionally,  and  converse  with  them  in  the  presence  of  God  about  tha 
soul,  Jesus  Christ,  the  judgment  to  come,  the  glorious  provision  of  the 
Gospel  to  make  them  happy  for  ever ;  what  constitutes  real  worth  of 
character ;  what  are  the  elements  of  true  happiness,  and  what  are  the 
objects  which  life  has  been  given  to  accomplish,  should  be  solemnly 
and  frequently  explained  to  them,  and  the  interview  always  end  in 
prayer.  The  great  point  for  parents  to  realise  is,  that,  as  a  sphere  of 
Divine  influence,  the  family  is  equal  to  the  Church,  They  may  regard 
the  place  of  their  abode  as  no  less  holy  than  the  sanctuary,  the  little 
gathering  at  the  fireside  as  no  less  sacred  than  the  assembly  in  a 
church  or  chapel,  the  instruction  and  service  on  the  domestic  hearth 
as  no  less  efficacious  for  spiritual  ends  than  the  rites  and  observances 
in  the  great  congregation. 

To  train  the  children  in  regular  attendance  on  public  worship  is  also 
a  powerful  means  of  bringing  them  to  Christ  and  attaching  them  to 
His  cause.  A  little  fellow  asked  his  parents  to  take  him  to  church 
with  them,  and  they  told  him  he  must  wait  till  he  was  older.  "  Well," 
was  his  shrewd  reply,  "  you'd  better  take  me  now,  for  when  I  get  , 
bigger  I  may  not  want  to  go."  If  parents  regard  the  worship  of  the 
sanctuary  as  a  pleasure  and  not  merely  a  duty,  their  children  will 
generally  wish  to  attend,  and  it  will  not  be  necessary  to  enforce  it  by 
an  act  of  compulsion.  But  care  must  be  taken  not  to  make  the  Sabbath 
one  of  irksome  restraint  and  burdensome  requisitions  ;  not  one  that  will 
be  regarded  as  an  unwelcome  interruption  to  the  amusements  and  pur- 
suits of  the  week,  but  anticipated  as  a  day  of  rest  and  peaceful  enjoy- 
ment. We  much  like  the  idea  of  catechising  the  children  on  the  sermons 
they  hear,  as  well  as  on  the  doctrines,  duties,  facts,  and  privileges  of 
Christianity,  as  taught  in  our  forms  of  catechism.  We  cannot  but 
think  that  these  means  would  prevent  at  least  the  majority  of  young 
people  from  forsaking  the  altars  of  God  and  the  courts  of  Zion. 

3.  The  exclusion  from  the  family  circle,  so  far  as  practicable,  of  all  per- 
nicious and.  dangerous  influences. — We  scarcely  need  indicate  the  channels 
through  which  these  influences  come.  The  books  that  are  brought  into 
the  house,  the  persons  who  visit  it,  the  social  entertainments  provided, 
and  the  companionships  formed,  are  sources  of  good  or  bad  influences 
which  enter  into  the  mental  and  moral  being,  and  become  interwoven 
with  the  very  life  of  children.  We  cannot  but  regard  the  superabundant 
supply  of  light  literature  as  more  or  less  dangerous.  Young  peoj)le  feed 
upon  it  until  they  have  no  appetite  for  anything  solid  and  substantial. 
Books  which  deal  with  unreal  persons  and  things— with  scenes,  events, 
and  characters  far  removed  from  the  facts  of  existence — unfit  and  inca 
pacitate  the  mind  for  the  stern  realities  of  life.  It  is  a  grievous  mistake 
for  those  who  desire  to  attach  their  families  to  Methodism,  not  to  supply 
them  with  an  attractive  and  wholesome  literature,  and  especially  with 
the  magazines  and  various  works  issued  by  our  Connexional  Book-rooms. 


EEV.   JOSEPH   WOOD'S   ADDRESS.  165 

We  should  not,  more  than  is  absolutely  necessary,  expose  our 
children  to  influences  hostile  to  Methodism  in  school,  business,  and 
social  life.  Too  often  there  is  but  little  care  as  to  what  teachings  and 
surroundings  they  come  under  at  school  or  business.  If  there  be  some 
anxiety  not  to  endanger  their  morals,  there  is  not  much  thought 
whether  their  Methodism  or  religion  will  be  safe.  At  the  most  critical 
time  of  their  life  they  are  placed  in  the  midst  of  conditions  which  can 
hardly  fail  to  deaden  their  moral  sense,  and  alienate  them  from  the 
Churches  of  their  fathers.  We  were  pleased  to  read  the  earnest  words 
spoken  at  the  Wesleyan  Conference  on  this  point.  One  gentleman 
stated  that  he  knew  three  county  magistrates,  one  a  Congregationalist, 
one  a  Baptist,  and  another  a  Methodist ;  the  two  former  sent  their 
children  to  Church  schools,  and  all  had  forsaken  Nonconformity.  The 
Methodist  took  care  that  his  children  were  guarded  in  youth — that  they 
were  kept  under  godly  Methodist  influences,  and  five  out  of  his  seven 
children  had  become  members  of  the  Methodist  Society.  Mr.  Holdeu 
said  it  had  cost  him  much  to  educate  his  family  in  Methodist  schools  ; 
but  the  result  was  worth  far  more  than  the  expense,  for  his  children 
were  members  of  the  Church,  and  engaged  in  God's  work.  The  sphere 
of  Methodism  is  now  large,  and  comprehends  a  sufficient  variety  of 
rank,  and  of  profitable  and  honourable  employment,  and  our  young 
people,  as  far  as  practicable,  should  be  kept  within  it,  with  the  best 
examples  ever  before  them. 

Is  there  not  reason  to  fear  that  some  are  not  well  instructed  in  regard 
to  their  friendships,  and  particularly  the  marriage  union  ?  They  may 
set  their  affections  on  persons  of  doubtful  religious  character,  and  even 
doubtful  morality,  providing  those  persons  are  equal  to  them,  or  a 
degree  above  them,  in  the  social  scale.  There  is  always  going  to  be  a 
good  match  if  there  is  worldly  respectability.  This  infraction  of  the 
Divine  law,  which  allows  believers  to  marry  "only  in  the  Lord,"  is  the 
cause  of  many  of  the  sons  and  daughters  of  our  members  being  lost  to 
Methodism.  In  primitive  times  the  sanction  of  the  Church  was 
required  for  the  marriage  of  any  of  its  members.  In  the  Conference 
of  1763  Mr.  Wesley  said,  "Many  of  our  members  have  lately  mai-ried 
unbelievers,  even  such  as  were  wholly  unawakened ;  and  this  has  been 
attended  with  fatal  consequences.  Few  have  gained  the  unbelieving 
wife  or  husband ;  generally  they  have  themselves  either  had  a  heavy 
cross  for  life  or  entirely  fallen  back  into  the  world.  To  i)ut  a  stop  to 
this  let  every  preacher  pubhcly  enforce  the  apostle's  caution,  '  Be  ye 
not  unequally  yoked  with  unbehevers.'  Let  it  be  also  openly  declared 
in  every  place  that  he  who  acts  contrary  to  this  will  be  expelled  the 
Society.  When  any  such  is  expelled,  let  an  exhortation  be  subjoined, 
dissuading  others  from  following  that  bad  example."  Had  not  we 
better  have  some  of  these  good  old  rules  reprinted  in  our  Conference 
minutes  ? 

4.  An  intelligent  and  conscientioua  attachment  on  the  part  of  parents 


166  METHODISM   AND   THE  YOUNG, 

themselves  to  MetTiodism. — Is  not  the  want  of  this  the  cause  of  many 
failing  to  connect  their  faniiHes  permanently  with  our  churches  ?  It  is 
not  enough  to  be  Christians ;  we  must  be  Methodists  ;  and  let  our 
children  see  that  we  regard  the  system  so  called  and  distinguished  as 
the  highest  form  of  Christian  and  church  life.  Seeing  the  value  of 
Methodism,  not  simply  in  our  declared  opinions,  but  in  its  lovely  effects 
upon  our  lives  and  conversation,  they  will  learn  to  regard  it,  not  as  a 
human  institution  to  which  our  ipartialities  or  our  prejudices  have 
attached  us,  but  as  a  Divinely-appointed  system  of  religion  and 
happiness. 

That  they  may  profit  by  the  exercise  of  the  Christian  ministry 
amongst  us  we  must  ourselves  respect  the  minister's  holy  vocation,  and 
be  painstaking  to  make  them  understand  and  respect  it  too.  If  they 
but  lightly  esteem  the  messengers  of  God's  mercy  they  will  be  in 
danger  also  of  rejecting  the  message  itself.  Let  parents  be  careful 
not  to  offend  against  the  ministers  of  the  "Word,  against  the  com- 
mands of  God,  against  their  own  souls,  and  against  the  highest 
interests  of  their  families,  by  uncharitable  or  unguarded  remarks 
scbout  the  men  who  hold  the  most  sacred  and  important  olEce  ever 
entrusted  to  human  beings. 

Methodist  parents  ought  to  make  known  to  their  children  the  dis- 
tinctive principles  of  their  several  denominations,  that  an  intelligent 
choice  may  be  made.  But  we  need  not  attach  so  much  importance 
to  those  little  barriers  which  divide  the  various  branches  of  the  great 
Methodist  family,  and  which  we  rejoice  to  see  are  becoming  beautifully 
less,  as  to  the  broad  and  general  features  of  Methodism,  and  the  ad- 
vantages which  we  are  proud  enough  to  think  we  have  over  all  other 
Christian  denominations.  Let  us  often  address  to  our  children  the 
words  of  the  prophet,  "  Mark  well,  and  behold  with  thine  eyes,  and 
hear  with  thine  ears,  all  that  I  say  unto  thee  concerning  all  the 
ordinances  of  the  house  of  the  Lord,  and  all  the  laws  thereof" 
(Ezek.  xliv.  5).  Parents  who  train  their  children  on  the  principle  that 
they  may  go  to  any  church  where  they  can  feel  most  comfortable, 
need  not  wonder  when  it  seems  to  be  most  comfortable  for  them  to 
go  nowhere.  If  Methodism  is  the  best  for  us,  is  it  not  likely  to  be  the 
best  for  our  children  ? 

To  say  nothing  of  the  unseemliness  of  families  being  divided  in  their 
Church  connections,  is  it  not  most  ungrateful  to  be  careless  whether  or 
not  our  sons  and  daughters  be  permanently  attached  to  Methodism  ? 
Under  its  influence,  with  God's  blessing,  we  have  obtained  our 
spiritual  illumination,  our  Christian  peace,  our  gracious  transfor- 
mation, and  the  immortal  hope  of  a  heavenly  inheritance  ;  indeed, 
all  that  we  hold  dear.  When  we  look  at  lower  things,  under  its 
shadow  many  have  acquired  manifold  temporal  advantages.  In  all 
respects  it  claims  their  attachment  as  an  availing  form  of  godliness, 
which  has  the  promise  of  the  life  that  now  is,  and  of  that  which  is 


BEv.  JOSEPH   wood's  ADDRESS.  167 

to  come.  To  be  indifferent  to  its  preservation  and  contiuued  effi- 
ciency in  the  world,  or  its  influence  in  and  upon  the  future  character, 
relatious,  and  circumstances  of  our  cbildi'en,  would  be  the  utmost 
inconsistency  and  the  deepest  ingratitude. 

Then  how  to  transmit  inward  religion — true  Methodism— to  "the 
generation  to  come,"  is  the  great  problem  we  have  to  solve ;  how  to 
tind,  as  Dr.  Osborn  a  few  years  ago  so  admirably  x'ut  it,    "the  con- 
necting link  between  the  baptismal  font  and  the  Lord's  table."     For 
this  we  are  j)ersuaded  we  shall  have  to  look  more  to  the  family  than 
we  have  done.     We  must  teach  our   people   how  to   realise   God's 
saving  grace  in  domestic  worship  and  Christian  nurture  ;  and  not  only 
in  the   Sunday-school  and  the  sanctuary.     But  parents  and  teachers, 
ministers  and  leaders,  will  have  to  combine  that  the  gi-eat  end  may  be 
gained.     As  the    late  Rev.   S.   Jackson   said,  "We  must    be  at   the 
children,  or  the  millennium  is  a  long  way  off."     Those  who  rock  the 
cradle  have  the  Church's,  as  well  as   the  nation's,  destinies   in  their 
hands.     Daniel  Webster  said  to  Thomas  Jefferson,  the  great  states- 
man of  America,  who  wrote  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  "  What 
is  to  be  the  salvation  of  our  nation  ?  "     After  a  few  moments'  thought 
Jefferson  replied,    "  This  nation  will  be  saved,   if   saved   at    all,   by 
teaching    the    children   to   love  the    Saviour."      Methodist  Churches 
cannot  always  live  solely  by  conquest,  by  conversions  from  without, 
by   a  kind   of   Gospel  campaigning.     While   they   continue   to    make 
sallies  and  excursions  into  the  kingdom  of  darkness,  they  will  have  to 
learn  how  to  grow,  and  poi)ulate,  and  become  powerful  from  within. 
"As  arrows  in  the  hand  of  a  mighty  man,  so  are  children  of  youth." 
To  neglect  them  is  to  commit  a  great  military  blunder.     It  is  to  leave 
our  arrows  to  rust  and  become  blunt  and  totally  unfit  for  use,  when 
they  ought  to  be  collected,  polished,  and  sharpened  for  the  day  of 
battle.    God  says  to  His  faithful  people,  "  Thou  shalt  see  thy  children's 
children  and  peace  upon  Israel."     The  results  of  a  system  which,  by 
God's  blessing,  transmits  our  principles  and  practices  from  generation 
to  generation,  will  be  general  peace  and  prosperity  to  the  end  of  time. 
It  is  recorded  that  Cjtus,  when  besieging  Babylon,  perceived  the  im- 
portance of  the  river  on  the  banks  of  which  the  city  stood,  as  being  at 
once  the  cause  of  its  security,  by  shutting  out  its  enemies,  and  the 
source  of  its  internal  prosperity.     He  therefore   devised  the  plan  of 
cutting  channels  for  the   purpose  of   turning  the  stream  of  the  riv^T 
out  of  its  natural  and  projier  course.     By  this  means  he  obtained  an 
easy  entrance  for  his  troops,  and  doomed  the  city  to  slow  but  certain 
decay.     That  illustrates   the  stratagems  of  the  devil  to  prevent  the 
universal  triumphs  of  Christianity.     It  is  high  time  to  interrupt  his 
proceedings  and  frustrate  his  plans  by  rei)airing  and  keeping  up  the 
banks  of  the  river  from  which  our  great    stores  of  sujiply  come,  and 
that  our  youth  may  glide  onward  to  the  city  of  God,  at  once  its  defence 
and  glory,  and  the  source  of  its  increase  and  peri^etuity. 


lo8  METHODISM   AND   THE  YOUNG. 

Eev.  J.  McH.  Farley  (Methodist  Episcopal  Zion  Church)  said :  Mr. 
President,  Fathers,  and  Brethren, — The  time  allowed  me  to  discuss 
this  all  -  important  subject,  so  essential  to  the  interests  of  true 
Methodism,  is  too  short  to  do  it  justice  :  "  The  Training  of  Children  in 
Christian  Homes ;  so  as  to  bring  them  to  Christ  and  attach  them  to 
Methodism."  The  necessity  of  an  early  and  proper  training  of  plants 
and  animals  is  universally  admitted  to  be  wise.  The  gardener  has  his 
trellis  for  vines,  and  his  saplings  are  guarded  with  the  utmost  care,  lest 
the  trees  in  after  years  should  be  noted  for  their  barrenness  and 
ieformity.  The  wisdom  of  such  action  is  confirmed  by  the  general 
results.  The  young  are  an  important  element  in  society.  Their  power 
has  been  recognised  in  the  success  of  every  movement.  CataHne 
would  pave  the  way  for  his  conspiracy  by  poisoning  the  minds  of  the 
Eoman  youth.  If  Socrates  would  bring  in  a  new  divinity,  and  spread 
the  doctrine  of  the  Immortality  of  the  Soul,  he  begins  with  the  Athenian 
youth  as  a  means  to  that  end.  This  same  truth,  in  regard  to  the 
power  of  the  young,  is  as  forcible  as  ever.  The  children  are  the  hope 
of  the  Church,  upon  them  are  to  come  solemn  and  thrilling  responsi- 
bilities. Hence  the  training  of  the  youth  in  principles  of  Christianity 
and  the  doctrines  of  Methodism  is  a  vital  constituent  in  the  fuller 
development  of  these  great  principles  and  doctrines.  The  proper 
starting-point  in  this  work  is  certainly  the  Christian  home.  In  the 
family  circle,  we  hear  the  name  of  God  and  Christ.  It  is  but  natural, 
then,  that  these  religious  impressions  should  be  followed  by  instruction 
in  the  cardinal  principles  of  Christianity,  and  the  leading  tenets  of  the 
Church.  To  make  such  training  effectual  we  must  begin  early ;  for  the 
most  lasting  impressions  are  those  made  at  this  period  of  life.  The 
effect  of  neglect  at  this  stage  is  sure  to  apfjear  in  after  life.  Early 
home  training  is  the  best.  It  is  more  likely  to  be  firmly  fixed  in  the 
mind,  and  acted  upon  in  the  life.  In  childhood  there  is  unbounded 
confidence  in  the  parents,  and  hence  a  corresponding  reliance  on  what 
they  teach.  If  the  parent  is  a  dwarf  the  child  thinks  he  is  a  giant,  so 
he  gets  his  jump  or  knee  ride.  Parents  may  be  in  poor  circumstances, 
but  if  the  boy  gets  his  penny,  he  thinks  his  father  a  millionaire.  If 
papa  says  a  thing  is  this  or  that,  it  must  be  so,  because  papa  said  it. 
Now  children  have  this  same  disposition  in  reUgion  as  well  as  in  the 
ordinary  things  of  life.  The  interest  they  feel  in  Christ  and  Methodism 
will  greatly  depend  upon  the  home  influence.  This  is  the  great  centre 
of  all  influences  that  are  good  and  great.  "  The  hand  that  rocks  the 
cradle  rules  the  world."  The  idea  here  set  forth  loses  none  of  its  force 
when  applied  to  the  Church.  "  Like  begets  like."  The  influence  of  the 
parent,  if  properly  exercised,  will  produce  the  desired  effect  in  leading 
children  to  Christ  and  attaching  them  to  Methodism.  As  in  physical, 
so  often  in  spiritual  resemblances,  the  children  bear  the  reflected,  if 
not  direct,  likeness  of  the  family.  It  is  here  we  mould  the  character, 
determine  the  course,  and  often  shape  the  whole  future  of  the  youth. 


REV.   J.   M'H.   FARLEY'S  ADDRESS.  160 

And  if  onr  homes  be  wliat  our  lieavenly  Father  intends  tliey  should  be, 
there  Mill  be  no  difficulty  in  training  our  children  for  Christ  and  the 
Church ;  for  the  fruits  of  a  pious  gro\vth  will  always  adorn  the  family 
branches.  It  is  no  secret  that  the  want  of  a  more  careful  and  compre- 
hensive training  in  Methodist  homes  has  gi'eatly  retarded  Methodism. 
Owing  to  this  neglect,  many  children  have  left  the  Methodist  persuasion 
and  identified  themselves  with  other  branches  of  the  Christian  Church. 
We  have  often  seen  our  sons  in  other  pulpits,  and  our  daugliters  form- 
ing centres  of  influence  more  favourable  to  the  success  of  denominations 
not  our  own.  But  if  our  children  are  correctly  instructed  in  the  doc- 
trines of  our  Church,  the  utility  of  our  discipline  and  government, 
they  will  be  more  easily  brought  to  Christ,  and  will  have  an  attach- 
ment for  Methodism  which  will  exclude  any  fear  for  the  future 
success  of  the  Church.  Since  example  is  more  persuasive  than  pre- 
cept, it  is  evident  that  the  progress  of  our  work  will  dej)end  largely 
upon  this  mode  of  instruction.  Children  should  see  in  us  a  practical 
demonstration  of  what  we  endeavour  to  set  forth  theoretically.  Again, 
one  great  hindrance  in  the  effort  of  many  parents  to  bring  their  children 
to  Christ  and  attach  them  to  Methodism,  is  the  temper  and  spirit  in 
which  they  administer  correction.  Some  are  harsh  and  rude,  threaten- 
ing severe  punishment  for  small  offences  :  others  correct  in  gi-eat  anger, 
and  often  without  an  adequate  knowledge  of  the  offence.  It  must  be 
clear  to  every  thoughtful  mind  that  such  careless,  thoughtless,  and 
even  cruel  action  cannot  be  productive  of  much  good.  We  should  cor- 
rect in  a  spirit  of  kindness,  not  to  satisfy  a  sj)iteful  disposition,  but  to 
meet  the  demands  of  justice.  Certainly  we  should  be  positive,  but 
tender  and  loving,  not  exercising  over  them  a  lordly  sway  as  masters, 
but  exhibiting  those  more  attractive  traits  of  parental  affection  and 
Christian  grace.  By  this  means  we  will  demonstrate  the  fact  that  we 
are  seeking  the  children's  welfare  and  not  showing  mere  authority, 
and  will  give  them  an  idea  of  the  results  of  true  piety,  and  awaken  a 
growing  interest  in  Methodism.  But,  again,  many  parents  confound 
their  work,  in  this  particular,  with  that  of  the  Sunday-school  teacher. 
They  think  they  can  consistently  throw  the  responsibility  of  this  work 
on  him.  If  we  would  secure  greater  results  for  the  glory  of  Christ  and 
the  good  of  Methodism,  there  must  be  no  shifting  of  responsibility. 
Each  must  do  his  specified  and  clearly-defined  work.  "  This  transfer 
of  duty,"  says  another,  "is  a  most  unnatural  evil.  Shall  our  children 
be  turned  away  from  their  fatlier's  table  and  sent  to  find  bread  at  the 
hands  of  others'?  God  forbid."  Again,  we  fear  there  iis  not  that  strict 
adherence  to  the  Catechism  of  our  Church  that  one  would  expect  to 
see.  More  attention  in  this  direction  will  give  more  encouraging  results 
for  Christ  and  Methodism.  In  fact,  every  child  should  be  able  to  repeat 
our  entire  Catechism  as  early  as  possible.  Many  Methodist  children 
can  repeat  the  catechism  of  other  Churches  with  more  accuracy  than 
their  own.     Hence  the  results.     If  we  would  have  flourishing  schools 


170  METHODISM   AND   THE   YOUNG. 

and  churcTies,  let  the  home  training,  in  every  possible  feature  of 
Methodism,  be  thorough  and  complete.  This  done,  we  may  be  assured 
that  Methodism  will  more  than  equal  its  former  achievements  in  bring- 
ing many  to  the  cross  of  Christ,  so  that  in  its  light  they  may  see  their 
sins,  rejieEit  and  be  saved  through  the  merits  of  Christ's  blood.  How 
solemn,  then,  is  the  work  that  devolves  upon  parents  and  guardians  ! 
God  commits  to  our  keeping  and  nurture  the  little  ones  of  whom  Christ 
said,  "  Suffer  them  to  come  unto  Me,  and  forbid  them  not."  How 
many  have  a  just  appreciation  of  their  task?  May  the  Holy  Spirit 
awaken  us  to  a  sense  of  our  duty — to  ourselves,  to  Christ  and  the 
Church — so  that  our  children  may  be  trained  "  in  the  way  they  should 
go,"  and  "  that  our  sons  may  be  as  plants  grown  up  in  tlieir  youth  ; 
that  our  daughters  may  be  as  corner  stones  polished,  after  the  simili- 
tude of  a  palace."  Nay  more,  that  they  may  be  as  "  trees  of  righteous- 
ness whose  branches  shall  be  laden  with  immortal  fruits,  and  whose 
leaves  shall  give  health  to  the  nations."  Then  may  we  in  all  the  fulness 
of  truth  exclaim,  "  Happy  is  that  people  that  is  in  such  a  easel  Yea, 
happy  is  that  people  whose  God  is  the  Lord  1 " 

Rev.  Alexander  Reid  (Australian  Methodist  Church)  :  I  beg  to  submit 
the  following  propositions  :  "  1.  All  baptised  chiklren  are  to  be  regarded 
as  infant  members  of  the  Church,  potentially  Christian  in  character,  and 
having,  in  virtue  of  their  relationship  to  Christ,  a  claim  to  all  such 
privileges,  and  being  responsible  for  all  such  duties  as  are  appropriate  to 
their  tender  years.  2.  Parents  are  primarily  and  mainly  responsible  for  the 
Christian  nurture  of  their  own  children.  3.  To  assist  parents  in  the  godly 
upbringing  of  their  children,  and  to  ascertain  that  they  are  faithfully 
training  their  families  for  Clirist,  are  principal  duties  of  the  pastoral  office, 
and  objects  to  Ije  kept  constantly  in  view  in  our  meetings  for  Church 
fellowship.  4.  Every  Sabbath-school  teacher  must  be  a  true  Christian,  and 
is  to  be  recognised  as  sustaining  the  same  relation  to  his  scholars  as  does  a 
class  leader  to  the  members  entrusted  to  his  spiritual  oversight.  5.  The 
minister  shall  meet  the  Sunday-school  classes  periodically  and  separately  in 
the  same  way  that  he  meets  the  classes  of  the  adult  members,  for  the 
purpose  of  ascei-taining  the  spiritual  state  of  the  children  and  affording 
them  suitable  counsel.  6.  An  examination  of  scholars  who  shall  have 
attained  to  the  age  of  twelve  years,  in  the  subjects  of  religious  knowledge 
and  Christian  experience,  shall  be  held  annually  by  the  minister  and  leaders' 
meeting.  Those  children  who  give  evidence  of  being  regenerate  shall  be 
publicly  received  by  the  Cliurch  at  the  Lord's  Table  as  accredited  and 
professed  disciples  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  7.  Those  scholars  who  fail 
to  satisfy  the  examiners  shall  be  kept  on  probation  during  good  behaviour, 
with  a  view  to  presenting  themselves  at  a  subsequent  examination."  It 
has  been  contended  that  children  being  naturally  depraved,  are  consequently 
not  to  be  regarded  as  members  of  Cln-ist's  Church  ;  but  I  contend  that  the 
Gospel  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  Church  which  is  based  upon  that 
Gospel,  are  intended  for  men  as  sinners  ;  and  that  children  are  not  to  be 
converted  by  some  outside  agency,  and  occupy  some  outside  sphere,  there- 
after, in  consequence  of  what  lias  been  done,  to  be  introduced  into  the 
Church.  But  children  are  to  be  kept  in  the  Church  for  the  purpose  of 
experiencing  that  saving  change  whicli  is  most  likely  to  take  place  while 
they  are  encircled  by  those  holy  influences  which  are  inseparable  from 


GENERAL   REMARKS.  171 

godly  parents,  and  from  a  godly  Chnrch  membership.  With  regard  to 
parents,  some  will,  perhaps,  be  inclined  to  say  that  they  are  to  be  excused 
for  delegating  a  part  of  their  duties  to  the  Sabbath-school  teacher.  Now 
it  appears  to  me  that  a  parent  who  is  a  true  man,  to  say  notliing  of  being  a 
true  Christian,  jvill  resent  any  interference,  any  outside  agency,  that  will 
deprive  him  of  the  holiest  work  and  the  most  gratifying  privilege  it  is 
possible  for  a  human  being  to  experience.  What  can  be  more  delightful 
to  a  father  or  a  mother  than  the  holy  privilege  of  training  children  whom 
God  has  given  them  to  educate  not  merely  for  time  but  for  eternity  ?  The 
idea  that  parents  are  incapable  and  incompetent,  and  that  other  agency 
must  be  employed,  is  one  which  no  trae-hearted  father  will  tolerate. 

Eev.  J.  D.  Geden  (Wesleyan)  :  Reference  has  been  made  by  a  previous 
speaker  to  the  necessity  of  meditation  in  connection  with  the  reading  of 
Scripture.  We  have  suffered  greatly  in  some  cases  from  the  levity  with 
which  the  Saci-ed  Volume  has  been  treated  in  our  families.  We  should,  I 
think,  most  strenuously  deprecate  anything  like  Scriptural  parody  or  jolcing. 
We  hear  much  in  our  day  of  the  error  of  bibliolatry ;  I  think  we  are  not 
much  in  danger  of  falling  into  that  error,  but  I  feel  that  it  is  wholly  un- 
reasonable that  we  should  look  for  the  salvation  and  spiritual  prosperity  of 
our  children  unless  we  support  in  the  family  the  Divine  dignity  of  the  Bible. 

Rev.  Alexander  Martin,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.  ( Asbury  University,  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church) :  As  parents  and  as  preachers  we  cannot  be  too  deeply 
impressed  with  the  fact  that  childhood  and  youth  are  the  proper  seasons  of 
conversion.  Then,  if  ever,  is  laid  deep  and  broad  the  foundation  of  pure 
and  noble  Christian  character.  Are  we  not  in  danger  sometimes  in  our 
large  devotion  to  evangelistic  work  and  the  peril  of  those  grown  up  in  sin 
to  lose  sight  of  our  duty  to  the  young  ?  We  hold  not  only  to  broad  lines 
of  demarcation  between  a  regenerate  and  an  unregenerate  state,  but  also  to 
sharp  and  marked  modes  of  transition  from  one  to  the  other.  The  ideal 
Church  with  many  is  that  of  a  grand  recruiting  army,  increasing  its 
strength  with  large  accessions  from  the  grown-up  ranks  of  the  adversary, 
while  the  children  of  its  own  people,  and  the  best  season  for  bringing 
them  to  Christ  and  training  in  His  love  and  service,  is  too  much  neglected. 
They  are  taught  the  Catechism,  perhaps,  and  are  sent  to  Sunday-school ; 
but  too  much  of  this  is  mei-e  form,  and  there  is  too  little  of  direct  and  of 
loving  care  to  have  them  not  in  name  only,  but  also  in  felt  and  glad  ex- 
perience, acquainted  with  the  Lord  Jesus  as  a  personal  Saviour.  If  we 
could  only,  all  of  us,  be  led  to  see  and  feel  that  while,  in  certain  aspects, 
the  Church  is  an  army  and  should  carry  on  unceasing  war  against  the  hosts 
and  the  entrenchments  of  sin,  it  is,  and  is  designed  to  be,  much  more 
really  a  family,  not  simply  to  help  and  watch  over  one  another  in  love,  but 
more  especially,  and  as  one  of  the  grandest  ends  and  objects  of  its  being, 
to  feed  the  lambs  of  the  Saviour's  flock,  to  see  that  in  earliest  childhood 
Christ  be  formed  in  them,  and  then  by  holy  faith,  and  helpful  work,  and 
cheerful  play,  and  good  society,  and  right  education,  and  all  the  influences 
that  tend  to  elevate  and  adorn  humanity,  have  them  grow  up  in  Christ,  we 
niiglit  with  confidence  expect  to  see  the  world  speedily  converted.  What 
we  need  more  and  more  is  to  realise  that  our  children  are  in  covenant  rela- 
tion to  God,  that  the  promise  is  as  really  to  them  as  to  ourselves,  that  they 
belong  to  Him  and  to  the  Church  as  really  as  to  their  parents  or  the  family, 
and  that  they  and  we  are  expected  and  required  to  recognise  that  relation, 
and  to  treat  them  accordingly.  We  hear  much  of  grace  and  our  infinite 
obligations  to  it,  but  we  should  remember  that  next  to  the  gift  of  God's 
dear  Son  and  the  supply  of  the  Spirit,  the  next  highest  gift  of  grace  is  the 
power  of  a  self-determining  will,  whereby  these  things  are  usually  very 
much  as  we  please  to  have  them.  God  certainly  wills  their  salvation  in 
childhood.      This  is  the  only  period  He  has  especially  designated  as  the 


172  METHODIPM  AND   THE   YOUNG. 

time  for  this  work.  If  our  wills  accord  with  His,  and  the  right  means  in 
the  right  way  and  at  the  right  season  are  employed,  the  work  will  be  done. 
We  had  last  evening  a  delightful  time  in  connection  with  the  subject  of 
holiness  ;  but  we  should  never  forget  that  conversion  is  the  greatest  bless- 
ing God  can  give  or  man  receive.  That  is  the  foundation  of  holiness  and 
of  all  good.  Then  life  is  imparted,  and  all  else  is  more  or  less  rapid 
growth  and  increase.  If  the  proper  and  Divinely  designated  seed-time  of 
life  is  not  only  neglected,  but  the  enemy  is  allowed  to  preoccupy  the 
ground,  and  sow  his  tares  therein,  there  is  most  serious  danger  of  all  being- 
lost.  On  the  other  hand,  when  the  right  course  is  pursued,  and  all  else  is 
subordinated  to  it,  we  may  with  confidence  hope  for  the  best  results. 

Rev.  Dr.  W.  B.  Pope  (Wesleyan)  :  I  should  be  glad  to  say  a  few  words 
on  behalf  of  the  principle  that  has  been  so  admirably  expressed  this  morning 
— the  necessity  of  teaching  in  our  families  as  well  as  in  our  Sunday-schools, 
our  own  Catechisms.  Nothing  could  be  more  excellently  stated  than  the 
observation  of  the  essajdst  as  regards  the  incorporation  of  our  principles 
with  the  infancy  of  children,  weaving  them  into  the  very  tissues  of 
their  life  while  those  tissues  are  being  formed.  What  I  exceedingly 
valued  in  his  remarks,  and  shall  read  with  great  interest  when  they  are 
published,  and  what  has  been  touched  upon  again  and  again  since,  is  the 
sacred  and  blessed  fact  that  behind  and  around  and  beneath  all  catechetical 
instruction  there  is  a  specific  gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit  to  our  children  sealed 
to  them  in  baptism.  I  do  not,  however,  rise  to  speak  of  that,  but  of  the 
importance  of  Methodists  teaching  their  children  our  Catechisms  if  they 
would  retain  them  in  their  own  communion.  Children  love  a  system  of 
thought  and  of  teaching  ;  and  I  am  persuaded  that  if  they  are  taught 
systematically  to  go  through  their  catechism — that  is,  the  doctrinal  part 
of  it  first,  and  then  that  which  gives  them  the  history  of  Scripture  itself — 
they  will  hold  it  fast  always.  I  speak  from  experience,  and  an  experience 
confirmed  by  that  of  many  present  when  I  say,  that  the  principles,  the 
definitions,  the  Scriptural  proofs  and  the  tone  of  the  whole  will  abide  with 
them  through  life.  I  venture  to  say  that  very  few  children  who  have  been 
steeped  in  the  Catechism,  or  in  whom  the  Catechism  has  been  steeped  in 
early  childhood,  have  ever  left  the  communion  that  trained  them  in  that  way. 
Nor  was  it  for  that  purpose  alone  that  I  rose.  I  desire  to  express  my  sense 
of  the  importance  at  this  (Ecumenical  gathering  of  such  a  united  revision 
of  our  several  Catechisms  as  might  tend  greatly  to  further  the  unity  amongst 
Methodists  that  must  some  day  exist.  We  have  all  our  Catechisms,  and  we 
have  all  of  us  been  revising  them.  I  presume  there  was  one  original 
ultimate  Catechism  upon  which  our  various  revisions  have  been  made. 
The  old  Catechism  has  been  amended  and  revised  in  America — I  know  it 
has  been  revised  again  and  again  by  ourselves — and  I  dare  say  it  has  been 
revised  in  other  communions.  Now,  I  should  like  a  concert,  or  combination, 
or  an  effective  collation  of  these  several  revisions,  and  I  should  like  to  see 
one  best  of  all  revisions  emerge  from  the  whole.  I  speak  as  the  represen- 
tative of  a  small  committee,  the  labours  of  which  in  this  direction 
have  been  accepted.  We  have  a  revision  of  our  own,  which  will  be 
pi-esented  to  the  public  in  a  very  short  time,  in  which  we  have  endea- 
voured to  expand  the  theology  and  extend  the  Scripture  references, 
making  it  not  only  a  Catechism  proper,  but  also  in  a  certain  sense  a  hand- 
book of  the  Bible.  We  have  introduced  in  it  the  invaluable  results  of  that 
revision  of  the  New  Testament  which  is  common  to  America  and  to 
England.  I  hope  the  Catechism,  when  it  is  issued,  will  find  acceptance 
amongst  all  Methodist  bodies  ;  and  if  they  will  themselves  endeavour  to 
make  some  use  of  it  in  the  revision  of  their  own  several  Catechisms,  I 
think  the  result  will  be  one  in  perfect  accord  with  the  principles  of  this 
CEcumenical  Conference,  and  a  worthy  monument  of  it. 


GENERAL   REMARKS.  173 

Bishop  Simpson  :  I  sympathise  with  all  that  has  been  said  with  reference 
to  the  careful  training  and  catechetical  instruction  of  the  children  of 
Methodism  in  order  to  preserve  them,  but  I  wish  to  say  that  from  a  very 
extended  observation  in  many  places,  I  am  satisfied  that  there  is  a  training 
in  the  family  which  is  of  still  more  service  in  retaining  our  children  than 
even  these  things  that  have  been  mentioned.  I  have  observed  that 
wherever  in  families  the  Church  is  spoken  of  with  affection  and  love,  and 
where  the  ministers  are  sustained  by  the  people,  children  grow  up  into  a 
love  for  our  doctrines  and  usages  ;  and  wherever  in  families  there  is  a  sort 
of  fault-finding,  whether  in  ministers'  or  laymen's  families,  you  find  the 
children  wandering  away.  I  am  satisfied  that  a  large  proportion  of  our 
people  are  not  at  all  aware  of  the  influences  they  are  exercising  over  their 
children  when  they  find  fault  with  the  ministers  in  their  sermons,  or  with 
the  order  of  the  Church,  or  with  their  fellow  Christians.  I  simply  wish  to 
call  attention  to  that  point  which,  so  far  I  as  have  observed,  is  the  most 
fruitful  cause  of  the  alienation  of  our  children  from  the  Church. 

Rev.  Dr.  Bennett  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South)  :  The  experience 
and  obsertvation  of  this  whole  Conference  must  convince  us  that  no  subject 
has  been  presented  to  our  consideration  of  greater  importance  than  that  now 
before  us.  The  sad  losses  sustained  by  Methodism  in  Great  Britain  and 
America  by  the  departure  of  our  children  from  our  Church  into  other  com- 
munions, must  convince  us  that  to  this  subject  we  should  give  our  most 
earnest  attention.  If  Methodism  had  retained  her  children,  and  they  had  stood 
now  in  the  ranks  of  her  ministry  and  in  the  ranks  of  her  godly  men  and 
women,  her  power  would  have  been  tenfold  what  it  is.  They  have  been 
lost  to  us  ;  and  why  ?  Thej-  have  been  lost  to  us  through  our  own  fault. 
All  education  must  proceed  under  authority.  If  you  educate  a  man  intellec- 
tually merely,  you  make  him  the  means  of  bringing  peril  and  ruin  upon 
the  Church  and  upon  the  community.  If  you  educate  him  physically,  you 
make  him  a  great  giant  to  contend  with  physical  forces.  If  you  educate 
him  intellectually,  physically,  and  morally,  you  make  him  a  Luther  or  a 
Wesley,  who  could  work  almost  until  his  ninetieth  year.  Our  great  fault  has 
been,  in  my  opinion,  that  we  have  failed  as  Methodists  to  recognise  clearly 
and  distinctly  the  right  of  children  to  membership  in  the  Church  of  Christ. 
Sir,  children  are  born  under  the  covenant  of  Christ.  We  fail  to  bring  this 
point  distinctly  before  the  minds  of  our  members,  and  I  say,  as  an 
American  Methodist  preacher,  that  we  have  been  afraid  to  do  it.  We  have 
been  afraid  distinctly  to  bring  forth  that  great  fact,  and  to  insist  upon  it. 
Again,  sir,  failing  on  that  great  point,  we  have  failed  to  bring  to  bear  upon 
our  children  in  our  families  the  full  force  of  Christian  truth,  and  to  set 
forth  to  them  their  own  privileges  and  responsibilitj'.  We  have  failed 
again  in  passing  our  children  from  under  the  tuition  of  the  family  into 
Christian  schools  ;  we  have  failed  to  place  them  under  the  authority  of 
godly  men  who  would  bring  to  bear  directly  upon  their  consciences  the 
authority  of  God's  Word,  the  only  supreme  authority  under  which  a  child 
can  be  trained,  either  intellectually  or  morally.  I  believe  that  in  every 
Christian  family  the  children  should  be  brought  into  the  Church  in  the 
houftchold  ;  and  I  am  happy  to  say  that  it  is  my  privilege  to  confirm  this 
position  by  my  ever-blessed  experience.  Out  of  six  children,  all  minors, 
four  are  in  the  Church,  and  were  brought  into  the  Church  in  my  own 
household,  and  I  had  the  privilege  of  conversing  with  them  and  learning 
from  them  in  the  household,  of  their  faith  in  Christ.  Sir,  cliildren  are 
nearer  to  Christ  than  anj-  other  portion  of  humanity.  He  took  them  up  in 
His  arms,  held  them  to  His  heart,  and  blessed  them.  I  do  trust  that  this 
Conference  will  give  no  unequivocal  expressions  on  this  subject,  and  that 
there  will  be  an  influence  going  out  that  the  whole  Church  will  feel  and 
respond  to. 


174  METHODISM   AND   THE  YOUNG. 

Rev.  H.  a.  Thompson,  D.D.  (of  the  United  Brethren  Church), 
read  the  following  paper  on  Tlie  Tra'ming  of  Children  in  the  Sunday- 
School  and  Church  so  as  to  secure  the  Largest  Evangelical  Denominational 
Results. 

During  the  last  quarter  of  a  century  the  Church  has  passed  through 
a  new  experience,  and  to  some  extent  has  been  compelled  to  revise 
her  literature,  to  change  her  plans,  and  to  adapt  herself  to  the  new 
surroundings.  While  the  adults  are,  perhaps,  not  to  have  less 
attention  than  before,  the  child  is  coming  to  the  front  as  the  one 
who  is  henceforth  to  absorb  most  of  her  activity.  The  cry  of  the 
child  in  her  midst  is  arousing  the  Church  more  and  more  to  a  con- 
sideration of  its  nature  and  j)ossibilities,  her  own  duty,  and  the  blessed 
results  which  shall  follow  her  enlarged  operations.  The  question, 
"How  shall  we  train  our  children  in  the  Sabbath-school  and  the 
Church  so  as  to  preserve  the  largest  number  of  them  to  the  Church  ?  " 
becomes  one  of  the  most  vital  which  can  come  up  for  consideration 
before  any  Church  body. 

I.  There  must  he  a  2)roper  understanding  of  the  true  relation  of  ike 
Church  arul  the  School.  I  assume  that  the  school  is  the  school  of  a 
particular  denomination.  "  It  is  that  department  of  the  Church  of 
Christ  in  which  children,  youths,  and  adults  of  the  Church  and 
community  are  thoroughly  trained  in  Christian  knowledge.  Christian 
experience,  and  Christian  work."  It  must  co-operate  with  the  family. 
It  must  use  the  written  Word,  and  depend  for  its  efficiency  on  the 
Holy  S]pirit.  If  the  work  of  conversion  has  in  any  case  been  neg- 
lected, it  must  look  after  this  ;  but  its  main  work  is  the  training  and . 
growth  of  disciples.  It  is  not  simply  for  children,  but  for  persons 
of  all  ages.  As  the  Church  includes  in  her  services  children  as  well 
as  adults,  so  the  Church  school  in  turn  includes  adults  as  well  as 
children. 

The  Church  school  seems  to  be  a  necessity  if  we  would  reach  the 
highest  success  in  the  Christian  life.  Where  the  methods  of  the  school 
have  prevailed  the  youth  have  been  better  cared  for,  and  better  results 
accomplished  than  where  neglected.  Says  Baxter :  "  In  private  we 
can  take  our  work  gradatim,  and  take  our  hearers  with  us  as  we  go, 
and  by  questions  and  their  answers  can  see  how  far  they  go  with  us, 
and  what  we  have  next  to  do.  I  conclude,  therefore,  that  public 
preaching  will  not  be  sufficient.  You  may  long  study  and  preach  to 
little  purpose  if  you  neglect  this  duty."  Says  Bridges,  in  his  Christian 
Ministry :  "  The  catechetical  mode  is  decidedly  the  most  effective  to 
maintain  attention,  elicit  intelligence,  convey  information,  and,  most 
of  all,  to  ajjply  the  instruction  to  the  heart."  The  biographer  of 
Archbishop  Usher  says  :  "  He  found  catechising  an  excellent  way  to 
build  up  souls  in  the  most  holy  faith,  and  that  none  were  more  sound 
and  serious  Christians  than  those  who  were  well  instructed  in  these 


EEV.   H.    A.   THOMPSON'S   ADDRESS.  175 

fundamental  principles.  This  was  the  waj'  Eeformation  was  advanced 
in  Europe,  and  Christianity  in  tlie  primitive  days,  and  this  will  he 
found  the  i)rincipal  way  to  keep  them  alive,  to  maintain  their  vigour 
and  flourish." 

Says  Dr.  Ashbel  Green  :  •'  Long  observation  has  satisfied  me  that  a 
principal  reason  why  instruction  and  exhortation  from  the  pulpit  are 
so  little  efficacious,  is  that  they  presuppose  a  degree  of  information  or 
an  acquaintance  with  the  truths  and  doctrines  of  Divine  revelation 
which  by  a  great  part  of  the  hearers  is  not  possessed,  and  which 
would,  best  of  all,  have  been  supplied  by  catechetical  instruction.  It 
is  exactly  this  kind  of  instruction  which  is  at  the  present  time  most 
mrgently  needed  in  many,  perhaps  in  most,  of  our  congregations.  It 
is  needed  to  imbue  effectually  the  minds  of  our  people  with  the  first 
principles  of  the  oracles  of  God,  to  indoctrinate  them  soundly  and 
systematically  in  revealed  truth,  and  thus  guard  them  against  being 
carried  about  with  every  kind  of  doctrine,  as  well  as  to  qualify  them 
to  join  in  the  weekly  service  of  the  sanctuary  with  free  understanding, 
and  with  minds  in  all  respects  prepared  for  the  right  and  deep  im- 
pression of  what  they  hear."     {Led.  on  Short  Cat.) 

The  Church  must,  therefore,  have  a  school.  It  must  also  control  it.  I 
do  not  mean  control  in  any  offensive  way,  but  if  the  purposes  for  which 
the  school  was  established  are  to  be  realised,  then  the  Church  must  not 
let  go  her  hold.  She  must  incorporate  the  school  into  her  body,  blood, 
and  life.  As  the  Church  officially  controls  her  session,  her  praj'er- 
meeting,  her  missionary  organisations,  and  all  the  other  instrumentali- 
ties by  which  her  work  is  carried  forward,  so  must  she  control  the 
school.  It  may  be  done  directly  through  her  official  board,  or  indirectly 
through  her  membership.  The  government  should  be  substantially  the 
same  as  that  of  the  Church.  But  in  whatever  way  it  may  be  done,  the 
school  must  be  taught  to  recognise  itself  as  a  part  of  the  Church,  and 
resiject  its  regulations. 

n.  The  Church  must  support  the  School.  It  does  so  at  present  indirectly 
by  the  regular  Sabbath  contributions  obtained  from  pupils  and  teachers. 
The  children  should  not  be  sent  about  during  the  week  to  sohcit  money 
for  the  support  of  the  school ;  nor  should  their  penny  contributions  on 
Sabbath  be  used  for  this  purpose.  These  should  mainly,  if  not  wholly, 
be  spent  for  the  promotion  of  missionary  work,  and  to  cultivate  in  the 
children  a  disposition  to  give  for  the  good  of  others.  The  current 
expenses  of  the  Sabbath-school  should  be  made  a  regular  part  of  the 
church  expenses,  as  much  as  the  pastor's  salary,  rent  of  building,  light, 
fuel,  or  any  other  necessary  expenses.  The  Church  is  building  up 
herself  by  advancing  the  school.  There  is  no  more  efficient  work  done 
in  the  Church  and  for  the  Church  than  by  those  who  labour  in  this 
department.  In  the  United  States  alone  last  year  there  were  932,383 
teachers  and  workers  in  the  Sabbath-school,  who  gave  at  least  five 
hours  per  week  to  this  cause.     At  the  regular  estimate  of  1  dol.  per 


17G  METHODISM   AND    THE   YOUN^G. 

week  for  their  services  they  were  worth  932,383  dols.  a  -week,  or 
48,460.000  dols.  a  year  to  the  Church.  This  is  more  than  is  contri- 
buted in  a  single  year  by  all  the  churches  of  all  denominations  in  the 
same  section  for  benevolent  objects.  Surely  for  such  a  body  of  earnest 
-vvorkers,  the  naost  aggressive  as  well  as  the  most  competent  in  her 
borders,  the  Church  could  well  afford  to  provide  adequate  accommoda- 
tion and  pay  running  expenses. 

III.  The  Church  should  furni,^h  competent  teachers  for  the  School.  The 
work  is  too  important  to  leave  this  to  mere  accident.  Not  all  who 
wish  to  teach  should  be  encouraged  to  do  so.  Not  every  good  church 
member  would  make  a  successful  pastor.  If  the  Church  have  within 
her  limits  persons  already  prepared  to  do  the  work,  they  should  be 
selected  and  inducted  into  of&ce.  If  not,  then  training  classes  for  the 
proper  training  of  teachers,  so  as  to  lit  them  for  the  art,  should  be 
organised,  and  the  Church  must  see  that  this  is  done.  If  millions  can 
be  spent  in  the  education  of  her  ministry,  it  is  not  rash  to  ask  that  a 
few  thousands  be  devoted  to  the  better  preparing  of  her  teachers,  who 
are  to  be  among  her  most  efficient  workers. 

IV.  The  doctrines  and  polity  of  the  Church  should  he  taught  hi  the  School. 
I  have  no  patience  with  that  emasculated  Christianity  which  allows 
nothing  to  be  taught  to  children  but  glittering  generahties.  If  you 
believe  in  the  principles  of  your  own  Church,  the  best  you  can  do  for 
your  children  is  to  teach  these  same  principles  to  them.  Let  the 
teachers  be  in  hearty  sympathy  with  the  Church  which  appoints  them 
to  their  woi'k.  If  they  are  in  the  least  disaffected,  they  should  not  be 
teachers  in  a  Church  Sabbath-school.  This  doctrinal  teaching  need 
not  interfere  with  the  use  of  the  International  Lessons.  In  a  Metho- 
dist school  let  these  be  taught  as  understood  and  explained  in  keeping 
with  Methodist  theology  and  Church  practice.  In  an  Episcopal  school 
let  the  lesson  be  taught  from  that  standpoint,  and  so  with  all  other 
denominations. 

In  addition  to  this  general  teaching  I  do  not  see  why  a  supplemental 
lesson,  of  ten  minutes  in  length,  concerning  the  Church,  its  nature, 
practices,  ordinances,  and  so  forth,  should  not  be  taught  every  Sabbath, 
and  to  all  the  classes  ;  and  thus  in  the  course  of  the  year,  or  a  few  years 
at  most,  they  would  have  an  intelligent  idea  of  the  Church  of  their 
fathers,  which  Church,  in  all  probability,  they  will  be  induced  to  join. 
Even  if  they  should,  in  after  years,  stray  away  from  this  teaching,  and 
adopt  other  creeds,  which  they  are  not  apt  to  do,  it  is  better  for  them 
to  be  taught  some  definite  system  of  belief  than  to  be  taught  nothing. 

Dr.  Dows  Clark,  of  Boston,  a  venerable  Congregational  clergyman 
of  extensive  experience,  in  an  address  before  the  New  England  His- 
torical Society,  in  1878,  speaks  of  the  practice  of  teaching  the  children 
the  doctrines  of  the  Church,  and  its  effect  upon  a  town  in  which  for 
many  years  he  was  pastor.  "  The  Catechism  was  as  truly  a  classic  as 
any  otlier  book.     It  was  taught  everywhere — in  the  family,  in   the 


EEV.   H.   A.    THOMPSON'S   ADDRESS.  177 

school,  in  the  church  ;  indeed,  it  was  the  principal  intellectual  and 
religious  pabulum  of  the  people.  We  had  it  for  breakfast,  and  had  it 
for  dinner,  and  we  had  it  for  supper.  Indeed,  the  town  was  saturated 
with  its  doctrines,  and  is  almost  as  much  so  at  the  present  day."  What 
were  the  effects  of  such  persistent  teaching  of  vital  truths  ?  The  same 
writer  says  :  "  The  general  result  was,  and  still  is,  that  sobriety,  large 
intelligence,  sound  morality,  and  unfeigned  piety  exist  there  to  a 
wider  extent  than  in  any  other  community  of  equal  size  within  the 
limits  of  my  acquaintance.  Revivals  of  religion  have  been  of  great 
frequency,  purity,  and  power,  and  to-day  more  than  one-third  of  the 
population  (all  told)  are  members  of  the  Congregational  Church.  Nine- 
tenths  of  the  inhabitants  are  regular  attendants  on  public  worship. 
Thirty-eight  of  the  young  men  have  graduated  from  college,  have 
entered  the  learned  professions,  and  especially  the  Christian  ministry, 
and  several  of  them  have  risen  to  positions  of  the  highest  usefulness 
and  honour.  These,  I  believe,  are  much  larger  j)ercentages  of  educated 
men,  of  Christian  men,  of  useful  men,  than  can  be  found  in  any  other 
town  in  this  or  any  other  commonwealth." 

V.  There  must  be  a  true  understanding  of  the  relation  of  children  to  Christ 
and  the  Church, 

The  mechanic  must  know  the  nature  of  the  instrument  to  be  used, 
and  also  the  nature  of  the  material  upon  which  he  is  to  work,  other- 
wise he  will  not  secure  the  result  sought.  If  the  children  are  to  be 
trained  by  the  teacher  and  preacher  so  as  to  become  efficient  members 
of  the  Church,  both  must  understand  the  nature  of  the  relation  already 
existing  as  well  as  the  one  to  be  sought.  These  will  determine  the 
nature  of  the  instruction  to  be  given.  If  the  children  are  held  in  the 
bonds  of  depravity,  then  they  must  be  taught  their  condition,  and  how 
to  escape  it.  If  they  only  need  to  have  the  children's  Redeemer  held 
up  to  them  so  that  their  youthful  affections  may  take  hold  of  Him, 
they  will  need  a  different  kind  of  teaching. 

There  are  three  theories  that  prevail  somewhat  extensively  con- 
cerning the  moral  condition  of  children.  One  is  the  theory  of  special 
election.  It  early  became  prominent  in  the  Christian  Church  :  "  What- 
ever differences  of  opinion  there  might  be  in  regard  to  minor  points,  all 
were  agreed  on  this,  that  infants  were  liable  to  eternal  wrath  on 
account  of  Adam's  sin,  and  that  baptism,  or  the  decree  of  election,  or 
perhaps  both,  was  necessary  to  avoid  the  death  penalty  or  wash  away 
original  sin."  If  this  be  true,  or  if  it  be  believed  by  a  parent  or  teacher, 
it  will  stand  in  the  way  of  the  training  of  the  child.  He  may  be  one 
of  the  elect,  but  after  all  there  is  the  constant  doubt  that  he  may  be  a 
reprobate,  and  therefore  upon  him  all  culture  wiU  be  wasted.  With 
such  an  incubus  weighing  him  down,  how  can  a  teacher  or  parent  work 
with  the  faith  or  energy  which  should  characterise  one  to  whom  are 
committed  such  vital  interests  ? 

There  is  another  class  who  believe  that  the  human   soul  is  only 

N 


178  METHODISM   AND   THE   YOUNG, 

regenerated  through  baptism.  Some,  who  do  not  go  as  far  as  tha■^, 
believe  that  in  some  way,  they  are  not  very  clear  how,  baptism  is 
necessary  for  the  child.  To  accept  the  former,  and  say  that  the  child 
is  saved  because  baptised,  and  that,  as  a  result,  unbaptised  children  are 
lost,  seems  to  be  very  dangerous  ground.  There  are  many  persons  who 
are  baptised  and  yet  show  plainly  they  are  not  converted ;  while  there 
are  many  others  who  evidently  show  the  fruits  of  a  change  of  heart, 
and  yet  have  not  received  this  ordinance.  The  views  we  accept  of 
the  moral  condition  of  children  will  also  determine  the  nature  of  our 
instruction  and  the  manner  of  their  training. 

The  next  is  the  theory  of  Universal  Bedemption. — "  As  by  the  offence  of 
one,  judgment  came  upon  all  men  to  condemnation,  so  by  the  righteous- 
ness of  one,  the  free  gift  came  upou  all  men  unto  justification  of  life." 
The  children  born  in  sin  because  of  the  descent  from  Adam,  are  yet 
heirs  of  grace  because  of  their  relation  to  Christ.  These  children  are 
redeemed,  and  being  redeemed,  they  are  subjects  of  the  influence  of 
the  Holy  Spirit.  We  are  not  only  to  remember  the  depravity  they  have 
inherited,  but  the  spiritual  life  which  has  been  imparted  to  them. 
They  are  saved  if  they  die  in  infancy,  because  Christ  has  redeemed 
them.  Those  who  live  are  in  the  same  spiritual  state  until  they  put 
away  God  from  them,  and  become,  of  their  own  choice,  reprobates. 
"  Except  ye  be  converted,  and  become  as  little  children,  ye  shall  in  no 
case  enter  the  kingdom  of  heaven." 

This  condition  may  be  given  substantially  in  the  words  of  another 
(to  whom  I  am  indebted  for  more  than  one  valuable  suggestion  in  the 
preparation  of  this  paper)  as  follows  :  "  1.  The  child  is  in  a  state  of 
unconscious  safety  ;  the  adult  in  a  state  of  conscious  salvation.  2.  We 
treat  the  child  as  an  unconscious  and  irresponsible  being  ;  the  adult  as 
a  responsible  agent.  3.  The  child  has  reached  his  position  of  im- 
conscious  safety  without  choice  or  effort  on  his  part ;  the  adult  by  the 
exercise  of  an  intelligent  faith.  4.  The  unconscious  safety  of  the 
child  is  God's  provision  to  meet  the  necessities  of  an  irresponsible 
being ;  the  conscious  salvation  of  the  adult  believer,  and  the  way  in 
which  it  is  revealed,  is  God's  method  of  dealing  with  those  who  are 
intelligent  and  accountable." 

With  such  a  connection  of  the  child's  nature  and  relation,  how 
earnestly  and  confidently  parent,  and  teacher,  and  pastor  may  labour 
to  keep  the  child  in  the  spiritual  kingdom,  and  so  teach  and  train  that 
when  he  reaches  the  line  of  responsibility,  he  may  now,  through  the 
power  of  his  previous  training,  and  the  aid  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  make 
choice  of  Christ  as  his  portion  for  ever.  The  bent  of  his  nature  and 
the  force  of  evil  surroundings  must  be  and  can  be  counteracted  by  the 
operations  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  the  force  of  an  intelligent  Christian 
nurture. 

1.  If  the  theories  already  named  have  been  received  by  pastor  and 
teacher,  and  if  the  practices  of  the  school  and  church  have  been  ia 


REV.  H.  A.  Thompson's  address.  179 

keeping  with  them,  the  pastor  will  insist  upon  the  attendance  of  the 
children  at  church.  Were  the  church  and  school  indeijendent,  as 
many  erroneously  suppose,  he  could  not  urge  this  with  so  much  force  ; 
but  as  the  school  is  a  church  service,  the  children  need  not  only  the 
school  for  training,  but  the  church  for  worship.  When  in  the  sanc- 
tuary, a  part  of  the  services  must  be  in  view  of  their  presence.  There 
may  be  a  special  service  of  ton  minutes  in  length,  or  less,  for  tlieir 
wants,  as  is  the  custom  in  some  congregations ;  or,  if  preferred,  a 
part  of  the  regular  services  may  be  addressed  to  them,  and  a  part 
to  the  adults  ;  or,  if  preferred,  the  whole  service  may  be  so  simple 
and  plain  in  thought  and  expression,  that  all  children  of  average 
comprehension  can  understand  it.  A  portion  of  the  singing  services 
should  be  arranged  in  view  of  their  experience  in  the  Sabbath-school. 
The  reading  of  the  Scripture  may  be  so  arranged  as  to  allow  them  to 
participate,  and  in  this  way,  and  in  many  other  ways,  which  the 
ingenious  pastor  will  be  able  to  devise,  their  attention  should  be 
enlisted  in  the  church  service,  and  they  made  to  feel  that  it  is  as  much 
a  place  for  them  as  for  their  fathers ;  and  that  when  absent  without 
good  reason  they,  as  well  as  the  others,  are  derelict  in  duty. 

2.  At  as  early  a  period  as  is  deemed  best — and  what  this  period  may 
be  must  in  the  main  be  left  to  the  judgment  of  the  pastor  of  the 
church — the  children  should  become  members  of  the  visible  Church. 
That  is,  in  some  pubUc  way  and  in  some  definite  manner  they  should 
be  made  to  realise  that  they  have  thereby  made  a  public  profession  of 
their  faith,  have  taken  upon  themselves  new  obligations,  entered  into 
new  relations,  and  do  not  now  stand  to  the  Church  as  they  did  when 
members  of  the  Sabbath-school.  As  to  what  privileges  this  member- 
ship shall  entitle  them,  the  individual  church  or  the  denomination  may 
determine.  It  might  be  limited  to  the  partaking  of  the  ordinances 
participating  in  the  religious  services,  but  not  entitling  them  to  a  voice 
in  the  government,  or  in  the  administration  of  discipUne  until  a  certain 
age,  involving  more  maturity  of  judgment,  is  reached.  There  is  a  loss 
to  the  child,  and  no  gain  to  the  Churcli,  as  a  rule,  in  keeping  it  out  of 
church  relations.  In  the  position  in  which  children  would  thus  be 
placed,  they  would  not  be  likely  to  do  the  Church  any  harm.  If  they 
have  made  choice  of  God  in  their  hearts,  it  would  be  difficult  to  show 
them  why  they  should  not  have  some  relation  to  the  Church.  It  would 
tend  to  develop  in  them  the  feeling  of  responsibihty,  and  thus  strengthen 
them  for  the  duties  that  await  them  in  after  years. 

3.  Let  these  youthful  church  members  be  organised  into  a  class  or 
classes  for  special  instruction.  The  tendency  with  much  of  our  youth- 
ful church  membership  is  to  allow  it  to  run  almost  exclusively  to 
emotion,  instead  of  building  upon  a  substratum  of  intelligence.  Let 
the  pastor  in  connection  with  a  children's  prayer-meeting  or  experience- 
meeting,  if  he  chooses  to  hold  such,  teach  the  children  a  knowledge  of 
the  ordinances,  fundamental  doctrines,  and  practices  of  the  Church, 

N  2 


180  METHODISM   AND   THE  YOUNG. 

and  of  the  nature  of  the  new  obligations  which  accompany  them.  Even 
if  these  have  been  taught  in  the  Sabbath-school,  let  them  be  renewed 
in  their  new  relation  by  the  pastor.  Let  them  behold  them  from  this 
new  standpoint,  and  their  horizon  will  widen,  their  intelligence  deepen, 
and  they  be  better  prepared  for  efficient  church  membership.  In  some 
Churches  this  is  done  with  the  baptised  children  ;  but  I  see  no  reason 
why  there  may  not  be  an  official  membership  recognised,  and  this 
follow  such  membership  as  a  training  service  for  future  work.  In  the 
Protestant  Episcopal  Church  it  is  enjoined  that  "  the  ministers  of  this 
Church  who  have  charge  of  parishes  or  cures  shall  not  only  be  diligent 
in  instructing  the  children  in  the  Catechism,  but  shall  also,  by  stated 
catechetical  lectures  and  instruction,  be  diligent  in  informing  the  youth 
and  others  in  the  doctrines,  constitution,  and  liturgy  of  the  Church." 
It  is  also  required  by  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  that,  "  at  the 
age  of  ten  years  or  earlier,  the  preacher  in  charge  shall  organise  the 
baptised  children  of  the  church  into  classes,  and  appoint  suitable 
leaders,  male  or  female,  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  meet  them  in  class 
once  a  week  and  instruct  them  in  the  nature,  design,  and  obligation  of 
baptism:,  and  the  truths  of  religion  necessary  to  make  them  wise  unto 
salvation."  With  pastor,  teacher,  and  members  all  thoroughly  imbued 
with  the  views  presented,  and  seeking,  through  the  methods  named, 
and  others  of  a  similar  nature,  to  carry  them  into  efficient  practice,  I 
believe  a  large  proportion  of  the  young  people  would  not  only  be  saved 
to  the  Church  of  their  fathers,  but  would  have  an  intelligent  love  for  it, 
and  in  the  near  future  would  become  the  most  efficient  agents  to 
preach  the  Gospel  at  home  or  abroad,  to  manage  the  educational 
interests  of  the  Church,  promote  her  literature,  and  give  force  to  all 
the  instrumentalities  which  she  may  lawfully  use  for  strengthening  her 
cords  and  enlarging  her  borders. 

Mr.  G.  J.  Smith,  J.P.  (Wesleyan  Methodist),  then  read  a  paper 
on  Sunday- Schools  and  Evangelical  Denominational  Results. 

I.  The  first  thought  which  occurred  to  me  on  reading  our  subject- 
title,  "  The  Training  of  Children  in  School  and  Church,"  was,  that 
these  words  themselves  point  to  the  first  condition  of  success  in  the 
vitally -important  subject  to  which  they  relate ;  that  first  condition 
being  the  close  alliance  between  School  and  Church.  I  believe  the 
comparative  looseness  of  this  alliance  has  been  one  great  secret  of 
the  partial  and  irregular  character  of  our  success  in  the  past.  I 
consider  that  the  closer  connection  between  school  and  church  now 
more  generally  adopted  is  the  explanation  of  increasing  success  in  the 
present.  But  I  think  we  may  still  claim  a  more  complete  charter  of 
incorporation  as  the  means  and  guarantee  of  yet  richer  and  more 
assured  success  in  the  future.  The  constitution  and  polity  of  our 
parent  Methodism  represent  the  growth  of  nearly  a  century  and  a 


MR.   G.   J.   SJIITH'S   ADDRESS.  181 

half,  and  this  dates  from  a  period  nearly  fifty  years  anterior  to  the 
Sunday-school  ruovement  itself.  Possibly  it  may  be  traced  to  this 
fact  that  our  school  agencies  have  been,  from  their  commencement,  a 
less  integral  portion  of  our  societies  than  are  other  departments  of 
usefuhiess  for  which  greater  importance  will  scarcely  be  claimed. 
And  although  we  rejoice  to  recognise  such  signs  of  improvement  in 
this  respect,  as  for  instance  our  Connexional  Sunday-school  Unions, 
yet  there  still  seems  much  to  be  done  to  repair  thilg  mistake  of  our 
past  history.  Time  will  not  allow  me  to  illustrate  this  point ;  but, 
lest  it  should  be  deemed  a  theoretic  grievance  instead  of  a  practical 
want,  I  must  give  one  instance  of  what  I  mean,  namely,  the  lack  of 
ministerial  visitation  and  support,  so  frequently  felt  and  expressed 
by  Sunday-school  workers.  Those  who  thus  complain  are  rightly 
answered  that  any  seeming  ministerial  neglect  is  far  from  being  due 
to  want  of  appreciation  and  sympathy.  But  this  defence  of  the 
ministers — and  we  know  it  to  be  sound — implies  an  impeachment  of 
our  system.  For,  if  our  ministers  are  so  hard-worked  vdth  other 
engagements — engagements  sometimes  other  than  the  preaching  of 
the  Gospel— that  they  have  no  time  for  visiting  and  supervising  our 
schools,  then  this  must  be  taken  to  indicate  comparatively  a  low 
estimate  of  the  department  thus  overlooked.  It  is  this  tacit  assump- 
tion against  which  we  venture  to  protest ;  and  we  claim,  as  our  first 
condition  of  increased  success,  a  closer  union  between  school  and 
church — a  union  which  shall  be  exhibited  in  systematic  pastoral  over- 
sight by  the  ministry,  and  more  active,  co-operating  sympathy  on  the 
part  of  our  people  at  large. 

n.  Then,  we  think,  we  may  at  length  secure  the  second  desideratum 
for  the  successful  training  of  our  children — namely,  the  ablest,  as  well 
as  the  most  devoted,  workers  which  the  Church  can  send  us.  I  would 
apologise  for  even  touching  so  well-worn  a  side  of  this  subject,  but  that 
our  wants  in  this  respect  are  as  pressing  as  they  seem  obvious  and 
oft  reiterated.  If  our  schools  are  to  succeed  as  they  ought,  if  the 
infants  are  to  be  attracted,  the  youths  informed,  and,  above  all,  the 
elder  scholars  retained,  we  must  have  the  sympathetic  hearts,  the  well- 
furnished  heads,  the  social  position,  and  the  intellect  of  our  societies, 
and  not  solely  or  chiefly  such  labour  as  is  judged  unfit  for  other  use- 
fulness. I  deprecate  any  attempt  to  graduate  the  importance  of  the 
various  departments  of  God's  work.  But,  unfortunately,  others  do 
that  for  us,  and  place  Sunday-school  teaching  at  the  bottom  of  the 
scale.  Sir,  I  contend  that  that,  at  least,  is  not  our  position.  And  I 
believe  that  many  a  useful  and  apt  Sunday-school  worker  has  been 
lured  away  from  us  to  less  usefulness,  less  credit  to  himself,  and  less 
blessing  to  his  Church  by  the  mistaken  idea— mistaken,  at  least,  as 
far  as  the  individual  is  concerned — of  higher  labour  in  the  pulpit  or 
elsewhere.  Our  young  men  should  not  so  often  be  encouraged  to  gra- 
duate in  Sunday-school  work  for  some  so-called  higher  spheres.     Such 


182  METHODISM  AND   THE  YOUNG, 

changes  do  not  always  mark  real  promotion  or  net  gain.  Sunday- 
school  usefulness  is  grand  enough  to  furnish  many  of  the  best  and 
wisest  of  us  with  a  lifetime's  earnest  study,  a  lifetime's  blessed  labour, 
and  a  future  life's  reward.  But,  feeling  sure  that  others  who  follow 
me  will  more  ably  enforce  this  appeal,  I  will  at  once  proceed  to  claim 
another  means  to  the  end  set  before  us  in  our  subject. 

III.  Next  to  the  best  men  and  women  whom  the  Church  can  send 
us,  we  want  the  best  material  appliances  which  the  Church  can 
provide,  and  especially  better  buildings  than  those  usually  considered 
good  enough  for  Sunday-schools  in  this  country.  If  we  were  not  here 
as  a  united  band  of  workers,  ignoring  all  distinctions  of  society  or 
nationality,  one  might  shrink  from  exposing  this  drawback  in  our 
arrangements,  the  structural  defectiveness  of  our  school  premises, 
which  amounts,  in  some  parts  of  English  Methodism,  to  a  disgrace. 
But,  recognising  that  we  are  here  to  learn  of  each  other,  I  name  this 
too-frequent  defect  of  ours  for  the  express  purpose  of  drawing  from 
some  more  favoured  Transatlantic  fellow-workers  those  suggestions 
and  monitions  which  they  are  so  thoroughly  qualified  to  give,  and  which 
we  non-progressive  Easterns  seem  to  need.  I  feel  sure  that  they  can 
and  will  explain,  not  only  how  schools  and  class-rooms  ought  to  be 
built  and  furnished,  but  the  real  necessity  of  their  being  properly  built 
and  furnished.  I  will,  therefore,  take  leave  of  this  point  by  saying 
that,  before  we  can  approach  our  ideal  of  training  our  children  in 
school  and  church,  some  of  the  increasing  architectural  culture  and 
resources  of  the  present  day  must  be  employed  to  rescue  them  from  the 
cellars  in  which  so  many  are  supposed  to  learn,  and  the  garrets  (the 
uppermost  galleries  of  our  chapels)  from  which  they  are  supposed  to 
hear,  the  Word  of  God. 

IV.  But  granted  everything  we  have  yet  asked  for — a  Church  system 
which  shall  embrace  its  school  agencies  as  belonging  to  and  comprised 
within  itself ;  granted  the  tongues  of  men  or  angels  to  teach  our 
children,  and  the  finest  material  appliances  which  science  can  devise  or 
money  can  buy — we  shall  yet  fail  utterly  of  the  evangelical  denomina- 
tional results  set  forth  in  our  title,  unless  we  realise  that  which  we 
have  scarcely  yet  named — the  motive  power  to  inspire  and  energise 
the  whole.  We  have,  I  mean,  to  recognise  that  these  schools  are  not 
mere  interesting  human  institutions,  but  are,  as  distinctly  as  any,  the 
work  of  God.  We  have  to  hear  His  voice  in  the  call  to  "  Feed  My 
lambs,"  and  thus  to  be  assured,  beyond  all  human  theories,  of  the 
Divine  practicability  of  the  task  assigned  to  us.  We  shall  then  cease 
to  regard  our  schools  as  merely  negative  means  for  the  prevention  of 
certain  evil,  for  keeping  children  out  of  mischief  for  an  hour  or  two  of 
the  Sabbath,  or  inculcating  such  moral  or  Scriptural  lessons  as  may  be 
of  benefit  at  some  future  period.  ATe  may  then  hope  to  correct  the 
misconception  and  faithlessness  which  too  often  expect  no  real 
Si)iritual  work  amongst  the  little  ones,  nor  permanent  good  in  our 


GENERAL    REMARKS  183 

schools  at  all,  and  which  has  sometimes  seemed  to  ns  suspicious  lest 
too  youthful  piety  should  contravene  the  doctrine  of  original  sin.  We 
shall  then  rise  superior  to  the  tradition  -which  not  only  prefers  old 
converts  to  young  ones,  but  which  seems  even  to  acquiesce  in  our  own 
children  giving  due  evidence  of  their  normal  depravity  as  a  necessary 
precedent  to  conversion  and  entry  into  the  Church  at  a  mature  and 
respectable  age.  God  gi-ant  to  all  of  us  and  to  all  our  Churches  a 
higher  and  truer  conception  of  .the  possibilities  of  our  school,  and, 
above  all,  of  His  love  for  *'  these  little  ones,"  rather  than  to  offend 
whom,  even  by  our  uncharitable  scepticism,  it  were  better  we  were 
cast,  with  the  millstone  of  our  sinful  doubts,  into  the  depths  of  the  sea. 
Let  us  have  faith,  first  in  God,  and  next  in  that  specimen  of  humanity 
freshest  from  His  hands,  the  little  child,  that  to  which  He  Himself  hath 
likened  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  May  we  not  believe — and  then  joy- 
fully act  on  our  belief — that  tbese  children  of  our  people,  presented  to 
God  in  baptism,  and  early  brought  to  the  feet  of  Jesus,  may  be  led 
through  our  Christian  families  and  schools  into  the  Church  without 
serving  a  previous  apprenticeship  to  the  devil,  being,  by  Divine  grace, 
as  efiicaciously  saved  from  sin  as  if,  later  in  life,  they  were  rescued  out 
of  it?  And  we  will  not  part  from  such  a  subject  in  such  an  assembly 
as  this  without  at  least  hoping  and  praying  for  the  day  when  the 
Church,  in  numbering  the  lambs  within  her  fold,  will  no  longer  be 
content  to  tabulate  a  tenth,  a  third,  or  a  half  of  those  confided  to  her 
care,  and  the  rest  fled,  she  knows  not  whither;  but  when,  instead  of 
this  balancing  of  awful  losses  and  insufficient  gains,  she  may,  with 
reverent  gladness,  echo  the  words  of  the  Chief  Shepherd,  *'  Of  those 
that  Thou  gavest  Me,  have  I  lost  none." 

Rev.  C.  H.  Kelly  (Wesleyan  Methodist  Church):  I  think  that  those 
to  whom  is  committed  the  training  of  the  young  in  our  Sunday-schools 
should  recognise  two  facts  :  first,  that  they  are  the  ministers  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  to  these  children,  and,  therefore,  to  them  is  committed  a  very 
important  work  ;  and  next,  that  they  are  Methodists.  I  think  if  we  went 
to  our  work  with  the  conviction  that  it  is  our  duty  first  of  all  to  secure 
great  evangelical  results,  and,  next,  that  we  ought  to  secure  denominational 
results  also,  it  would  help  us  very  much.  I  am  afraid  we  miss  the  mark 
frequently  because  we  do  not  directly  aim  at  that  which  should  bo  before 
all  workers,  the  conversion  of  the  children,  their  church  membership,  and 
their  retention  in  the  Church.  I  am  afraid,  so  far  as  we  are  concerned,  there 
is  in  this  country  a  great  deal  of  such  scepticism  as  Mr.  Smith  has  referred 
to.  There  seems  to  be  an  idea  that  Satan  has  a  mortgage  on  young  lives 
for  about  sixteen  years,  and  apparently  a  great  many  persons  do  not  expect 
their  children  either  to  be  converted,  or  to  prove  that  they  are  lambs  of 
Christ's  flock.  That  is  a  great  mistake.  Another  mistake  we  make  is  that 
of  supposing  it  to  be  a  very  liberal  thing,  very  broad  in  charity,  not  to  care 
much  about  denominational  results.  But  the  most  bitter  sectaries  are  those 
who  speak  most  strongly  against  denominationalism  ;  and  if  we  act  wisely 
we  shall  most  earnestly  strive  to  get  our  children  well  housed  in  the 
Christian  Church,  and  in  that  part  of  it  to  which  we  are  attached,  for  the 
house  we  choose  for  ourselves  ought  to  lie,  in  our  opinion,  the  best  house 


184  METHODISM  AND  THE  YOUNG. 

for  our  own  children  ;  so  that  I  trust  we  shall  put  away  that  spurious  sort 
of  broad  charity  that  looks  very  pretty,  like  gold  leaf,  but  has  not  very 
much  depth  in  it.  I  should  like  to  say  that  in  the  services  which  children 
are  expected  to  attend,  there  should  be  distinct  provision  made  for  children. 
I  believe  that  many  of  the  very  able  ministers  who  are  supposed  only  to 
preach  to  exalted  intellects  would  very  frequently  do  very  much  better 
even  for  the  most  intellectual  of  their  hearers  if  they  preached  so  that  the 
children  could  understand  them.  I  believe  that  occasional  services  specially 
for  children  would  prove  very  helpful,  not  only  to  the  children,  but  to  the 
a,rown-up  people.  We  make  a  great  mistake  if  we  overlook  the  fact  that 
in  the  Church  of  Clu-ist  we  have  many  of  His  lambs,  and  that  among  the 
large  number  of  children  in  our  schools  are  thousands  just  ready  for  con- 
version, if  we  would  only  earnestly  seek  their  conversion.  A  great  need 
in  our  churches  is  not  merely  the  training  of  the  children,  but  also  the 
training  of  the  trainers,  and  we  should  see  that  the  teachers  in  our  classes 
and  others  holding  offices  in  our  schools  are  themselves  loyal  Christian 
men  and  women,  and  loyal-  Methodists  ;  for  if  the  officers  themselves  are 
brought  to  Christ  and  are  members  of  His  Church,  we  may  trust  them  to 
do  very  much  with  reference  to  evangelical  and  denominational  success, 

Mr.  Joseph  Edge  (Wesleyan  Methodist)  said  :  I  should  like  to  ask  if 
our  ministers  attend  Sabbath-school  teachers'  meetings  as  regularly  as  they 
might  or  ought  ?  We  have  more  Sunday-school  teachers  than  soldiers,  or 
sailors,  or  policemen,  but  they  are  frequently  in  their  training  left  to  the 
chapter  of  accidents.  We  do  not  treat  sailors  and  soldiers  that  are  to  take 
care  of  our  homes  and  hearths  in  that  way.  I  do  think  that  our  teachers 
ought  to  be  looked  after  by  our  ministers,  and  not  left  to  prepare  themselves 
anyhow  or  nohow.  Let  us  get  more  efficient  Sabbath-school  teachers,  and 
our  children  will  be  kept  to  our  Church. 

Mr.  J.  Macdonald  (Methodist  Church  of  Canada)  said:  Mr.  President, 
I  believe  Bishop  Simpson  pointed  out  one  of  the  most  prolific  causes  of  the 
estrangement  on  the  part  of  our  young  people  from  our  Church  when  he 
referred  to  the  fact  of  speaking  disrespectfully  about  our  ministers  in  the 
family.  I  hold  this  to  be  one  of  the  most  vital  points  in  attaching  our 
young  people  to,  or  estranging  them  from,  our  Church.  And,  if  I  may  be 
allowed  a  personal  reference,  I  wish  to  say  that  I  should  just  as  soon  think 
of  cutting  off  my  right  hand  as  of  allowing  a  disrespectful  word  to  be 
said  in  my  own  house  in  reference  to  any  of  our  ministers.  Ministers  are 
men  and  have  their  weaknesses,  and  young  people  have  their  tendencies  ; 
but  while  we  do  not  deny  to  others  of  other  Churches  the  merit  due  to 
them,  it  does  not  necessarily  follow  that  we  are  to  depreciate  our  own  men. 
I  hold  that  one  of  the  most  efficient  means  of  attaching  our  young  people 
to  our  own  Church  is  this, — bringing  them  to  God's  house,  not  only  on  the 
Sabbath,  wlien  they  come  as  a  matter  of  course,  but  on  week  evenings  : 
first,  because  it  is  a  duty  which  we  ourselves  owe  personally  to  God  ; 
secondly,  because  it  is  a  duty  we  owe  to  our  children  ;  thirdly,  because  it 
is  a  duty  we  owe  to  our  neighbours  to  let  them  see  us  going  through  the 
week  to  the  house  of  God  ;  and,  fourthly,  because  it  is  a  dut}^  that  we  owe 
to  our  ministers  to  strengthen  their  hands  and  encourage  their  hearts  by 
our  attendance.  I  do  not  care  how  busy  the  man  is,  it  is  the  duty  of  every 
man  to  present  himself  not  merely  on  tlie  Sunday,  but  during  the  week  at 
God's  house  ;  and  I  hold  that  no  congregation,  no  society,  can  prosper 
where  the  week  evening  services  are  neglected  ;  and  I  hold  if  ministers  and 
families  would  alike  join  in  securing  this  end,  all  the  services  would  be 
overflowing  and  interesting.  But  the  retention  of  the  children  to  the 
Church  does  not  entirely  depend  on  the  parents.  I  do  trust  that  the 
ministers  will  not  misunderstand  me  when  I  say  that  not  only  has  the 
Echoolmaster  been  abroad,  but  that  there  is  such  a  thing  as  higher  educa- 


GENERAL   REMARKS.  185 

tion,  Tlicy  must  learn  not  only  to  read  well,  but  to  speak  g-ood  English. 
There  are  such  things  as  had  pronunciation,  and  bad  reading,  and  these 
things  are  detected  by  young  people  who  receive  a  liberal  education.  Our 
ministers  must  not  only  be  good  preachers,  hut  good  pastors.  They  must 
visit  the  homes,  and  get  round  the  hearts  of  our  young  people.  Finally,  it 
is  always  safer,  rather  than  to  attempt  the  combating  of  the  errors  of  the 
day,  as  some  do,  in  such  a  manner  as  too  often  painfully  shows  that  thsy 
do  not  understand  the  subject  themselves,  to  preach  about  the  simple  story 
of  the  cross  in  all  ])lainness,  in  such  a  way  that  all  can  understand  it. 

Rev.  J.  H.  Robinson  (Methodist  Protestant  Church)  said  :  I  have  dis- 
covered in  my  sojoui-n  through  life  that  there  is  a  great  difference  between 
the  abstract  and  the  concrete,  between  the  theory  and  the  practice.  We 
have  heard  talk  about  the  children  being  converted.  Now  I  ask,  what  are 
they  wanted  to  be  converted  from,  when  they  are  already  ripe  for  the 
kingdom  of  heaven  ?  I  used  to  hear  a  story,  when  I  was  a  lad,  in  the 
country  from  which  I  came,  that  the  idea  was  that  some  people  might  be 
bewitched,  and  that  sometimes  children  were  bewitched.  The  cure  for  that 
was  to  wait  for  some  dark  stormy  night,  and  at  midnight  put  the  little 
things  outside  the  door  ;  then  after  a  while  to  bring  them  in,  and  if  they 
lived  they  were  not  bewitched,  and  if  they  died  they  were.  Now,  cm- 
practice  with  the  children  has  been  to  leave  them  outside  the  door.  Our 
theory  is  they  are  in  the  Church,  but  our  practice  is  that  they  are  not.  I 
think  the  God-given  way  to  convert  people  and  bring  them  to  Himself  is 
under  the  preaching  of  His  Word,  and  while  the  parents  come  to  church 
verj'  demurely  and  sit  and  listen  to  a  sermon,  their  children  are  sometimes 
climbing  the  lamp-posts  and  running  through  the  streets.  They  send  them 
to  the  Sabbath-school  and  think  the  whole  thing  is  finished.  Now,  sir,  I 
have  observed — and  we  can  learn  from  our  enemies — that  in  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church  evi-ry  child  is  taught  in  its  infancy  that  it  is  a  member  of 
the  Church,  and  when  it  comes  to  a  certain  time  in  life  the  question  is  not, 
"  Shall  you  be  converted  and  come  into  the  Church  ?"  but  "  Shall  you  leave 
the  Church  ?  Shall  you  now,  when  you  have  come  to  judgment,  tear 
yourself  from  the  Church  of  your  fathers  ?"  The  same  thing  largely 
holds  with  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  and  I  have  discovered  that  in 
those  Churches  the  likelihood  is  that  the  children  shall  grow  up  members  of 
the  Church  ;  but  in  our  Methodism  we  cannot  tell  how  they  are  going  to 
grow  up,  because  we  want  them  to  be  converted.  The  thought  of  Adam's 
sin  never  occurred  to  me  when  I  was  converted  ;  I  had  enough  of  my  own  ; 
I  was  wanting  the  Lord  to  pardon  me  :  and  I  hold  that  children  are 
members  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  that  we  leave  them  out  of  the 
Church  at  our  peril.  When  the  Methodivjt  Church  takes  a  proper  stand  on 
that  matter,  and  recognises  them,  and  takes  them  up  and  asks  them  to  be 
converted  only  from  their  own  sins,  I  think  we  shall  have  got  right.  I  beg 
the  pardon  of  wise  doctors  of  divinity  for  occupying  your  time  so  long. 

Mr.  Alexander  Clark  (African  Methodist  Episcopal  Church)  :  I  confess 
that  I  rise  in  your  presence  under  an  embarrassment  that  I  cannot  disguise, 
but  I  feel  that  I  should  be  acting  contrary  to  all  the  principles  of  my  life 
if  I  had  refrained  from  adding  my  testimony  on  this  great  question.  There 
is  a  law  in  harmony  with  nature,  all-pervading,  constant  and  eternal,  which 
summons  man  to  duty  by  a  positive  injunction,  and  deters  him  from  vice 
by  a  positive  prohibition.  This  law  is  God's  eternal  love,  manifested  in 
the  flesh  which  said,  "  Suffer  little  children  to  come  unto  Me,  and  forbid 
them  not."  This  great  principle  of  love  is  the  grand  idea  on  which  the 
Lord's  government  on  earth  is  yet  to  be  established.  Let  us,  then,  as 
Christian  men  and  women,  go  forward  in  the  name  of  the  ]\Iaster  in  this 
great  work  of  the  Sunday-school,  throug1\  t]io  Instrumentality  of  which  the 
whole  world  can  and  will  be  evangelised.    The  Sabbath-school  is  properly 


186  METHODISM  AND  THE  YOUNG. 

the  nursery  of  the  Christian  Church,  and  this  great  poAver  is  so  in  harmony 
with  the  Christian  economy  of  our  Methodism  that  we  should  put  forward 
every  energy  in  tliis  direction  as  ministers,  laymen,  and  parents  ;  and  to 
this  end  we  should  cultivate  a  higher  esteem  and  a  greater  appreciation  of 
woman's  work  in  this  great  cause,  for  woman's  inborn  nature  is  love  to 
God,  whose  love  has  the  greatest  care  for  the  young  and  growing  youth  of 
the  family,  the  Church,  and  Sunday-schools.  Then,  as  a  prime  factor,  let 
her  be  more  highly  encouraged  and  appreciated  in  this  direction.  Let  the 
tenets  of  our  holy  religion  and  Church  be  carefully  taught  in  the  school, 
and  our  children  early  impressed  with  the  necessity  of  embracing  Christ  as 
their  Saviour,  and  uniting  with  the  Church  as  the  only  safe  shelter  from 
the  alluring  evils  and  vices  of  the  world.  Whilst  I  am  a  Methodist,  strong 
in  conviction,  I  would  not  dare  to  denominationalise  any  of  my  pupils  to 
the  prejudice  of  others  further  than  Christian  charity  warrants,  but  would 
trust  in  God,  in  an  exemplary  life  before  the  people,  and  in  the  liberal 
doctrines  of  our  Methodist  Chm'ch.  The  wise  man  Solomon  assures  us  that 
if  we  train  the  child  right  when  young  it  will  not  be  likely  to  depart  from 
it  when  grown  up  ;  then  let  us  train  up  our  pupils  in  the  fear  and  admoni- 
tion of  God,  bringing  the  Church  and  school  near  together,  so  that  our 
children  may  be  brought  from  the  school  into  the  Church.  The  school 
which  I  have  had  the  honour  of  being  superintendent  of  for  twenty-five 
years  has  furnished  more  than  one  half  of  the  yearly  accession  to  its 
church,  and  I  do  not  reniember  losing  one  member  of  my  school,  who  did 
not  become  a  member  of  the  church.  I  would  advise  that  we  make  all 
our  Sabbath-schools  so  interesting  for  the  young  that  they  may  become 
their  pride  and  their  paradise  ;  for  I  have  seldom  seen  a  prosperous  Sunday- 
school  without  the  church  of  that  school  being  a  prosperous  church. 
Therefore  I  am  convinced  that  the  seed  of  the  Church  is  in  the  Sunday- 
school.  Let  holy  song  and  everything  of  a  godly  beauty  be  kept  in  our 
schools  that  will  inspire  the  human  soul  to  love  purity  and  virtue. 

Eev.  J.  C.  Price  (African  Methodist  Episcopal  Zion  Church)  :  Robert 
Raikes,  as  a  primary  object,  wished  to  give  intellectual  culture  to  those  around 
him  ;  but  from  that  there  developed  another  idea,  that  while  the  children 
had  minds  they  also  had  hearts,  and  this  resulted  in  their  moral  and  spiritual 
training.  Theie  is  a  fear,  however,  that  we  may  rest  upon  mere  principles 
of  cold  morality  rather  than  the  deep  religious  principles  of  Christianity. 
The  object  in  bringing  children  to  the  Sunday-school  is  very  often  mistaken  ; 
for  some  think  that  if  the  child  goes  to  the  school  once  every  week  that  is 
all  that  is  required.  If  we  were  more  and  more  impressed  with  the  idea 
that  the  children  come  there  to  meet  Christ,  to  have  Christ  impressed  upon 
their  young  hearts,-  the  results  might  be  improved.  Take  Christ  out  of  the 
Sunday-school,  and  what  is  it  ?  It  is  like  taking  the  sun  from  the  world, 
or  the  stars  from  the  heavens  ;  and  if  we  do  this — take  Christ  from  before 
the  child — then  we  cripple  the  influence  of  the  Church.  The  Church  holds 
not  only  ministers  of  the  Gospel,  but  it  is  also  the  great  productive  source 
of  lawyers,  teachers,  doctors,  and  men  of  every  profession  in  life,  and  such 
principles  should  be  instilled  into  the  children  as  would  warrant  the  belief 
that  they  would,  in  the  exercise  of  their  future  professions,  do  all  they 
could  to  benefit  mankind.  But  when  we  have  brought  them  to  Christ,  is 
that  all  ?  No  ;  while  we  are  Christians  we  are  also  Methodists.  We  are  not 
like  the  brother  who,  when  he  was  asked,  "  Are  you  a  Christian  ? "  said, 
"  No  ;  I  am  a  Baptist."  We  are  Christians  first,  and  then  Methodists. 
What  are  the  means  to  be  used  to  teach  these  children  Methodism  ?  One 
of  the  chief  means  is  the  Catechism.  That  must  become  the  bone  and  the 
sinew  of  the  child  :  it  must  grow  up  with  his  thoughts,  so  that  when  he 
becomes  a  man  he  will  know  nothing  else  doctrinally  but  what  he  has 
learnt  from  our  Catechism.     It  has  been  said,  if  we  send  the  child  to 


GENERAL   REMARKS.  187 

Sunday-school  it  shows  that  we  do  not  do  as  we  should  in  onr  own  homes. 
A  teacher  once  asked  a  boy  how  many  gods  there  were,  and  the  boy 
replied,  "  Three."  "  No,"  replied  the  teacher,  and  then  the  boy  said, 
"  There  are  ten."  The  teacher  said  that  would  not  do,  and  at  last  the  boy 
said,  "  There  are  forty."  But  that  did  not  satisfy  the  teacher.  The  boy 
went  out  and  met  another  boy  in  the  field.  He  said,  "  John,  where  are 
you  going  ?  "  "  Oh,"  said  he,  "  I  am  going  to  school."  "  Well,  John,  how 
luany  gods  are  there?"  John  replied,  "There  is  but  one  God."  "Oh," 
said  the  boy,  "  I  have  just  tried  that  teacher  with  forty,  but  that  is  not 
half  enough,  so  that  you  had  better  not  go  up  there."  Home  training,  in 
this  case,  was  sadly  neglected.  Everywhere  we  should  inculcate  the  doc- 
trines of  Christianity,  and  the  tenets  of  Methodism.  And  we  are  encouraged 
by  the  past.  Look  at  the  great  work  that  has  resulted  from  Sabbath-school 
training.  At  its  commencement  it  was  but  a  stone  cast  into  the  bosom  of 
a  lake,  but  now  the  wave  has  moved  and  moved  till  it  washes  two  conti- 
nents, and  millions  of  children  have  learned  the  "  old,  old  story  "  of  the 
cross  and  Him  that  died  thereon.  Our  achievements  in  the  future  should 
more  than  keep  pace  with  the  efforts  of  the  past.  We  must  do  greater 
things  for  God,  greater  things  for  the  Church,  greater  things  for  sulferin';- 
men  everywhere  ;  and  there  is  no  better  time  to  begin  than  when  we  arc 
young.  It  was  said  by  Dr.  Reid,  the  other  day,  that  we  had  built  other 
churches  by  rivalry  ;  that  when  a  Methodist  church  goes  up  a  Presbyterian 
church  goes  up,  that  is,  by  rivalry  ;  but  I  am  afraid  we  have  not  only  built 
other  churches,  but  we  have  put  ministers  into  those  churches.  Through 
our  neglect  in  not  instilling  the  principles  of  Methodism  into  our  children, 
others  have  taken  them  away,  and  they  have  imbibed  peculiar  doctrines — 
peculiar  because  they  seem  to  contradict  the  attributes  of  God,  at  one  time 
making  Him  a  lover  of  all  men,  and  at  another  time  making  Him  the  hater 
of  a  j)art  of  mankind.  I  know  a  man  to-day  in  a  leading  church  of  a 
different  denomination  who  said  his  father  was  a  Methodist,  his  grandfather 
a  Methodist,  and  as  far  back  as  he  could  trace  his  family  they  were  Metho- 
dists. Why  have  such  men  strayed  away  ?  It  is  because  they  have  not 
been  held  by  the  bond  of  family  instruction,  and  by  the  following  up  of 
that  instruction  in  our  Sabbath-schools.  If  we  would  have  greater  triumphs 
for  the  Methodist  Church,  we  must  go  forth  from  this  Conference  with 
renewed  zeal  and  energy  to  gather  in  the  little  ones  of  whom  He  said, 
"  Suffer  them  to  come  unto  j\Ie." 

Rev.  Dr.  McFerrin  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South)  :  I  claim 
nothing,  sir,  above  my  brethren,  but  I  have  been  a  Methodist  sixty  years, 
and  I  have  been  a  Methodist  preacher  fifty-six  years  saving  twenty  days  ; 
and  I  do  say  in  this  presence,  and  I  desire  to  say  it  with  emphasis,  that  I 
Iielieve  we  have  a  great  many  very  erroneous  notions  on  the  subject  of  the 
training  of  children.  If  you  want  to  bring  up  a  child  in  the  nurture  and 
admonition  of  the  Lord,  and  tie  him  on  to  your  Church,  the  first  thing  you 
nuist  teach  him  is  that  he  is  a  sinner,  and  that  he  must  be  born  again.  You 
cannot,  by  any  machinery  whatever — Sunday-school,  church,  baptism,  or 
any  kind  of  manipulation — make  a  child  a  Christian  unless  he  is  born  of 
God.  It  has  been  said  that  we  lose  a  great  many  children  from  our  Church. 
That  is  true,  but  then  we  gain  a  great  many  that  are  not  brought  up  in  our 
Churcli.  As  I  pass  round  I  find  a  great  many  thousands  of  people  now 
identified  with  the  Methodist  Church  that  were  not  brought  up  in  it.  Why 
are  we  not  all  Episcopalians  ?  If  we  are  all  born  holy,  and  born  in  the 
Church,  and  born  in  a  sanctified  state,  what  is  the  use  of  Methodism  ? 
Why  did  Mr.  Wesley  teach  the  peculiar  doctrines  of  our  denomination? 
Why,  because  the  people  rested  in  forms  and  in  ceremonies,  and  in  rites  and 
in  ritualism.  He  taught  that  we  must  be  bom  of  the  Spirit.  If  you  let 
your  child  have  r-digion  I  am  sure  he  will  belong  to  the  ]Methodist  Ciiurch. 


188  METHODISM  AND   THE   YOUNG. 

I  thank  God  that  though  I  was  not  born  of  a  Methodist  mother,  I  lived  to 
see  my  mother  converted  and  become  a  Methodist.  She  never  preached  or 
prayed  in  pubhc  that  I  know  of,  but  she  worked  at  home  for  her  husband 
while  he  preached.  She  bore  three  sons  that  are  now  itinerant  preachers, 
she  has  three  or  four  grandsons  travelling  preachers,  and  she  has  half  a 
dozen  daughters  and  grand-daughters  married  to  Methodist  preachers.  We 
were  all  tied  to  the  Methodist  Church  by  the  power  of  religion,  and  if  you 
want  to  keep  up  this  feeling  in  your  hearts  and  families,  tell  your  children 
to  be  religious.  Do  not  tell  them  that  they  are  born  Christians,  and  all 
they  have  to  do  is  to  conform  to  the  rules  of  -the  Church.  Tell  them  they 
must  get  on  their  knees  before  God  and  confess  their  sins,  and  seek  after 
that  change  of  heart  by  which  a  man  is  joined  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
by  that  faith  which  works  by  love.  This  will  tie  them  on  to  Methodism 
with  a  bond  that  cannot  be  divorced. 

The  Benediction  was  then  pronounced,  and  the  Session  brought 
to  a  close, 


FIFTH  DAY,  Monday,  September  12tk. 


President. — Rev.  E.  E.  Jenkins,  M.A.,  Waleijan  Methodist  Church. 


Subject : 
THE  LORD'S  DAY  AND  TEMPERANCE. 


rjlHE  CONFERENCE  resumed  this  morning  at  Ten  o'clock    The 
-*-      Rev.  E.  E.  Jenkins,  M.A.   (British  Wesleyan   Methodist), 
presided,  and  conducted  the  Devotional  Service. 

Rev.  J.  Bond  announced  a  prayer-meeting  in  the  morning  chapel 
from  Nine  to  Ten  a.m.  every  day. 

The  minutes  of  Saturday  were  read  and  confirmed. 

A  short  conversation  ensued  on  the  arrangements  for  the  provincial 
meetings.  The  roll  of  absentees  was  then  called,  and  the  remainder 
of  the  morning  hour  was  spent  in  devotion. 

The  Conference  proceeded  to  the  consideration  of  the  topics  for 
the  day. 

Rev.  John  Baker,  M.A.  ("Wesleyan  Methodist  Church),  read  the 
following  essay  on  Methodism  and  the  Lord's  Day. 

The  Sabbath  is  the  oldest  institution  in  the  world,  older  than  the 
nation,  older  than  the  Church,  older  than  the  Bible.  The  first  full 
day  of  man's  existence  on  the  earth  was  the  day  which  his  Maker 
blessed  and  sanctified.  Nothing  has  such  antiquity  upon  it,  nothing 
contains  in  it  such  a  history,  nothing  draws  along  with  it  such  a  glory. 
It  links  us  with  the  remotest  past,  and  with  the  remotest  future.  It  is 
the  oldest  of  memorials  and  the  earliest  of  types  ;  the  memorial  of  the 
comj)letion  of  the  fii'st  heavens  and  the  first  earth,  into  which  sin 
entered,  and  which  are,  therefore,  to  be  dissolved  ;  and  the  type  of  the 
"  new  heavens  and  the  new  earth  wherein  dwelleth  righteousness,"  and 
which  are  to  abide  for  ever.  It  was  the  companion  of  man's  innocence, 
he  needed  it  then  ;  and  the  companion  still  of  his  exUe,  how  much 
more  does  he  need  it  now !     It  is  the  only  flower,  with  no  thorn  of  the 


190         THE  LORDS  DAY  AND  TEMPERANCE. 

after  curse  of  the  blighted  world,  which  man  was  suffered  to  carry 
away  from  Paradise,  save  that  of  wedded  love.  The  only  two  para- 
disaical institutions  we  have  are  Marriage  and  the  Sabbath — tlie  one 
the  foundation  of  civil,  and  the  other  of  religious  society,  and  each 
necessary  to  human  virtue  and  happiness.  What  would  a  world  of  sin 
and  suffering  be  without  a  Sabbath  ?  The  world  that  knows  no 
Sabbath  is  that  where  hope  and  joy  never  come,  where  there  is  no 
possibility  of  rest,  and  no  desire  and  no  capacity  for  worship.  The 
world  that  is  an  endless  Sabbath  is  that  where  both  rest  and  worship 
— untroubled  repose,  unceasing  service — find  their  perfection  and  their 
perpetuity.  What  Voltaire  said  respecting  the  supreme  Being— "If 
there  were  no  God,  we  must  have  created  one  " — may  be  applied  to 
that  day,  which  is  one  of  the  best  gifts  of  the  Creator  to  His  creatures 
— "  If  God  had  not  given  us  a  Sabbath,  we  must  have  asked  Him  for 
one,  or  invented  one."  Life  would  have  been  intolerable ;  society,  at 
least  in  its  higher  developments,  an  impossibility,  the  world  uninhabit- 
able without  one. 

The  question  of  the  Sabbatic  Law  is  one  of  the  crucial  questions  of 
the  present  day.     The  battle  of  religious  controversy  rages  around  it. 

We  have  in  England  alone  seven  societies  which  have  been  organised 
for  the  express  purpose  of  secularising  the  day  which  God  has  declared 
for  ever  sacred.  And  these  societies  are  supported,  not  only  by  avowed 
secularists  and  infidels,  whose  hostility  might  be  expected  against  all 
that  is  holy  and  Divine,  but  by  men  eminent  in  character  and  position 
and  ability,  who  mistakenly  think  that  they  are  thereby  manifesting  a 
true  sympathy  and  kindness  for  the  working  classes ;  and  even  by 
Christian  ministers  who  hold  lax  religious  views.  Many  of  these  mis- 
guided, unconscious  allies  of  infidelity  and  irreligion  are  fascinated  by 
the  plausibilities  of  a  shallow,  conceited  scientism,  and  of  a  senti- 
mental humaaitarianism  which  profess  to  be  wiser  and  kinder  in  their 
legislation  than  the  Divine  Giver  and  Guardian  of  the  Sabbath  Law 
Himself. 

The  supremacy  of  the  Word  of  God,  and  the  sanctity  of  the  Day  of 
God,  are  the  two  keys  which  command  the  Church's  position  in  the 
present  crisis,  and  against  them  all  the  forces  of  evil  are  consequently 
arrayed  in  fiercest  antagonism.  If  either  is  surrendered  the  defeat 
would  be  fatal.  Give  up  the  inspiration  of  the  Bible,  and  we  have  no 
objective,  infalUble  revelation  of  truth,  no  imperturbable  tranquiUity 
of  faith,  no  doctrinal  certainty;  and  it  is  left  for  every  man  to  try 
every  doctrine  by  the  test  of  its  likelihood,  and  to  submit  the  teachings 
of  Scripture  to  the  verifying  faculty  of  his  own  reason,  that  he  may 
receive  or  reject  as  they  may  agree  or  disagree.  Let  there  be  the 
degradation,  or  even  the  mutilation,  of  the  Sabbath  as  a  Divine 
institution,  and  what  would  become  of  public  worship,  of  religious 
instruction,  of  household  teaching  and  government,  now  very  im- 
perfectly regarded,  then  discredited  and  disregarded?    What  would 


REV.   JOHN   BAKERS   ADDRESS.  191 

become  of  the  weekly  rest  itself,  the  blessed  pause,  the  healthful 
breathing  from  the  hurry  and  turmoil  of  working  life,  the  necessity 
of  -which  is  coeval  with  human  nature,  but  which  becomes  more 
urgent  and  apparent  in  proportion  to  the  increased  rapidity  and 
intensity  of  life,  and  the  multiplication  of  wants  and  cares  to  which 
civihsation  gives  birth  ?  With  a  Sabbath  that  had  lost  its  sacredness, 
what  would  become  of  our  Sabbath-schools,  among  the  most  elevating 
and  purifying  influences  of  our  time  ?  What  would  become  of  vene- 
ration for  sacred  places,  and  sacred  persons,  and  sjicred  things  ?  With 
the  day  of  God  dishonoured  the  house  of  God  would  be  dishonoured, 
the  minister  of  God  would  be  dishonoured,  the  name  of  God  would 
be  dishonoured,  the  Word  of  God  would  be  dishonoured.  Business 
and  pleasure  would  become  the  gods  of  the  world — the  one  tending  to 
make  men  hard,  and  selfish,  and  tyrannical,  the  other  to  make  them 
sensual  and  frivolous.  The  public  conscience  would  be  deteriorated, 
the  moral  sense,  the  sense  of  the  supernatural,  would  be  dimmed,  if 
not  darkened,  and  national  morality  would  droop  and  wither.  To 
quote  the  striking  words  of  an  eminent  living  minister :  "  Say  that 
the  waves  of  time  shall  roll  and  charge  on  without  anywhere  breaking 
at  the  base  of  a  rock,  the  same  year  after  year,  which  proclaims 
eternity.  Say  that  toil  shall  go  on  toiling,  and  drudgery  shall  ever 
drudge,  without  once  hearing  that  God  sends  them  rest.  Say  that 
public  morality  shall  flow  or  ebb,  shall  be  fortified  or  relaxed,  without 
any  periodical  girding  up,  any  stated  restorative  of  good  impressions, 
any  recurring  testimony  against  all  evils.  Do  this,  as  a  statesman, 
and  you  have  done  a  bUnd  thing  ;  but  blinder  far  would  it  be  to 
take  the  day  which  is  consecrated  to  the  most  hallowed  thoughts, 
which  ever  represents  eternity,  which  foreshadows  a  life  where 
neither  sin  nor  painful  labour  shall  come,  acts  as  a  periodical  appeal 
to  every  virtue  in  the  community,  protests  to  the  heeding  and 
the  unheeding  against  their  vices — to  take  this  day,  and  on  its  holy 
hours  pour  in  the  revels  of  pleasure,  to  commingle  with  the  rites  of 
worship.  No  nation  can  preserve  gravity,  honesty,  moral  order  of 
thought,  under  such  an  education.  No  clock  goes  on,  if  not  periodically 
wound  up.  National  morality  is  no  exception  to  the  rule.  He  that 
made  man  and  redeemed  man,  and  who  loves  and  fosters  him,  who 
bears  with  his  sins,  and  shines  upon  him  even  when  offending,  made 
'  for  man '  a  day  wherein  he  might  periodically  have  his  holier  feeUngs 
refreshed  and  his  downward  tendency  confronted.  Is  this  day  to  be 
turned  into  an  instrument  for  jumbUng  up  in  our  ideas  Bibles  and 
bacchanals,  prayers  and  shows,  sacraments  and  theatres  ?  K  so, 
farewell  to  the  sober  force  of  English  character,  and  the  tranquil 
perseverance  which  conquers  all  things!  Is  it  an  error  in  the  great 
Lawgiver  to  have  ordained  for  nations  this  grand  appeal  to  self- 
control,  seriousness,  and  hoj)e  of  immortality '?  "  We  cannot  despair 
for  any  land  where  there  arc  the  Bible  and  the  Sabbath,  and  where 


192      THE  lord's  day  and  temperance. 

they  are  honoured  and  obeyed.  We  cannot  hope  for  any  land  where 
they  are  not,  or  where  they  are  dishonoured  or  disobeyed. 

We  have,  first,  to  define  our  position  as  a  Church,  and  then  to  mark 
our  duty,  and  happily  neither  of  these  is  attended  with  any  ambiguity. 
The  two  salient  questions  that  have  to  be  decided  now  are  :  First,  is 
the  Sabbath  a  Divine  ordinance,  appointed  from  the  beginning,  having 
a  vital  and  necessary  relation  to  our  spiritual  and  immortal  nature  ? 
Second,  What,  under  the  Christian  dispensation,  is  the  right  manner  of 
its  observance,  as  illustrated  by  the  teaching  and  example  of  Christ 
and  His  apostles  ?  We  shall  pass  by  the  objections  of  those  who  do 
not  believe  in  a  living,  personal  God,  the  Creator  and  Moral  Euler  of 
the  world,  or  who  do  not  believe  in  an  inspired  revelation,  or  in  a 
supernatural  religion.  We  have  nothing  to  say  to  those  who  contend 
that  the  Sabbath  is  a  self-authorised  celebration,  the  device  of  reli- 
gious or  ceremonial  sentimentahsm,  a  thing  of  man's  invention  and  of 
man's  creation,  having  nothing  to  recommend  and  enforce  it  save  its 
expediency  and  serviceableness.  Among  the  Churches  of  Christendom 
with  which  we  have  chiefly  to  do,  there  have  been,  broadly  and 
generally  speaking,  two  leading  views. 

One  is  that  the  Sabbath  was  a  Jewish  ordinance,  instituted  by 
Moses,  abolished  by  Christ ;  that  the  Christian  Sunday  is  an  eccle- 
siastical institution,  grafted  on  Christianity  by  the  authority  of  the 
Church,  expedient  and  profitable,  perhaps  even  necessary  and  publicly 
binding,  but  carrying  with  it  no  direct  Divine  obligation.  This  is  the 
theory  sanctioned  by  the  Council  of  Trent  and  held  by  the  Church  of 
Rome ;  and  this  substantially,  with  some  modifications,  was,  strange  to 
say,  the  theory  of  Luther,  and  Melancthon,  and  Calvin,  and  has  con- 
tinued to  be  the  view  accepted  by  the  Lutheran  and  Reformed 
Churches.  And  this  has  also  been  advocated  by  some  of  the  most 
eminent  divines  of  the  English  Church,  Jeremy  Taylor,  Barrow,  and 
Paley,  with  this  slight  difference ;  Luther,  Calvin,  and  Zwingle  main- 
taining that  the  Jewish  Sabbath  was  a  figure  of  the  spiritual  rest  to  be 
enjoyed  under  the  Gospel,  fulfilled  by  Christ ;  and  the  theologians  of 
the  Anglican  Church,  that  the  Lord's  Day  has  been  adopted  in  imita- 
tion of  the  Sabbath  in  commemoration  of  Christ's  resurrection.  It 
was,  perhaps,  but  natural  that  Luther  and  the  other  reformers  of  the 
Continent,  brought  up  in  the  Church  of  Rome,  should  entertain  some- 
what lax  notions  of  Sabbath  obligation.  Their  excessive  dread  of 
superstition,  their  abhorrence  of  human  merit,  and  their  high  regard 
to  evangelical  faith  and  Christian  liberty,  predisposed  them  to  relax, 
rather  than  to  strengthen,  the  obligation  of  an  ordinance  which  they 
considered  to  be  partly  of  a  ceremonial  character,  Tlie  position 
taken  by  Luther  cannot  be  sufficiently  deplored.  His  admiration  of 
Augustine,  and  his  abhorrence  of  the  Pharisaic  spirit,  led  him  to  the 
verge  of  theoretical  Antinomianism,  while  others  leaped  the  precipice 
and  carried  the  theory  into  practice.     Who  can  tell  how  much  the 


EEV,   JOHN   baker's   ADDRESS.  193 

spiritual  character  of  the  Pieformation  was  lower  3cl  by  this  unhappy- 
laxity,  how  far  it  has  tended  permanently  to  obscure  and  paralyse  it, 
or  to  what  extent  the  Rationalism  that  has  devastated  the  Churches  of 
Germany,  and  France,  and  Switzerland,  and  Holland,  may  be  ascribed 
to  it?  The  influence  of  Luther's  grievous  error  in  relation  to  the 
Sabbath  has  impressed  itself  most  abidingly  and  disastrously  on  the 
Christianity  of  Germany.  The  influence  of  Knox's  uncompromising 
fidelity  has  left  an  indelible  impress  on  that  of  Scotland. 

The  other  view  which  we  resolutely  contend  for  is  that  the  Sabbath 
is  the  institute  of  Jehovah,  that  it  has  existed  from  the  beginning,  that 
its  commencement  dates  as  far  back  as  the  creation  of  the  world ; 
that,  therefore,  it  is  not  peculiar  to  any  age  or  nation,  but  in  its  origin 
and  obligation  is  common  to  all  mankind.  Of  course,  we  cannot  enter 
fully  into  the  argument.  I,  for  one,  believe  with  the  late  Professor 
Miller,  of  Edinburgh,  "  that  the  more  the  physiologist  advances  in  the 
exact  knowledge  of  his  science,  the  more  will  he  be  convinced  that  the 
physiology  of  the  Sabbath,  as  contained  by  manifest  implication  in 
God's  revealed  Word,  is  not  only  true,  but  embedded  therein,  and 
embodied  in  corresponding  enactments  alike  in  wisdom  and  in  mercy. 
The  night  is  the  rest  and  the  Sabbath  of  the  day  ;  the  Sabbath  is  the 
rest  and  Sabbath  of  the  week."  „  "  It  is  a  day  of  compensation," 
observes  Dr.  Farre,  "  for  the  inadequate  restorative  power  of  the  body 
under  continued  labour  and  excitement.  In  the  bountiful  provision  of 
Providence  for  the  preservation  of  human  life,  the  sabbatical  appoint- 
ment is  not,  as  it  has  sometimes  been  theologically  viewed,  simply  a 
precept  partaking  of  the  nature  of  a  political  institution,  but  it  is  to  be 
numbered  among  the  natural  duties — if  the  preservation  of  life  be 
admitted  to  be  a  duty,  and  its  premature  destruction  a  suicidal  act." 
We  consider  the  division  of  time  into  weekly  periods  of  seven  days, 
which  has  existed  from  the  earliest  ages,  among  nations  the  most  dis- 
similar in  all  their  other  customs,  and  the  most  remote  from  Palestine, 
and  from  each  other,  to  be  an  argument  which  has  never  been 
answered,  and  which  grows  upon  you  the  more  you  examine  it.  A 
custom  so  universal  can  only  be  accounted  for  in  one  of  two  ways. 
Either  there  must  have  been  some  natural  phenomenon,  everywhere 
present  and  visible  to  every  eye,  which  suggested  this  hebdomadal 
division  of  time,  or  there  must  have  been  some  institution  by  which  it 
was  established,  coeval  with  the  origin  of  our  race,  in  existence  before 
the  dispersion  of  mankind,  and  which  was  so  deeply  impressed  on  the 
heart  of  man,  that  while  the  reason  of  it  has  in  many  cases  perished, 
the  memorial  of  it  has  descended  along  the  numerous  streams  into 
which  the  woi'ld's  population  has  become  divided,  and  has  become 
fixed  and  rooted  as  one  of  the  traditional  customs  of  men.  A 
primeval  Sabbath  ex^jlaius  all,  and  is  the  key  to  an  otherwise  inex- 
plicable enigma. 

But  we  take  our  stand  chiefly  on  tliree  grounds.     I.  The  primeval 

O 


194  THE  LORD'S  DAY  AND  TEMPERANCE. 

institution  as  recorded  in  Genesis  ii.  Respecting  "  blessing  "  and  "  sancti- 
fying "  the  day  there  is  no  dispute :  it  can  only  mean  the  religious 
distinction  and  appropriation  of  the  seventh  day,  the  setting  it  apart 
for  religious  observance.  The  only  question  is,  Do  these  words  record 
the  setting  apart  of  the  seventh  day  at  that  time,  or,  according  to 
Paley's  interpretation,  by  prolepsis  or  anticipation,  to  its  being  set 
apart  2,500  years  afterwards  ?  Moses  employs  the  same  plain  historical 
language  in  describing  what  took  place  on  the  seventh  day,  as  he  does 
in  describing  what  took  place  on  the  six  preceding  days.  Where  is 
there  anything  in  the  construction  of  the  language  to  warrant  the  sup- 
position that  while  in  the  record  of  the  six  days  Moses  refers  to  what 
was  done  at  the  time,  in  the  record  of  the  seventh  day  he  refers  to 
what  was  done  many  ages  afterwards  ?  The  reason  of  the  thing  like- 
wise proves  that  the  Sabbath  was  appointed  at  the  completion  of  the 
creation.  What  is  the  reason  assigned  for  the  sanctiiication  of  the 
seventh  day  ?  Because  that  in  six  days  God  had  made  the  heavens  and 
the  earth,  and  rested  on  the  seventh  day.  The  Sabbath  was  ordained 
to  be  a  commemorative  institution,  commemorative  of  the  Creator's 
power  and  wisdom  and  goodness ;  and  therefore  it  is  in  the  highest 
degree  reasonable  to  conclude  that  the  commemoration  should  com- 
mence from  the  time  the  work  to  be  commemorated  was  complete ; 
and  not,  on  Paley's  theory,  that  the  thing  to  be  commemorated  should 
be  completed  at  one  time,  and  that  the  commemoration  should  be 
instituted,  and  should  commence,  at  another  time,  twenty-five  centuries 
afterwards.  Besides,  the  reason  assigned  for  the  observance  of  the 
Sabbath  being  universal  and  perpetual,  the  obligation  of  its  observance 
must  be  equally  so.  The  reason  of  the  Sabbath  has  nothing  in  it 
peculiar  to  Judaism,  neither  has  the  obligation.  Creation  is  a  common 
theme,  and  the  Creator  a  common  object  of  adoration,  and  therefore 
there  can  be  no  age  or  nation  to  which  such  theme  and  adoration  do 
not  pertain,  and  on  which  they  are  not  obligatory.  Rightly  under- 
stood, the  doctrine  of  the  Sabbath  is  the  rationale,  not  merely  of  man 
and  the  world,  but  of  the  universe.  It  attests,  in  opposition  to  the 
fantasies  of  Atheism,  the  existence  of  all  things  by  one  Sovereign 
Will,  which  began  its  operations  when  it  listed,  and  in  like  manner 
ceased  whenever  its  own  purposes  had  been  wrought  out.  The 
Sabbath  is  the  oracle  of  the  first  line  of  the  Bible,  eternally  out- 
spoken, "In  the  beginning  God  created  the  heaven  and  the  earth." 
If  it  always  has  been  man's  duty  and  blessedness,  as  a  rational, 
accountable  being,  as  much  before  Judaism  and  after  Judaism  as 
under  Judaism,  to  celebrate  the  perfections  and  praises  of  the  great 
Creator,  it  has  always  been  man's  duty  and  blessedness  from  the 
earliest  times,  and  will  always  remain  so  till  the  latest,  religiously 
to  observe  that  day  which,  from  the  beginning,  was  set  apart  to  such 
celebration.  In  the  great  original  reason  for  the  sanctification  of  the 
Sabbath,  stated  in  the  re-publication  of  the  law,  with  other  supple- 


REV.   JOHN   baker's   ADDRESS.  195 

mentary  reasons  occasionally  specified,  to  which  we  need  not  refer, 
we  have  an  unequivocal  intimation  of  its  primary  use — to  perpetuate 
the  remembrance  and  profession  of  the  doctrine  of  an  Almighty, 
wise,  and  beneficent  Creator.  This  was  the  primeval  revelation.  It 
lies  at  the  foundation  of  all  religion.  The  tendency  of  man  to  apos- 
tatise from  the  truth  being  foreseen  by  God,  it  was  His  care  in  the 
beginning  to  establish  a  commemorative  ordinance,  as  a  symbolical 
acknowledgment  of  the  doctrine  of  a  Divine  Creator  of  all  things,  to 
guard  this  truth  through  all  ages  and  generations.  The  Sabbath  in 
this  view  was  "  made  for  man,"  j)rovided  for  his  spiritual  infirmities. 
The  truth  it  is  designed  to  preserve  is  directly  and  fatally  antagonistic 
to  Atheism,  to  Pantheism,  to  idolatry.  If  it  had  been  always  observed 
in  its  spiritual  significance,  there  would  have  been  no  "  fool "  to  say 
*' that  there  is  no  God,"  or  to  say  that  everything  is  God,  or  to  say 
that  there  are  a  million  gods,  no  "  lords  many  and  gods  many,"  but 
"one  Lord  and  His  name  one." 

The  Sabbath  is  the  witness,  then,  of  the  Creator's  existence,  of  His 
moral  government,  and  now  of  His  redeeming  mercy.  It  was  from  the 
beginning  the  memorial  of  a  finished  Creation,  and,  since  the  first  Easter 
morning,  it  has  become  the  memorial  of  a  finished  Redemption,  speak 
ing  to  us  now  in  one  and  the  same  voice  of  the  power  that  made  us 
and  of  the  mercy  that  redeemed  us.  It  is  both  a  protest  and  an  appeal 
— an  ever-repeated  testimony,  made  to  the  heedful  and  the  heedless 
alilve,  against  all  e%dl,  and  especially  the  supreme  evil  of  the  f orgetful- 
ness  of  God  and  the  neglect  of  man  ;  and  a  periodical  appeal  to  every 
virtue,  particularly  to  the  supreme  virtue  of  love  to  God  and  our  neigh 
hour.  It  is  the  irremovable  barrier  and  bulwark  against  worldliness 
and  wickedness.  It  is  the  voice  of  God,  never  silent  through  the 
ages,  summoning  the  weary  to  rest,  the  thoughtless  to  seriousness  and 
reverence,  and  the  sinful  and  sorrowful  to  grace  and  mercy.  The 
ordination  of  a  day  of  worship  is  a  standing  rebuke  of  Atheism,  of 
Materialism,  of  Secularism,  and  of  Indifferentism.  Of  Atheism,  which 
says  that  man  has  no  maker,  and  therefore  no  object  of  worship  ;  of 
Materialism,  which  says  that  man  has  no  soul,  and  therefore  no  need 
and  no  duty  of  worship  ;  of  Secularism,  which  says  that  man  has  no 
hereafter,  that  the  present  is  all,  and  that  therefore  there  is  no 
reasonableness,  no  profitableness  in  worship,  and  no  rewardablenoss  for 
it;  and  of  Indifferentism,  which,  absorbed  in  this  present  world-life, 
immersed  in  folly  and  pleasure,  is  too  brutish  to  know  and  too  stupid 
to  reflect. 

II.  Tlie  seconrl  reason  on  which  loe  stanfj  is  that  the  statute  of  the  Sabbath 
is  enshrined  among  the  eternal  verities  of  the  moral  law.  It  lorms  part 
of  that  code  which  was  proclaimed  with  pecuHar  solemnity,  which  was 
written  twice  by  God's  own  finger  on  two  tables  of  stone,  and  which 
alone  was  deposited  in  the  ark,  all  which  circumstances,  combined 
with  the  nature  of  the  commandments  themselves,  give  to  that  code 

o2 


196       THE  lokd's  day  and  temperance. 

a  pre-eminence,  an  authority,  a  glory  all  its  own,  and  most  impressively 
distinguish  it  from  the  ceremonial  appointments  which  began  and 
ended  with  the  Jewish  polity.  The  Sabbath,  therefore,  while  perhaps 
partly  positive,  has  most  distinctly  and  manifestly  a  moral  character : 
it  is  a  day  for  the  worship  of  God,  a  day  to  be  kept  holy,  a  day  for  the 
cultivation  of  religion ;  it  is  consequently  clearly  and  certainly  moral, 
and  therefore  neither  Jewish  nor  Gentile,  but  belongs  to  mankind, 
and  is,  of  course,  permanent,  as  well  as  universal  in  its  obligation.  The 
place  assigned  to  this  precept  in  the  Decalogue  is  an  abundant  and  satis- 
fying demonstration  that  with  the  other  nine  statutes  it  constitutes  that 
common  law  of  our  race  which  was  obligatory  before  the  publication 
of  the  Jewish  code,  obligatory  independent  of  it,  and  obligatory  after 
it  has  vanished  away.  Every  law  in  liJiat  Decalogue  has  been  binding 
from  the  beginning  of  the  world,  and  every  law  will  be  binding  to  the 
end  of  the  world.  We  are  not  to  regard  the  promulgation  of  the  code 
of  Sinai  as  the  giving  of  a  new  frame  of  laws  which  had  not  previously 
any  existence  ;  it  was  the  re-publication,  in  a  more  complete  form,  and 
with  more  impressive  sanctions  and  solemnities,  of  that  immutable 
system  of  moral  law  which  had  been  in  force  from  the  beginning  of 
the  Creation,  and  which  must  continue  in  force  until  the  end  of  the 
Creation. 

Do  you  say  the  Decalogue  in  any  part  of  it  has  been  annulled  ?  We 
demand  proof  of  the  abrogation.  When  and  by  whom  were  we 
absolved  from  its  obligation  ?  Christ  has  not  repealed  it.  For  He 
not  only  expressly  and  formally  recognises  its  full  and  unimpaired 
authority  by  quoting  verbally  some  of  its  precepts,  by  propounding  a 
more  spiritual  enforcement  and  exposition  of  them,  by  giving  us  a 
summary  of  all  their  requirements  in  His  two  great  commandments  of 
love  to  God  and  love  to  our  neighbour,  but  He  also  distinctly  declares, 
'•  Think  not  that  I  am  come  to  destroy  the  law  ;  I  am  not  come  to 
destroy,  but  to  fulfil."  And  in  like  manner  His  apostle  Paul  indig- 
nantly inquires,  "  Do  we,  then,  make  void  the  law  through  faith  ?  " 
That  law,  one  precept  of  which  he  quotes  to  show  us  to  what  law  he 
referred,  "Thou  shalt  not  covet" — "God  forbid!  Yea,  we  establish 
the  law."  And  further,  so  far  from  the  Gospel  setting  aside  any  jot  or 
tittle  of  the  law  as  the  rule  of  our  life  and  conduct,  everything  in 
Christianity,  however  grand  and  costly,  is  but  a  prerequisite  and  con- 
trivance that  the  law  may  be  perfectly  honoured  and  obeyed.  "  For 
what  the  law  could  not  do,"  not  from  any  inherent  failure  or  futility  in 
the  law  itself,  but  "in  that  it  was  weak  through  the  'guiltiness  and 
corruption  of  '  the  flesh,"  the  law  makes  no  provision,  and  contains 
no  power  for  pardon  or  for  purification.  It  was  not  designed  to 
justify  the  ungodly,  or  to  sanctify  the  unholy  ;  to  make  guilty  men 
righteous,  or  sinful  men  holy ;  what  was  beyond  the  province  and 
the  potentiality  of  the  law,  "  God  sending  His  own  Son  in  the  likeness 
of  sinful  flesh,  and  for  sin,"  to  be  the  one  sacrifice  for  sin,  and  the 


REV.  JOHN   baker's   ADDRESS.  197 

one  Saviour  from  sin,  "  condemned  sin  in  the  flesh,  that  the  righteous- 
ness," the  ordinance,  the  requirement  "  of  the  law  might  be  fulfilled 
in  us,  who  walk  not  after  the  flesh,  but  after  the  Spirit."  The 
atoning,  reconciling,  redeeming  Saviour,  the  sanctifying  Spirit,  are 
not  to  release  us  from  the  law  as  the  rule  of  i)erfect  righteous- 
ness, but  to  magnify  its  authority,  and  ensure  and  accomplish  its 
fulfilment. 

The  third  ;/roimd  on  which  ice  take  our  position  is  the  memorable 
declaration  of  our  Saviour,  "  The  Sabbath  was  made  for  man,  and  not 
man  for  the  Sabbath ;  therefore  the  Son  of  Man  is  Lord  also  of  the 
Sabbath,"  and  has  prerogative  to  make  what  modification  or  relaxation 
of  His  own  law  He  may  think  well.  This  was  a  sovereign  oracle  which 
not  only  carried  back  the  origin  of  the  day,  so  far  as  to  get  rid  of  any 
existing  restrictions,  but  which  pointed  to  His  own  purpose  to  readapt 
and  extend  it  to  the  whole  world.  "  The  Sabbath  was  made  for  man," 
not  for  the  Jew  only,  but  for  man  as  man,  for  generic,  universal  man ; 
for  man  at  all  times,  in  all  places,  under  all  circumstances ;  for  the 
Gentile  as  well  as  for  the  Jew,  for  the  Christian  Dispensation  as  well  as 
for  the  Patriarchal  and  Levitical  Dispensations.  "  The  Sabbath  was 
made  for  man  ;  "  wherever  man  is  there  is  the  necessity  for  the  Sabbath, 
there  is  the  obligation  of  the  Sabbath,  there  is  the  affinity  and  the 
capacity  for  the  Sabbath,  and  there,  too,  may  there  be  its  sanctity  and 
blessedness.  It  is  not  a  local,  not  a  dis.pensational  thing,  but  a  thing 
co-existent  and  co-extensive  with  man  himself.  *'  The  Sabbath  was 
made  for  man,  and  not  man  for  the  Sabbath."  (The  Sabbath  was  not 
first  made,  and  then  man  made  to  observe  it ;  but  man  was  first  made, 
and  then  the  Sabbath  was  made  to  be  observed  by  him  and  for  his 
benefit),  and  it  is  evidently  implied  that  it  was  made  for  him  at  the 
same  time  when  he  was  made  himself ;  when  the  creature  of  worship 
was  made,  then  at  the  same  time  was  made  the  day  of  worship  ;  when 
the  ruler  and  high  priest  of  nature  was  nshered  into  his  gorgeous 
temple,  then  was  the  day  '*  blessed  and  sanctified  "  on  which  he  should 
chiefly  celebrate  his  priestly  rites  of  thanksgiving  and  praise.  These 
words  of  the  Lord  of  the  Sabbath  seem  to  me  indubitably  to  prove 
that  the  Sabbath  in  its  origin  was  coincident  with  the  origin  of  man, 
and  that,  therefore,  in  its  duration  it  must  also  be  coincident  with  the 
duration  of  man ;  in  other  words,  that  it  is  of  permanent  and  universal 
obligation.  It  can  never  become  obsolete  or  antiquated;  man  can 
never  set  it  aside,  can  never  rise  superior  to  it,  can  never  dispense 
■with  it. 

That  Christ  removed  the  Sabbath  a  day  forward  in  honour  of  His 
own  resurrection,  and  by  His  authority  allied  it  with  the  public 
meetings  and  the  spiritual  action  of  His  Church  is,  as  it  has  been  well 
observed,  as  strong  a  proof  of  supremacy  as  was  that  which  reappointed 
and  specially  sanctioned  it  in  the  wilderness.  Nor  can  we  consistently 
demur  to  the  former  act  without  impugning  the  latter  also.     The  day 


198         THE  lord's  day  AND  TEMPERANCE. 

is  denominated,  accordingly,  "  the  Lord's  Day."  He  has  attached  it  to 
His  religion  for  the  whole  future  of  the  world  ;  and  He  stands  pledged 
to  bless  it  to  His  Church  as  in  the  beginning,  and  afterwards  to  the 
Jews,  but  more  abundantly. 

Thus  our  Lord  declared  Himself  the  Creator  and  Redeemer  of  the 
world.  The  sabbatic  designation  given  to  the  first  day  of  the  week  as 
the  Lord's  Day  is  declaratory  both  of  the  authority  by  which  it  must 
ever  abide  in  force,  and  of  the  conditions  and  purposes  involved  in  its 
existence  as  being  peculiarly  Christ's  own  day.  As  "  the  Lord,"  His 
authority  is  stamped  upon  His  day  in  perpetuity,  and  His  power  is 
pledged  to  vindicate  and  uphold  it  as  the  great  bulwark  of  His  reli- 
gion, against  the  tendencies  of  society  to  corrupt  or  abandon  it.  The 
Sabbath  is  especially  the  public  token  of  His  people's  allegiance  to 
Himself  in  the  midst  of  the  world — the  accepted  time  of  their  worship 
and  of  their  fellowship  with  Him  as  their  Head ;  it  is  also  His  pledge 
to  subdue  and  to  sabbatise  the  world  by  His  reign. 

Hence,  to  contend  that  the  Church  has  no  Sabbath  is  the  same  as  to 
contend  that  the  Church  has  no  Head,  and  that  the  world  has  no 
Saviour;  that  a  dispensation  of  grace  may  exist  and  prevail  which 
drops  the  benediction  of  creation  and  the  dowry  of  innocency.  It 
implies  that  to  have  become  superfluous  to  the  world  as  fallen  but 
redeemed,  which  made  a  part  of  the  constitution  of  things  when  man 
was  in  harmony  with  God,  with  himself,  and  with  everything  sur- 
rounding him. 

We  might  extend  the  argument  indefinitely,  especially  by  reference 
to  apostolic  teaching  in  the  third  and  fourth  chapters  of  the  Epistle  to 
the  Hebrews,  in  which  there  is  a  distinct  affirmation,  by  quotation  from 
Genesis,  of  the  primeval  institution  of  the  Sabbath  as  a  memorial  of 
*'  the  finishing  of  the  works  of  God  from  the  foundation  of  the  world," 
and  perhaps  also  a  declaration  of  the  sabbatic  rest  of  the  Redeemer 
from  His  finished  work ;  but  in  which  further  the  sabbatic  idea  is 
worked  out  in  beautiful  development  and  elaboration  as  running 
through  all  the  plans  and  purposes  of  God  respecting  man.  Human 
life  is  to  be  a  copy  of  Divine  life ;  man,  like  God,  is  to  work,  and  to 
rest.  Man  is  to  follow  in  the  wake  of  God,  to  tread  in  His  footsteps, 
and  to  be  at  one  with  His  course.  As  Divine  labour  terminates  in 
happy  rest,  as  not  till  the  Creator  rests  satisfied  in  the  contemplation 
of  His  works  is  His  creation  itself  complete ;  so,  too,  human  labour  is 
not  to  go  on  in  resultless  circles,  but  to  terminate  in  a  hapj)y  repose 
and  harmony  of  existence.  The  idea  of  the  Sabbath  extends  even 
further.  The  whole  course  of  human  history  is  not  to  run  on  in  dreary 
endlessness ;  its  events  are  to  have  a  victorious  and  prosperous  issue 
and  accomphshment,  are  to  find  a  completion  in  a  harmonious  and 
God-given  order.  This  is  Divinely  guaranteed  by  the  Sabbath  of  crea- 
tion, and  prefigured  by  the  sabbatical  seasons.  The  Divine  rest  of  the 
seventh  day  of  creation,  and  of  the  fixst  day  of  a  finished  redemption, 


REV.  JOHN  baker's  ADDRESS.  199 

hovers  over  the  world's  progress,  that  it  may  at  last  absorb  it  into 
itself.  It  thus  bocomes  the  sigu-manual  of  the  perfection  in  which  the 
progress  of  the  world  is,  according  to  Divine  charter,  to  result,  and 
a  special  pledge  of  the  perfection  and  a  consummation  of  the  kingdom 
of  God. 

But  we  may  not  enlarge.  "We  have  advanced  enough  to  prove  that 
the  Sabbath  is  not  a  Judaical  ordinance  which  passed  into  desuetude 
with  the  types  and  shadows  of  the  Mosaic  economy,  that  it  is  not  to  be 
ranked  among  the  worldly  rites  and  beggarly  elements  of  a  carna,l  and 
transitory  disi)ensation,  but  that  it  was  instituted  at  the  time  of  man's 
creation,  and  that,  uncancelled  and  unrevoked,  it  has  ever  since  been 
binding  on  his  thankful  and  duteous  observance.  These  are  the  jirin- 
ciples  on  which  we  take  our  stand,  and  claim  for  the  Sabbath  the 
homage,  the  reverence  of  every  man.  These  are  the  principles  on 
which  we  maintain  that  the  Sabbath  is  not  a  day  for  labour,  a  day  for 
business,  a  day  for  recreation,  a  day  for  pleasure,  but  a  day  of  rest 
and  of  worshij) ;  not  a  day  sacred  to  the  arts  and  sciences,  but  a  day 
sacred  to  the  claims  of  God  and  to  the  higher  purj^oses  and  interests  of 
religion.  It  is  a  day  which  no  man  can  bay  or  sell,  can  either  give  or 
take ;  it  is  a  day  which,  on  the  one  hand,  no  man  has  a  right  to  make 
merchandise  of,  to  traffic  in,  to  let  out  for  hire,  and  which,  on  the 
other  hand,  no  man  has  a  right  to  demand  for  toil  and  servitude.  It  is 
"the  Sabbath  of  the  Lord  our  God;"  it  belongs  not  to  ourselves,  it 
belongs  not  to  others;  it  belongs  to  Him  who  is  jealous  of  His  property 
and  His  glory ;  and,  therefore,  if  any  man  appropriate  it  to  his  own 
purposes  and  pleasures,  whether  secular,  sensual,  social,  or  scientific, 
he  injuriously  and  fraudulently  purloins  that  which  is  not  his  own. 

The  i^osition  of  Methodism  from  the  beginning  has  been  that  of 
absolute  adherence  to  the  sabbatic  law ;  while  on  the  vexed  question 
of  observance  we  have  endeavoured  to  steer  a  middle  course  between 
pharisaic,  puritanical  gloom  and  rigour  and  severity  on  the  one  hand, 
and  latitudiuarian  laxity  and  indifference  on  the  other.  In  the  rules 
of  the  Society,  dated  May  1,  the  one  condition  of  admission  is  "  a 
desire  to  flee  from  the  wrath  to  come,  and  to  be  saved  from  sin,"  which 
is  requu'ed  to  be  manifested  by  the  avoidance  of  all  evils,  among  others, 
that  of  "profaning  the  day  of  the  Lord,  either  by  doing  ordinary 
work  thereon,  or  by  buying  and  selling,  and  also  by  attending  upon  all 
the  ordinances  of  God,  such  as  public  worship,  the  ministry  of  the 
Word."  In  the  Liverpool  Minutes,  adojited  by  the  British  Conference 
of  18"20,  and  which  are  required  to  be  read  in  the  ministers'  meeting  of 
every  circuit  once  a  year,  and  in  the  annual  meeting  of  every  district, 
tliis  is  one  of  the  resolutions  agreed  to  in  answer  to  the  inquiry,  "  What 
measures  can  we  adopt  for  the  increase  of  spiritual  religion  among  our 
societies  and  congregations,  and  for  the  extension  of  the  work  of  God 
in  our  native  country?" — "Let  us  earnestly  exhort  our  societies  to 
make  the  best  and  most  religious  use  of  the  rest  and  leisure  of  the 


200  THE  LORD'S  DAY  AND  TEMPERANCE. 

Lord's  Day.  Let  us  admonish  any  individuals  who  shall  be  found  to 
neglect  our  public  worship  under  pretence  of  visiting  the  sick,  or  other 
similar  engagements.  Let  us  show  to  our  people  the  evil  of  wasting 
those  portions  of  the  Sabbath,  which  are  not  spent  in  public  worship, 
in  visits,  or  in  receiving  company,  to  the  neglect  of  private  prayer,  the 
perusal  of  the  Scriptures,  and  of  family  duties,  and  often  to  the  serious 
spiritual  injury  of  servants,  who  are  thus  improperly  employed  and 
deprived  of  the  public  means  of  grace.  Let  us  set  an  example  in  this 
matter  by  refusing  for  ourselves  and  for  our  families  to  spend  in  visits, 
when  there  is  no  call  of  duty  or  necessity,  the  sacred  hours  of  the  holy 
Sabbath  ;  and  let  us  never  allow  the  Lord's  Day  to  be  secularised  by 
meetings  of  mere  business,  when  such  business  refers  only  to  the  tem- 
poral affairs  of  the  Church  of  God." 

And  among  the  questions  which  are  directed  to  be  asked  of  all 
persons  proposed  to  be  admitted  on  trial  for  the  ministry  in  the 
Wesleyan  Methodist  Church  is  this  :  "  Do  you  believe  the  Christian 
Sabbath  to  be  a  Divine  institution  of  perpetual  and  universal  obligation 
in  the  Christian  Church  ?  "  We  are  aware  that  the  testimony  of  the 
Westminster  Confession,  and  of  the  Longer  and  Shorter  Catechisms  on 
this  cardinal  doctrine  is  most  clear  and  full,  and  that  the  practice  of 
the  Presbyterian  Churches  of  Scotland,  and  England,  and  Ireland,  and 
probably  of  the  United  States,  and  of  the  British  Colonies,  is  equally 
exemplary,  and  we  owe  them  a  great  debt  of  gratitude  for  their  faithful 
teaching  and  consistent  example ;  but  I  believe  that  Methodism, 
generic  universal  Methodism  (in  this  respect,  as  in  every  other  funda- 
mental respect,  we  trust  that  we  are  all  one),  has  the  high  distinction 
of  being  the  only  Christian  Church  that  exacts  from  all  candidates  for 
its  pulpits  a  distinct  declaration  of  faith  in  the  Divine  origin  and 
authority  of  the  Sabbath.  This  is  one  of  our  distinctive  peculiarities 
of  which  we  need  not  be  ashamed,  in  which  we  may  well  make  our  boast 
and  glorying.  May  we  ever  prove  worthy  of  this  honour,  and  faith- 
ful to  this  trust !  I  hope  and  believe  this  great  (Ecumenical  Conference 
will  sustain  me  in  af&rming  that  this  is  not  with  us  an  open  question 
which  every  authorised  teacher  and  preacher  may  settle  for  him- 
self. We  have  no  misgiving,  no  uncertainty  as  to  the  revealed  will  of 
God  in  this  matter.  We  regard  the  testimony  of  Scripture  as  full 
and  final. 

In  the  year  1848,  the  Lord's  Day  Committee  was  appointed,  on  which 
occasion  the  English  Conference  adopted  the  following  resolution : — 
'•  Convinced  of  the  great  and  growing  importance  of  a  careful  observance 
of  the  Lord's  Day  to  the  prosperity  of  the  Church  of  Christ,  and  of  the 
nation  at  large,  the  Conference  appoints  a  committee  to  watch  over 
the  general  interests  of  the  Sabbath,  to  observe  the  course  of  events  in 
reference  to  it,  to  collect  such  information  as  may  serve  the  cause  of 
Sabbath  observance,  to  correspond  with  persons  who  may  be  engaged 
in  similar  designs,  and  to  report  from  year  to  year  the  results  of  their 


liEV.   JOHN   BAKER'S   ADDRESS.  201 

inquiries,  witli  such  suggestions  as  they  may  think  proper  to  offer  to 
the  Conference." 

This  committee  has  ever  since  been  annually  appointed,  constituted 
of  both  ministers  and  laymen,  and  its  records  show  with  what  vigilance 
and  zeal  it  has  watched  over  the  interests   of  the  sacred  day,  from 
■whatever  quarter  and  in  whatever  manner  they  have  been  threatened. 
It  has  co-operated  with  the  Lord's  Day  Observance  Society  and  with 
the  Working  Men's  Lord's  Day  Rest  Association— organisations  con- 
ducted with  great  prudence  and  energy,  and   rendering  inestimable 
serA'ice  to  our  common  cause,  in  resisting  every  movement,  whether 
in  or  out  of  Parliament,  designed  or  calculated  to  impair  the  Divine 
authority  or  the  due  observance  of  the  Sabbath.     The  most  strenuous 
and  persistent  efforts  have  been  made  by  the  hostile  societies,  to 
which    we    have    already    referred,    to    break     down     our    existing 
English   law  and  custom,  by  which  the  day  of    God  is   recognised 
and  protected ;    and  those   efforts   are  increasing   in   vigour  and  de- 
termination,   and,  we    are    profoundly   sorry   to   add,    are   supported 
by   some   who   are  eminent   in  scientific   authority,    and  social  posi- 
tion,  and   personal  character,  and  even  in  ecclesiastical  dignitJ^     It 
has    been    attempted    again    and    again    to  open  the   Crystal  Palace 
during    a    portion     of     the    Lord's    Day,     and    more    recently    the 
National  Galleries  and  the  British  Museum,  and  to  authorise  secular 
lectures,  wdth  musical  performances,  on  Sunday  evenings,  admission 
to  be  by  money  payments.     We  are  thankful  to  record  that  for  the 
tenth  time  in  twenty-five  years  Parliament  has  rejected  motions  for 
thus  throwing  open   our   i^ublic   institutions.     Efforts   partially   suc- 
cessful have  also  been  made  from  time  to  time  to  restrict  the  hours  on 
the   Sabbath   during  which   the   traffic    (of   all   others   the   most  un- 
justifiable and  demoralising)  in  intoxicating  drinks  may  be  carried  on. 
Nine-tenths  of   Ireland  are  now  placed  under  the  regime  of  Sunday 
closing,  and  the  whole  of  Scotland  for  thirty  years  has  been  under  tliis 
rule,  and  in  each  case  with  incalculable  moral  and   social   benefits. 
The   Principality  of  Wales,  almost  without   a  dissentient  voice,  has 
asked  for  the  same  legislative  protection,  and  Parliament  has  been 
constrained   to   grant  the   demand  made  by   an   entire  people  for  a 
Sabbath  in  which  the  public-house  shall  be   closed   throughout  the 
length   and   breadth   of    the   land.     We    congratulate  the  friends   of 
temperance  and  religion  on  these  signal  successes,  indicating  as  they 
do  the  rapid  growth  of  a  sound,  enlightened,   and   Christian   public 
opinion   on   this  great   question,  and  fortifying  and  encouraging  the 
hope  which  we  ardently  cherish,  that  a   similar   boon  may  soon  be 
conferred  on  England.     The  country,  irresjjective  of  political  party,  is 
evidently  ripening  for  very  considerable  advance  in  limiting  the  drink 
traffic  on  the  Lord's  Day,  the  most  remarkable  proof  of  which  is  that 
an  ab.stract  resolution,  affirming  the  expediency  of  such  limitation  in 
England  being  extended  to  the  whole  of  the  day,  was  carried  a  short 


202  THE  lord's  day  and  temperance. 

time  ago  in  the  House  of  Commons  by  153  votes  to  117,  althongh  the 
extraordinary  exigencies  of  the  recent  Parliamentary  session  rendered 
necessary  the  withdrawal  of  the  bill  giving  effect  to  it  for  this  year. 

Still,  with  much  to  gladden  us,  we  have  much  to  sadden  us.  We 
have  many  friends,  we  have  many  enemies.  The  secular  press,  so 
able  and  powerful,  is  mostly  unfriendly.  Periodical  literature,  in  its 
lower  and  its  higher  grades,  is  flippant,  if  not  hostile.  The  materialistic 
scieiitism,  the  godless  philosophy  of  the  present  day,  are  our  sworn 
adversaries.  The  worldly,  unspiritual  tendencies  of  modern  thought 
and  life  are  arrayed  against  us.  Infidelity  and  Popery  have 'always 
tended,  if  not  sought,  to  degrade  the  Sabbath  wherever  they  have 
prevailed,  and  do  so  still.  The  High  Church  and  the  Broad  Church 
parties,  which  threaten  to  sway  the  fortunes  and  destinies  of  the  great 
English  Establishment,  are  alike  untrustworthy,  and  would  surrender 
to  the  foe  this  sacred  citadel.  The  Evangelicals  are  staunch  and  true, 
but  they  have  not  the  sway  and  mastery  they  formerly  wielded  :  once 
they  were  in  the  ascendant,  and  might  perhaps,  had  they  been 
faithful  to  their  providential  vocation  and  opportunity,  and  had  they 
boldly  and  cordially  fraternised  with  their  Nonconformist  brethren, 
have  remained  so  still ;  but  of  late,  we  are  sorry  to  think,  they  have 
declined  in  learning,  and  ability,  and  pojjular  influence,  and  are  losing 
some  of  the  firm,  sure  hold  they  once  bad  on  the  nation.  The  Dis- 
senting Bodies,  we  fear,  are  in  peril  of  lapsing  into  an  indifferentism 
in  opinion  and  practice  sadly  alien  from  the  views  and  habits  of 
their  Puritan  ancestors,  and  cannot  be  trusted  to  fight  this  great 
battle.  Parliament  is  governed  mainly  by  expediency,  a  very  unsafe 
ally,  which  may  be  with  us  to-day  and  against  us  to-morrow.  The 
conviction  is  shared  by  the  thoughtful  and  reflective  people  of  this 
country  who  have  understanding  of  the  times,  and  can  scan  its  features 
and  forecast  its  issues,  that  if  the  Sabbath  is  to  be  preserved  and 
maintained  amongst  us  unmutilated  by  human  greed  and  profanity,  it 
can  only  be  by  dint  of  a  strenuous  and  unslumbering  vigilance  and 
zeal  on  the  part  of  the  Christian  Churches  of  England.  And  we  have 
the  imi)ression  that  the  same  is  the  case  on  the  continent  of  America, 
and  in  those  great  colonies  which  this  realm  of  England  has  planted 
in  all  parts  of  the  world,  and  which  are  to  be  the  regnant  and  dominant 
lands  of  the  future.  With  our  Sabbath-day  all  that  is  most  valuable  to 
us  as  citizens,  whether  we  belong  to  the  East  or  West,  and  most  sacred 
to  us  as  Christians,  is  in  jeoi^ardy.  We  cannot  afford  to  be  inactive 
or  indifferent  in  such  a  crisis.  The  Methodism  that  is  represented 
in  this  great  Convention,  if  it  is  to  be  true  and  faithful  to  its 
providential  calling,  and  to  the  glorious  traditions  and  memories  of 
the  past,  must  take  a  foremost  place  in  this  grand  struggle  that  is 
before  us.  We  believe  that  the  Sabbath  is  now,  no  less  than  in 
the  times  of  Moses  and  the  prophets,  the  sign  of  the  covenant 
between  God  and   His    people,   the  sign  by  which   they  are  known 


GENERAL   REMARKS.  203 

■who  loTe  and  serve  Him,  the  sign  of  God's  love  to  man,  and  of 
man's  answering  response  of  love  to  God.  Just  as  in  the  structure 
of  God's  "'Vord,  every  subject  it  embraces  includes  a  test  by  which  the 
mind  of  the  rc.ider  is  tried,  and  a  barrier  has  been  secretly  interposed 
beyond  which  iuJifforcnce  to  truth,  pride  of  intellect,  and  prejudice 
against  virtue  ccnuoc  pass,  so  is  the  sabbatic  ordinance  a  test  j)eriodi- 
cally  applied  to  the  consciences  of  men  and  of  Churches  by  which  the 
spuitual,  the  bclioving,  the  obedient,  are  discovered  and  manifested. 
Tell  me  what  is  t  lO  relation  of  a  man  to  God's  holy  day,  and  I  will 
tell  you  what  is  his  place  and  his  value  in  the  kingdom  of  God.  Tell 
me  what  is  the  relation  of  a  Church  to  God's  holy  day,  in  what 
estimation  it  regards  it,  with  what  fidelity  it  honours  and  defends 
and  observes  it,  and  I  will  tell  you  what  is  the  place  and  the  worth 
and  the  value  of  that  Church  in  the  kingdom  of  God. 

Rev.  B.  T.  Roberts  (Free  Methodist  Church  of  America),  who  was 
apijointed  to  deliver  the  invited  address,  not  being  present,  the  subject 
was  thrown  ox^en  for  general  discussion. 

Rev.  Dr.  Xewman  (Jlethodist  Episcopal  Church)  said  :  I  do  not  rise  to 
speak,  but  rather  to  make  a  siing-estion  to  the  eflt'ect  that  while  we  are  in 
accord  as  to  the  duty  of  Sabbath  observance,  we  might  have  some  practical 
sugsj,estions  as  to  how  the  day  should  be  observed. 

Rev.  William  Arthur  (Wesleyan  Methodist)  said  :  I  believe,  sir,  one  of 
the  principal  elements  of  the  Methodist  mission  in  the  future  is  now  being 
touched.  We  have  to  stand  between  the  past  with  a  Sabbath,  and  a  future 
either  with,  or  without,  a  Sabbath.  The  world  says  a  future  without  one. 
The  past  of  the  Jewish  Church,  the  past  of  the  Christian  Church,  say  with 
a  Sabbath  :  the  present  of  very  many  branches  of  the  Christian  Church 
gives  to  that  question  an  uncertain  sound.  Is  the  future  to  have  a  Sabbath 
or  is  it  not  to  have  a  Sabbath  ?  Very  many  branches  of  the  Church  also 
would  have  a  bit  of  one,  a  limb  of  one,  a  selvage  of  one.  The  question 
is.  Are  we  to  have  a  real  Sabbatli  or  are  we  not  ?  And  it  will  not  do  for 
the  Methodist  Church,  or  any  branch  of  it,  to  hesitate  upon  that  point.  They 
nmst  be  content  to  go  for  a  Sabbath  in  perpetuity,  or  to  let  the  Sabbath  go. 
It  is  pleaded  for  as  a  "  daj^  of  rest  :  "  a  day  of  play  is  what  the  world 
means  by  a  "  day  of  rest."  Where  it  is  not  a  day  of  worship  it 
is  never  in  practice  a  daj' of  rest — never!  Taken  as  a  simple  matter  of 
history,  wherever  the  Lord's  Day  ceases  to  be  a  day  on  wliich  man  acknow- 
ledges that  it  is  a  day  linking  hiin  to  his  Fatlier  in  heaven,  and  to  his 
better  brethren,  who  have  never  lost  their  place  in  heaven,  when  it  ceases 
to  be  a  day  when  man  acknowledges  tliat,  it  ceases  to  be  a  day  of  repose  on 
earth.  A  day  of  play  becomes  for  those  who  seek  the  play  a  day  very 
often  of  double  exhaustion,  and  to  those  who  administer  to  the  play  a 
day  of  downright  slavery  and  labour.  And  no  communities  upon  earth 
present  such  a  condition  of  physical  exhaustion  and  family  disorder  on 
a  Monday  as  does  the  connnunity  that  spends  the  Sunday  under  the  idea 
of  playing  instead  of  the  idea  of  worshipping.  Out  of  the  English  Lord's 
Day  has  grown  up  the  Saturday  half-holiday  ;  out  of  the  continental  idea 
of  a  play-Sunday  comes  not  only  labour  for  six  days  in  the  week,  but 
labour  for  tlie  seventli  day  also  ;  and  if  we  are  to  preserve  to  the  world  the 
great  institution  of  rest,  I  contend  agai.n  it  is  only  by  claiming  the  day  as 


204  THE   LOED'S   DAY   AND   TEMPERANCE. 

one  of  worship.  Secure  G-od's  honour,  and  He  will  secure  man's  welfare  ; 
trample  down  God's  claim  over  the  day,  and  the  claim  of  the  labourer,  the 
claim  of  the  poor,  and  the  claim  of  the  rich,  will  all  go  down  together.  I 
believe  that  in  our  families  and  in  our  churches  very  much  of  the  blessing 
hitherto  inherited  has  come  to  us  because  of  our  attachment  to  the  day  of 
God.  Let  us  take  care  not  to  give  it  up  ;  but  as  to  the  spirit  in  which  it  is 
observed,  let  us  always  remember  that  tlie  law  of  worship  is  above  the  law 
of  rest,  and  the  law  of  mercy  is  above  all  law,  and  Christ  Himself,  the  i-est- 
giver  to  the  whole  human  race,  taught  the  great  lesson  that  "  the  Sabbath 
was  made  for  man  ; "  a  device  of  heaven  for  the  welfare  of  heaven's  off- 
spring down  upon  earth  ;  a  device  of  eternity  for  the  keeping  of  the  off- 
spring of  eternity  who  are  yet  entangled  in  the  wdieels  of  time.  The 
Sabbath  was  made  for  man,  and  I  trust  that  for  man  we  may  keep  it. 

Rev.  C.  C.  McKechnie  (Primitive  Methodist):  I  only  wish,  sir,  to 
remark  that  I  think  the  Methodist  people  as  much,  perhaps,  as  any  other 
Christian  Church — I  might  almost  venture  to  say  more  than  any  other 
Christian  Church — have  hitherto  carried  into  practical  effect  our  Lord's 
idea  of  the  purpose  and  sacredness  of  the  Sabbath-day.  When  He  said 
the  Sabbath  was  made  for  man,  I  understand  Him  to  have  meant,  that  it 
was  made  for  the  ministry  of  mercy  to  man.  That  seems  to  me  to  be  His 
special  instruction.  Now,  Mr.  President,  the  Methodist  people  have  hitherto 
devoted  the  Sabbath-day  specially,  pre-eminently,  I  might  almost  say 
exclusively,  to  the  great  work  of  the  ministr}'  of  mercy  ;  and  in  doing  so 
they  have  realised  "in  their  blessed  experience  that  labour  is  rest.  They 
have  found  the  highest  kind  of  rest  in  labouring  for  the  good  of  their 
fellow-men,  and  I  do  not  think  that  there  is  any  more  effectual  way  of 
convincing  ourselves,  or  convincing  others,  of  the  Divine  authority  of  the 
Sabbath  than  by  prosecuting  more  and  more  the  ministry  of  mercy  to  our 
fellows. 

Rev.  J.  C.  Bakratt  (Wesleyan  Mission,  Germany)  said:  We  have 
heard  this  morning  something  of  the  view  taken  by  Dr.  Martin  Luther 
on  the  Sabbath  question,  and  therefore  it  is  not  difficult  to  understand  that 
in  Germany  this  question  is  regarded,  as  I  have  been  told  there,  again  and 
again,  from  a  different  standpoint  from  that  observed  in  England  and 
America.  Of  course  the  responsibility  for  their  interpretation  of  the  Divine 
command  must  rest  with  the  Lutheran  Churches.  We  cannot  but  regret 
the  difference  that  exists  between  their  views  and  ours  on  this  question. 
I  wish  to  call  the  attention  of  this  Conference  to  the  fact  that  there  is  no 
essential  difference  as  to  the  observance  of  the  Lord's  Day  between  the 
Lutheran  Protestants  in  Germany  and  the  Roman  Catholics,  but  a  differ- 
ence only  of  degree.  I  come  from  what  may  be  regarded  as,  perhaps,  the 
most  distinctly  evangelical  state  in  Germany — the  kingdom  of  Wurttemberg. 
We  have  at  the  present  time,  in  Stuttgart,  an  Exhibition  of  Arts  and  Manu- 
factures which  cannot  but  be  regarded  as  a  most  successful  Exhibition  ; 
but  the  fact  remains  that  the  great  day  of  the  week  for  the  visiting  of  this 
successful  Exhibition  is  the  Lord's  Day.  The  number  of  visitors  to  the 
Exhibition  is  twice  or  thrice  as  great  on  the  Lord's  Day  as  it  is  on  any 
other  day.  This  is  the  point  on  which  I  would  wish  to  lay  stress  before  this 
Conference,  and  I  think  I  shall  scarcely  be  out  of  order  in  doing  so.  I 
wish  to  give  a  word  of  gentle  caution  to  Methodist  parents  wlio  seek 
educational  institutions  for  the  training  of  their  children  on  the  continent 
of  Enrope.  My  own  conviction  is  that  the  assaults  that  have  been  made 
upon  the  Lord's  Day  in  Great  Britain  may  be  traced  to  the  education 
received  on  the  continent  of  Europe.  The  influences  surrounding  the 
Continental  Sabl)ath  are  very  subtle  and  very  powerful,  and  even  with  the 
most  carefully  elaborated  safeguards  that  can  be  designed,  it  is  scarcely 
possible  to  protect  young  people  from  those  very  subtle  and  dangerous 


GENERAL   REMARKS.  205 

Inflaonce;?.  I  resxavrl  it  as  a  calamity  whon  ]\rethorlist  parents  soncl  their 
children  to  the  Continent,  even  for  the  undoubted  advantages  that  may  be 
gained  there,  without  having  taken  in  advance  all  possible  care  in  the 
selection  of  the  educational  institution  ;  and  I  would  strongly  urge  that  no 
Methodist  parent  should  seek  these  advantages  in  places  where  their  own 
Church  is  not  distinctly  represented,  and  where  their  children  may  not  be 
committed  directly  to  the  care  of  nnnisters  of  their  own  Church.  I  con- 
sider that  we,  as  Methodists,  have  a  vocation  in  Germany  on  this  very 
question.  jMay  God  help  us  to  be  faitliful  in  our  witness  on  this  question 
of  Sabbath  observance  ! 

Dr.  William  Cooke  (Methodist  New  Connexion)  :  Mr.  President,  I  have 
listened  with  profound  attention  to  the  most  admirable  paper  which  has 
been  read  on  this  important  sul>ject,  and  subsequently  to  the  admirable 
remarks  which  have  been  made  by  our  brother  Mr.  Arthur  ;  and  I  would 
say  that  my  sentiments  exactly  accord  witli  the  sentiments  which  have 
been  delivei'ed  by  the  two  gentlemen  referred  to.  The  speaker  who  has 
just  sat  down  referred  to  parental  influence  with  regard  to  the  Sabbath- 
day,  and  the  consequences  arising  from  laxity  on  the  part  of  Christian 
parents  with  regard  to  this  great  and  iiriportant  question.  Sir,  the  Sabbath, 
when  rightly  observed,  is  the  ally  of  virtue,  of  morality,  and  of  religion  ; 
but  lax  notions  with  regard  to  the  Sabbath  may  tend  to  generate  immorality 
and  vice  in  various  ways.  Let  me  suppose  that  we  have  a  Christian 
mother,  and  in  the  presence  of  her  children  she  utters  some  sentences 
which  would  indicate  that  she  has  ^me  uncertainty  in  her  own  mind  with 
regard  to  the  obligation  of  a  Christian  Sabbath.  The  daughter,  a  r  and 
lovely,  hears  the  remarks  made  b}^  her  mother  which  ma}-  have  an  inuiience 
upon  her,  and  the  result  is,  she  is  led  into  dangerous  society,  and  brought 
under  evil  influences  ;  that  fair  daughter  may  become  a  harlot  and  lead  an 
impure  and  vicious  life,  breaking  the  mother's  heart,  and  finding  an  un- 
timely and  a  degraded  grave — and  her  eternity  how  dark  and  awful  to 
contemplate  !  But  suppose,  on  the  other  hand,  tliat  a  Christian  mother 
inculcates  the  duty  of  Sabbath  observance  according  to  God's  holy  law  : 
that  fair  daughter  becomes  an  angel  of  light  and  of  mercy.  A  pious 
mother,  an  example  to  her  children,  lives  a  useful  life,  dies  a  happy  death, 
and  goes  into  the  brightness  of  the  glorj'  of  the  eternal  world.  Let  mothers, 
then,  take  care  in  what  manner  they  speak  in  the  presence  of  their  children 
with  regard  to  the  solemn  duties  of  the  Christian  Sabbath.  And  so  with 
regard  to  our  sons.  Let  the  Christian  father  speak  in  a  way  doubtfully 
with  regard  to  the  Sabbath,  in  the  presence  of  his  sons,  and  the  effect  is 
injurious.  Those  sons  are  led  to  neglect  Divine  ordinances  ;  they  are 
brought  under  dangerous  influences  ;  and  the  promising  boy  becomes  a 
drunkard,  a  profligate,  a  felon  ;  breaks  the  father's  heart,  and  passes  into 
an  untimely  grave.  Oh,  sir,  there  is  an  awful  solemnity  in  connection  with 
these  important  considerations.  But  let  that  son  be  brought  up,  not  only 
in  the  fear  of  God  generally,  but  with  a  i-egard  of  God's  Sal)bath,  of  God's 
ordinances,  and  other  sacred  duties  devolving  upon  him,  and  the  result  is 
that  that  son  becomes  what  may  be  a  herald  of  mercy,  a  minister  of  grace, 
lives  a  happy  and  a  holy  life,  and  dies  in  the  favour  of  Almighty  God. 
Let  parents  be  careful  to  inculcate  a  profound  reverence  for  the  Sabbath- 
day. 

Rev.  James  Hocart  (French  Methodist)  :  I  just  want  to  express  an 
opinion  which  seems  to  me  of  importance.  If  ever  England  were  to  give 
up  her  Saljliath  it  would  be  a  great  calamity  for  the  European  continent, 
and  for  France  in  particular.  We  have  made  several  serious  attempts  to 
form  in  Paris,  and  in  France,  a  Lord's  Day  Obsei'vance  Society.  Those 
attempts,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  have  to  a  great  extent  failed  up  to  the  present 
time,  but  help  and  stimulus  have  come  to  us  from  Geneva  ;  and  1  may 


206  THE  lord's  day  and  temperance.- 

here  mention  an  honoured  name,  the  name  of  a  man  who  has  £i:iven  his  life 
to  the  promotion  of  Sabbath  observance  in  Geneva,  ancl  throughout 
Switzerland  and  Europe — I  mean  Monsieur  Alexandre  Lombard.  But  we 
want  help  from  you  as  well  as  from  Switzerland  in  order  to  excite  public 
attention  to  this  great  question,  and  therefore  if  your  own  views  and  prac- 
tices were  ever  relaxed  it  would  be  the  greatest  damage  to  us.  No  one 
who  has  not  laboured  in  the  great  towns  of  France  for  some  time  cau 
possibly  be  aware  what  a  hindrance  to  the  spread  of  the  Gospel  and  the 
conversion  of  sinners  Sabbath  profanation  is.  Your  grand  hour  for  action 
in  England  has  been  the  Sabbath  evening,  while  the  Sabbath  evening  has  been 
a  nullity  with  us  as  to  Christian  exertions  for  the  benefit  of  the  masses. 
This  arises  from  the  fact  of  labour  in  the  early  part  of  the  day,  and  also 
from  the  number  of  hours  given  to  pleasure  in  the  after  part  of  the  day. 
We  cannot  get  the  people  together,  and  will  not  get  them  together,  unless 
we  obtain  Sabbath  observance.  Let  me  just  add  one  or  two  brief  observa- 
tions :  what  an  evidence  of  the  depravity  of  man  we  have  in  this  matter  1 
God's  order  is  inverted  in  France  ;  people  will  work,  and  masters  will  get 
their  men  to  work  on  the  day  which  should  be  a  day  of  rest,  and  I  have  been 
told  by  workmen  that  a  man  is  dealt  more  leniently  with  if  he  absents  him- 
self from  the  workshop  on  Monday  than  if  he  absents  himself  on  the  Sunday. 
Many  work  on  the  Sunday,  and  then  take  pleasure,  and  give  way  to  vicious 
excess  on  the  Monday,  hence  the  name  of  Le  hon  Litndi.  After  they  have 
worked  on  Sunday  they  alistain  from  work  on  Monday,  and  in  some 
instances,  at  least,  the  master  indirectly  countenances  the  practice.  In 
that  way  many  working  men  are  disabled  by  their  excesses  from  regular 
and  energetic  labour  even  on  the  Tuesday.  Therefore,  if  you  regard  your 
work  of  evangelisation  in  France,  and  on  the  Continent  generally,  I  think 
you  will  feel  that  you  are  bound  to  retain  the  immense  privilege  and  tlie 
powerful  means  of  action  on  the  people  here  which  you  possess  through 
the  observance  of  the  Lord's  Day. 

Rev.  W.  Griffith  (United  Methodist  Free  Church)  :  Mr.  President, 
will  you  allow  me  to  make  one  remark  before  I  come  to  the  point  under 
discussion  in  this  Conference,  that  is  to  say,  what  an  unutterable  pleasure 
and  profit  the  assembly  of  this  fficumenical  Conference  has  been  to  us  ?  I 
desire  to  give  the  right  hand  of  fellowship  to  every  brother,  ministerial  or 
lay,  in  this  assembly  :  though  at  the  first  sight  I  did  not  desire  to  be  pre- 
sent, because  I  could  not  see  'Any  practical  result  that  would  issue  from  the 
Conference  ;  now,  realising  what  it  has  been  to  myself  and  to  others,  there 
is  no  consideration  of  any  kind  that  would,  could  I  have  foreseen  what 
this  Conference  has  become,  have  kept  me  from  it.  I  would  have  walked 
every  step  of  the  way  to  it  if  I  could  not  have  come  otherwise.  I  believe 
we  entirely  go  with  the  sentiments  of  the  speakers  on  the  subject  of  the 
Sabbath,  and  its  obligations,  and  also  as  to  the  great  advantages  to  accrue 
from  the  i-eligious  observance  of  the  day,  and  the  great  neglect  of  the 
Sabbath-day.  But  there  are  two  points  on  which  I  feel  a  difficulty  :  one 
is,  how  are  we  to  secure  the  universal  or  general  observance  of  the  Sabbath- 
day  in  tliis  or  in  any  other  countiy  ?  I  hold  its  obsei'vance  to  be  a  truly 
religious  act,  that  it  is  binding  on  those  whose  conscience  tells  them  that 
God  exists,  that  God  established  the  Sabbath,  and  that  the  New  Testament 
dispensation,  so  far  from  annulling  the  authority  of  the  primitive  inception, 
has  really  confirmed  it  by  calling  it  the  Lord's  Day.  But  then  if  it  be  a 
matter  of  conscience,  if  it  be  a  thing  to  be  decided  on  religious  grounds, 
what  are  you  to  do  with  the  men  who  have  no  conscience  ?  and  how  are  you 
to  act  in  reference  to  those  gentlemen  who  do  not  observe  it  as  a  religious 
duty  ?  I  see  only  one  way.  Call  in  the  aid  of  the  State  !  I  would  as 
soon  call  in  the  aid  of  infidelity  to  support  religion  as  call  in  the  aid  of  the 
State.   What  right  has  the  State  to  interfere  between  me  and  my  conscience 


GENERAL   REMARKS.  207 

in  any  matter  ?  If  it  lias  a  right  to  interfere  between  me  and  my  con- 
science in  one  matter,  has  it  not  a  rig'ht  to  interfere  between  nie  and  my 
conscience  in  any  matter  that  it  chooses  to  make  a  question  between  me 
and  itself?  Now,  if  any  of  those  present  can  point  out  in  what  way  we 
can  by  reason,  persuasion,  argunient,  sound  logic,  appeal  to  the  best  feel- 
ings of  human  nature,  and  still  more  by  such  a  diffused  inlluence  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  as  will  turn  the  great  majority  into  real  instead  of  professing 
Christians,  then,  sir,  every  man  will  be  a  law  unto  himself,  and  that  law 
Avill  be  to  respect  the  Christian  Sabbath. 

Bishop  Matthew  Simpson  (iMcthodist  Episcopal  Church)  :  I  suppose, 
Mr.  President,  that  there  is  no  dilf erence  of  opinion  in  this  body  in  reference 
to  the  necessity  and  the  duty  of  observing  the  Christian  Sabbath.  Expres- 
sion of  opinion  here  is,  I  think,  without  a  single  dissentient  voice.  I 
think  the  only  means  by  which  we  sliall  promote  it  is  by  teaching  clearly 
the  doctrine  of  the  New  Testament  on  that  subject,  and  bringing  out  in  our 
pulpit  ministrations  the  Divine  authority  on  which  the  Sabbath  rests.  But 
I  do  not  rise  for  that  purpose ;  I  rise  to  say  that  I  think  the  friends  of  the 
observance  of  the  Sabbatli  are  liable  to  make  some  mistake  in  admitting 
that  there  has  been  a  great  decline  in  its  obsei-vance.  It  is  one  of  the 
means  by  which  infidelity  ever  seeks  to  propagate  itself,  to  assume  that 
it  is  constantly  gaining  ground  ;  and  our  young  people  are  taught  that 
the  Sabbath  is  going  out  of  use,  and  that  progress  and  enlightenment 
will  render  it  unnecessary.  Now  I  want  to  say  that,  so  far  as  I  under- 
stand the  matter,  my  own  opinion  is  most  clearly,  that  the.  Christian 
Sabbath  was  never  so  well  observed  by  so  many  people,  in  so  many  lands,  as 
it  is  at  this  day.  It  was  better  observed — that  is,  more  strictly  observed — 
by  a  few  people  in  Ane  or  two  countries.  We  complain  in  the  United 
States,  for  instance,  of  a  laxity  of  Sabbath  observance,  and  we  have  it  in 
certain  cities  ;  but,  sir,  it  is  simply  the  transfer  of  a  European  Sabbath  by 
European  emigration  into  our  midst,  and  these  very  people  observe  the 
Sabbath  better  among  us,  with  all  their  defects,  tlian  they  did  when  at 
home  in  Europe.  They  have  been  improved  a  little.  Now,  Avhen  I  look 
out  at  the  mission  field,  and  see  how  God  is  spreading  missions  by  means 
of  the  English  and  the  Americans,  and  that  thej^  are  taking  into  China,  and 
to  Japan,  and  to  the  islands  of  the  sea,  the  Christian  Sabbath  as  they  observe 
it,  and  are  teaching  their  people  to  observe  it,  I  see  that  the  Sabbath  is 
becoming,  taking  the  whole  world  together,  an  institution  of  greater  power 
than  it  ever  was  before.  And  I  think,  so  far  from  admitting  to  infidelity 
and  to  error,  that  the  Sabbath  is  passing  out  of  use,  an  enlarged  view 
would  teach  us  that  the  Sabbath  is  gaining  ground.  While  I  lament  that 
in  our  own  country — I  speak  of  the  United  States,  not  of  England — we 
have  in  certain  points  the  foreign  element  not  observing  the  Sabbath  so 
well,  and  affecting  to  some  extent  some  of  our  people,  and  that  there  is 
greater  laxity  among  some  of  our  people  on  the  subject,  yet,  on  tlie  other 
hand,  there  is  a  reaction.  I  have  been  in  Europe  several  times  ;  I  do  not 
know  what  the  judgment  of  brethren  who  are  better  acquainted  with  it 
than  I  am  is,  but  I  was  pleased  to  see  on  my  present  visit  more  signs  of 
Sabbath  observance,  more  quiet,  less  work,  and  less  disorder  in  the  great 
capitals  of  Europe,  than  I  saw  when  I  was  over  twent}--four  years  ago  ; 
and  the  impression  was  made  in  my  mind  that  the  Sabbath  is  reall}'  gaining 
ground.  I  was  glad  to  see  that  the  election  platform  laid  down  inFrance 
as  one  of  the  things  demanded  by  the  electors  in  many  districts,  was  the 
observance  of  the  Siibbath,  not  quite  as  we  want  it,  but  as  a  day  of  rest,  a 
day  of  abstention  from  labour  ;  and  if  that  can  be  fully  secured  we  can 
reach  the  minds  of  the  people.  When  I  look  over  the  earth,  I  must  repeat, 
that  I  believe  we  are  gaining  ground  from  year  to  j'car.  We  need  to 
stand  firmly  in  our  positions,  and   maintain  our  doctrines ;  and  teach  our 


208       THE  lord's  day  and  temperance. 

young   people  that  we  are  on  ,the  winning  side,  and  that  the  Christian 
Sabbath  will  prevail. 

Bishop  H.  N.  McTyetre  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South)  :  I  think 
we  are  upon  ground  now,  where,  if  it  were  possible,  we  would  do  well  to 
dwell  for  some  time.  When  we  have  brought  up  statistics  and  the  results 
of  our  labours  and  our  numbers,  I  have  feared,  and  others  have  feared,  that 
we  might  be  tempted  to  indulge  in  something  of  the  pride  of  life,  and  that 
the  Lord  might  blow  upon  our  assembly,  instead  of  blessing  it  ;  but  we 
are  safe  before  Him,  and  certain  of  His  approbation  when  He  sees  us  join- 
ing hands  to  maintain  the  Christian  Sabbath  in  the  world.  And  if  this 
Oecumenical  Council,  and  all  whom  it  represents,  will  take  a  firm  position 
on  this  subject,  we  can  maintain  the  Christian  Sabliath  in  spite  of  Romanism, 
in  spite  of  Continental  universitj^  teaching,  and  in  spite  of  infidelity.  Some 
remark  has  been  made  about  asking  the  State  to  interfere  in  the  way  of 
legislation.  That  principle  of  asking  State  legislation  will  come  upon 
your  programme  in  connection  with  temperance.  We  can  certainly  legis- 
late for  ourselves  ;  we  can  begin  at  home,  as  Wesleyanism  has  always  done 
in  its  reformat'nns.  Might  I  suggest  that  ministers  of  the  Gospel,  Metho- 
dists everywhere,  should  be  very  jealous  over  themselves  as  to  the  amount 
of  Sunday  travelling  that  they  undertake.  We  are  obliged  to  travel  some- 
what on  Sunday  ;  even  under  the  old  strict  Jewish  law  there  was  a  Sabbath- 
day's  journey  allowed.  But,  sir,  it  knocks  a  good  deal  of  good  preaching 
on  the  head  on  the  Sabbath-day  when  a  minister  of  the  Gospel,  witliout 
any  urgent  necessity,  is  seen  to  take  the  railroad  train  on  Sunday  morning. 
We  ought  to  be  very  jealous  over  our  own  practice  on  that  point.  I  have 
been  pleased  to  see  how  ourgreat  camp-meetings  have  adjusted  themselves 
on  this  subject,  and  the  good  it  has  done.  Once  they  were  open  to  incur- 
sions of  strangers  on  the  Sunday,  but  now  it  is  not  uncommon  for  them  to 
close  their  gates,  and  to  enter  into  stipulations  with  railway  companies 
that  they  shall  bring  no  passengers  on  the  Sabbath.  That  sort  of  legisla- 
tion will  do  more  than  the  State  can,  and  there  will  be  no  question  about 
the  right  of  it.  Again,  not  only  ought  we  to  be  very  jealous  over  ourselves, 
but  we  ought  ourselves  to  be  vigilant  over  those  in  high  places.  I  saw 
this  notice  in  the  public  prints  in  America,  that  a  certain  ex- President,  the 
example  of  whose  wife  has  been  quoted  here  most  properly  and  forcibly, 
when  on  a  journey,  stopped  over  the  Saturday  night,  kept  the  Sabbath, 
went  to  church,  and  resumed  the  journey  on  the  Monday  morning.  Sir, 
that  was  worth  more  than  a  thousand  tracts  circulated  on  the  Sunday,  and, 
per  contra,  sometimes  an  item  gets  into  the  papers  that  men,  whom  we 
honour  and  love  and  pray  for,  take  Sunday  trains  for  distant  points,  when 
there  is  no  absolute  necessity  for  it.  I  say  that  a  just  and  respectful  but 
earnest  animadversion  and  protest  becomes  the  Methodist  press  when  these 
things  occur. 

A  hymn  was  then  sung. 

Rev.  Bishop  D.  A.  Payne  (African  Methodist  Episcopal  Church) 
then  read  an  eassy  on  The  Relation  of  Methodism  to  the  Temperance 
Movement. 

It  is  said  that  "  Methodism  is  Christianity  in  earnest."  Let  this 
definition  be  regarded  as  correct  and  accurate ;  then  who  can  doubt  its 
logical  consequences  ?  Who  can  question  the  character  of  its  thinking, 
of  its  speaking,  of  its  decisions  and  its  actions,  respecting  anything  evil 
in  itself,  or  evil  in  its  tendencies  ? 


BISHOP   D.    A   PAYNE'S   ADDRESS.  209 

Of  the  evils  which  oppress,  outrage,  and  destroy  mankind  I  knoTv  of 
none  greater  than  intemperance.  There  is  intemperance  in  tliinking,  in 
spealcing,  in  acting ;  there  is  also  intemperance  in  eating  and  in  drinking 
food  which  is  nutritious  and  necessarj'.  The  intemperate  thought  is 
evil;  the  intemperate  word  is  hurtful ;  the  intemperate  act  may 
terminate  in  a  broken  limb  — som.etimes  in  death.  But  any  one,  or  all 
of  these,  may  be  impulsive  and  temporary — produced  by  some  irritant 
of  the  place  and  the  moment ;  but  that  form  of  intemperance  against 
which  we  organise  and  act  is  an  evil  habitual,  deliberate,  mischievous, 
and  always  destructive  to  the  body,  the  soul,  and  the  spirit  of  its 
victims,  always  damaging  to  those  most  nearly  and  tenderly  related  to 
them.  That  "Methodism  is  Christianity  in  earnest"  is  not  only  a 
truth,  it  is  also  a  fact  made  evident  in  the  character  and  life  of  its 
apostolic  founder.  Evident  in  him,  not  as  a  mere  negative  sentiment, 
but  as  a  living,  actiA'e,  aggressive  principle ;  living,  because  animated 
by  the  breath  of  eternal  life;  active,  because  always  planning  and 
executing  the  good  and  the  useful ;  aggressive,  because  ever  attacking 
the  popular  vices  of  the  age  in  which  he  lived. 

Doubtless  intemperance  was  as  popular  in  the  times  of  "Wesley  as  it 
is  now.  Then  it  was  the  productive  factor  of  the  evils  which  it  now 
produces.  Then  drunkenness  was  as  brutal  as  it  is  now  ;  then  it  was 
as  murderous  as  it  is  now  ;  then  it  was  as  devilish  as  it  is  now.  In 
view  of  all  these  infernal  characteristics,  Wesley  confronted  it,  and 
ruled  against  it. 

To  drunkenness,  that  violator  of  the  most  solemn  vows,  that  despiser 
of  the  most  sacred  obligations,  that  bloody  assassin,  that  embodiment 
of  Satan,  which  has  been  the  curse  of  all  the  ages  and  all  the  races, 
—  Christianity  stands  always  opposed  and  everywhere  antagonistic. 
Therefore,  to  this  curse  of  aU  the  races  and  of  all  the  ages,  Methodism 
stands  at  all  tiuT^s  and  in  every  i)lace  the  uncompromising  antagonist. 
Have  I  said  too  much  ?  Let  us  glance  at  the  vital  principles  of 
Methodism.  They  are  exiiressed  in  the  General  Rules.  Its  first  word 
is  a  protest  against  '*  evil  of  every  Idnd."  In  its  detailed  utterances, 
its  third  word  is  a  thunderbolt  hurled  against  "  drunkenness,  buying  or 
selling  spirituous  liquors,  or  drinking  them,  unless  in  cases  of  neces- 
sity." Now,  if  there  be  a  necessity  for  any  alcoholic  drink,  that  holds 
the  same  relation  to  the  human  system  in  general,  and  to  the  human 
stomach  in  particular,  which  arsenic,  or  any  other  poison,  holds — it 
becomes  a  medicine — not  a  beverage,  but  a  medicine.  The  logic  of 
which  is,  ic  must  be  used  as  arsenic  and  set  down  in  the  same  category 
with  the  deadly  poisons,  which  no  one  seeks  for  food  or  for  drink,  but 
which  every  sane  man  shuns  as  he  does  the  fangs  of  a  deadly  serpent. 
Because  Methodism  is  the  antagonist  of  "  evil  of  ever)'  kind,"  in  the 
abstract  or  in  the  concrete,  it  must  be  the  antagonist  of  intemperance, 
and  of  every  habit  or  custom  leading  to  that  great  curse  of  humanity. 
If  it  be  askedj  "  Has  Methodism  always  been  in  harmony  \vith  its  pro- 

P 


210  THE  lord's  day   AND  TEMPERANCE. 

nounced  principles  ?  " — to  this  question,  we  respond  with  one  emphatic 
"Yes!"  If  it  be  said,  "We  have  known  members  of  the  Methodist 
Church  who  were  intemperate,"  our  reply  is,  "  Such  persons  were  to 
Methodism  not  what  spots  are  on  the  sun,  but  they  were  what  a  rotten 
branch  is  to  a  living  tree — a  limb  to  be  cut  off  with  a  sharp  pruning 
knife."  Every  one  who  has  studied  the  history  of  Methodism  knows 
that  the  duty  of  abstinence  from  "  evil  of  every  kind,"  and  there- 
fore from  so  terrible  an  evil  as  intemperance,  must  also  know  that,  in 
the  organisation  of  Methodism,  temjperance  in  its  Gospel  sense  was 
not  an  after-thought  but  a  first  principle,  conceived  at  its  conception 
and  born  at  its  birth.  Therefore,  the  Methodist  societies  may  be 
justly  regarded  as  so  many  organised  temperance  associations.  For 
one  century  and  more  than  the  third  of  another  Methodism  has 
antagonised  intemperance,  and  within  its  consecrated  circle  we  behold 
four  generations  standing  up  in  firm  and  open  opposition  to  that 
greatest  curse  of  the  human  race.  Therefore,  if  any  one  member  of 
any  one  branch  of  the  great  Methodist  family  be  found  guilty  of 
drunkenness,  or  habits  leading  to  that  damning  evil,  that  person  we 
denounce  as  one  who  is  recreant  to  the  fundamental  principles  of 
Methodism.  The  Greek  word,  which  we  translate  temperance,  sig- 
nifies "  self-control."  Self-control  in  all  things,  and  under  all  circum- 
stances, especially  in  those  things  most  damaging  to  the  individual, 
and  still  more  especially  in  those  most  destructive  to  the  purity,  peace, 
and  life  of  society.  In  this  light  of  the  question,  and  from  this 
standpoint,  we  shrink  not  from  the  declaration  that  this  is  the  atti- 
tude into  which  the  General  Rules  in  its  threefold  grasp  upon  the 
individual  brings  him  and  holds  him  ;  and,  in  holding  him  there, 
makes  him  the  sincere,  earnest,  and  fearless  advocate  and  defender 
of  all  the  manly  virtues  and  all  the  Christian  graces,  in  which  con- 
stellation temperance  shines  as  a  star  of  the  first  magnitude.  On  this 
position,  and  in  this  attitude,  the  General  Rules  have  held  Methodism 
for  more  than  four  generations.  Upon  this  Rock  and  in  this  attitude 
we  beseech  Thee,  O  God,  to  hold  her  till  a  thousand  generations 
shall  have  passed  away !  even  until  He,  who  is  the  Alpha  and  the 
Omega,  shall  make  all  isms  like  unto  Methodism ;  and  Methodism  be 
swallowed  up  in  a  pure  and  spotless  Christiauism. 

Corollaries. 

I.  If,  in  all  the  wide  world,  there  be  found  one  Methodist  who  is  a 
drunkard,  or  indulges  in  habits  leading  to  intemperance,  that  person 
is  recreant  to  Methodism  ;  but  Methodism  has  never  been  recreant  to 
herself. 

II.  From  the  day  of  her  organisation  to  the  present  hour  Methodism 
did  rise  up,  and  has  been  standing  up  as  the  eloquent  advocate,  the 
faithful  friend,  and  the  zealous,  efficient  worker  in  the  temperance 
movement. 


REV.    JOSEPH    KIRSOP'S   ADDRESS.  211 

Rev.  Joseph  Kirsop  (United  Methodist  Free  Churches  of  Great 
Britain),  who  gave  the  invited  address,  said  : — 

A  temijerance  movement  exists  in  England.  There  was  a  loud  call 
for  it  in  the  condition  of  the  country,  and  the  necessity  for  it  has  not 
passed  away.  Drink  is  still  the  curse  of  Britain.  From  every  quarter 
■we  hear  of  its  deadly  doings.  Judges,  senators,  journalists,  divines, 
unite  in  denouncing  the  crying  evil  of  intemperance;  and,  if  tliey  do 
not  agree  on  a  remedy,  they  agree  in  saying  a  remedy  must  be  found. 
Men  of  competent  knowledge  declare  that  drink  is  the  most  prolific 
source  of  national  disease,  pauperism,  and  crime.  But,  indeed,  we  do 
not  require  the  evidence  of  experts  on  the  evils  of  intemperance.  They 
are  not  occult,  remote,  hidden,  but  apparent,  obvious,  notorious.  They 
are  found  without  search,  and  learned  without  inquiry.  If  you  want 
to  see  them,  go  anywhere  in  England  and  look  around. 

The  Church  of  Christ  is  called  to  take  part  in  this  work.  If  intem- 
perance only  affected  man's  temporal  well-being,  the  Church  ought  not 
to  pass  by  on  the  other  side.  Nothing  that  concerns  humanity 
should  be  indifferent  to  the  followers  of  Him  who  went  about  con- 
tinually doing  good.  But  the  spiritual  interests  of  men  are  imperilled 
by  our  drinking  usages.  "I  never  see  the  sign,  'Licensed  to  sell 
spirits,'  but  I  read  licensed  to  ruin  souls,"  said  the  sainted  McCheyne. 
"  We  verily  believe,"  said  a  deceased  editor  of  the  Weslei/on  3fetho(h'st 
Magazine,  "  that  the  sin  of  intemperance  destroys  more  souls  than  all 
the  ministers  of  Christ  are  instrumental  in  saving." 

The  Churches  forming  the  Methodist  family  ought  to  take  part  in 
this  work.  If  the  function  of  Methodism  is  '*  to  spread  Scriptural 
holiness  over  the  land  "  or  the  world,  it  must  grapple  with  a  system 
which,  in  this  country  at  least,  is,  next  to  man's  native  enmity  to  God, 
the  greatest  hindrance  with  which  the  Gospel  has  to  contend.  Glad 
am  I  to  say  that  all  the  IMethodist  bodies  in  this  country  are  engaged 
as  helpers  in  the  Temperance  Reformation.  From  the  earliest  period 
of  its  history,  some  of  the  Methodist  denominations  have  been  enlisted 
in  the  temperance  movement,  and  all  are  now,  in  one  way  or  other, 
engaged  in  the  good  cause. 

The  Wesleyan  body — the  mother  of  us  all — has  a  distinct  temperance 
organisation.  Though  this  was  established  only  four  years  ago,  it 
already  numbers  144  adult  societies,  and  2,033  Bands  of  Hope.  As 
with  the  Church  of  England  Temperance  Society,  personal  abstinence 
is  not  the  bond  of  union.  Christian  non-abstainers,  alive  to  the  evils 
of  intemj)erance,  may  unite  with  their  abstaining  brethren  for  their 
removal.  To  some  this  may  seem  a  virtue,  and  to  others  a  defect ; 
yet  all  will  admit  that  a  religious  body  may  itself  be  the  best  judge  on 
the  question  how  the  largest  amount  of  sympathy  and  effort  may  be 
secured  amongst  its  members  on  behalf  of  any  cause.  On  Sunday 
closing  the  Wesleyan  body  gives  no  uncertain  sound.  Last  year  2,042 
petitions,  with  203,335  signatures,  were  presented  to  the  House  of 

P  2 


212  THE  lord's  day  and  temperance. 

Commons  in  favour  of  Sunday  closing,  from  "Wesleyan  congregations. 
The  Conference,  just  held,  declared  Sunday  ojiening  to  be  "  an  in- 
tolerable curse."  Movements  for  restricting  licenses,  shortening  hours, 
and  conferring  a  regulative  power  on  ratepayers,  find  support  from 
many  of  the  Wesleyan  ministers  and  people. 

The  Methodist  New  Connexion  established,  in  1869,  a  Temperance 
and  Band  of  Hope  Union.  Its  professed  object  is  the  promotion  of  the 
principle  of  total  abstinence  from  the  use  of  intoxicating  drinks  as 
beverages  among  the  congregations,  Sunday-schools,  and  families  of 
the  body.  This  was  the  first  Temperance  Union  formed  in  connection 
with  the  religious  denominations  of  this  country.  There  are  183 
ministers  in  the  body.  Of  these  120  are  abstainers.  Like  all  the 
reUgious  bodies  of  the  land,  the  New  Connexion  heartily  supports 
Sunday  closing.  Last  Conference  expressed  its  delight  that,  by  a 
majority  of  forty-two  votes,  the  House  of  Commons  had  approved  of 
the  principle  of  local  option. 

The  Primitive  Methodist  body  has  rendered  great  services  to  the 
temperance  movement  from  its  commencement  until  now.  Some  of 
the  founders  of  the  Preston  Temperance  Society  were  Primitive 
Methodists,  and  many  of  the  early  meetings  of  that  society  were  held 
in  the  Primitive  Methodist  Chapel.  Nine-tenths  of  the  entire  body  of 
Primitive  Methodist  ministers  are  abstainers.  The  Conference  has  from 
time  to  time  encouraged  the  formation  of  temperance  societies ;  and 
for  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century  temperance  meetings  have  been 
held  in  connection  with  the  yearly  Conference.  A  Band  of  Hope  Union 
was  formed  in  1879,  which  now  numbers  over  50,000  naembers.  There 
are  many  Primitive  Methodist  Bands  of  Hope,  besides  those  enrolled  in 
the  Union.  A  scheme  for  the  formation  of  a  Connexional  Temperance 
League  has  been  prepared  by  order  of  the  Conference.  It  was  ready  at 
the  Conference  lately  held,  but  from  pressure  of  business  its  considera- 
tion had  to  be  deferred.  So  far  back  as  in  1854  the  Conference  received 
a  deputation  from  the  United  Kingdom  Alliance,  and  endorsed  its 
principles  and  policy  in  a  resolution  printed  on  its  minutes.  All  Con- 
ference action,  subsequently,  has  been  in  harmony  with  its  declaration 
then. 

The  Bible  Christian  Body  has  no  special  temperance  organisation. 
It  is,  however,  thoroughly  leavened  with  temperance  sentiment.  All 
its  ministers  are  abstainers.  If  there  are  any  exceptions,  they  are  not 
known  to  those  who  have  the  best  means  of  information.  The  universal 
prevalence  of  total  abstinence  amongst  the  ministers  of  the  body  is  not 
the  result  of  a  teetotal  test,  but  it  shows  the  strength  of  temperance 
sentiment  in  the  denomination.  Abstinence  is  widely,  though  not  uni- 
versally, practised  amongst  the  members,  and  probably  one-half  of  the 
teachers  and  scholars  are  united  in  Bands  of  Hope. 

The  United  Methodist  Free  Churches  have  a  Connexional  Temper- 
ance League.     The  bond  of  union  is  personal  abstinence  from  intoxi- 


REV.    J.    KIRSOr'S   ADDRESS.  213 

eating  drinks  as  beverages.  The  League  is  only  iu  its  infancy,  having 
been  estabhshed  at  the  Annual  Assembly  of  18S0.  One  hundred  and 
seventy-four  ministers  enrolled  themselves  as  members  of  the  league 
last  year,  but  the  number  of  abstaining  ministers,  it  is  believed,  greatly 
exceeds  this.  In  recent  years  all  the  junior  ministers  received  have, 
with  rare  exceptions,  avowed  themselves  total  abstainers ;  and,  as  is 
also  the  case  with  the  Primitive  Methodists,  the  young  men  who  are 
being  trained  for  the  ministry  are  abstainers  from  intoxicating  drinks. 
On  many  occasions  Annual  Assemblies  have  commended  the  temper- 
ance movement,  in  its  various  departments,  to  the  sympathy  and  sup- 
port of  the  Churches.  Bands  of  Hope,  Sunday  Closing,  and  the 
Permissive  Bill  have  all  received  the  stamp  of  approval. 

The  Wesleyan  Reform  Union,  by  its  annual  delegate  meetings,  has 
often  shown  its  sympathy  with  the  temperance  movement  ;  and  has 
decided  this  year  that  henceforth  the  results  of  temperance  work 
undertaken  by  the  Churches  in  the  union,  either  of  an  adult  or 
infantile  character,  shall  be  tabulated  in  the  numerical  schedule.  A 
resolution  adopted  at  the  delegate  meeting  of  this  year  will  commend 
itself  to  all  Christian  friends  of  the  temperance  reformation.  "  This 
meeting  greatly  rejoices  in  the  steady  progress  which  the  principle 
of  total  abstinence  is  making  in  all  Christian  Churches,  especially 
among  the  young.  We  therefore  hail  with  pleasure  any  efforts,  either 
of  a  persuasive  or  legislative  character,  designed  to  diminish  the 
baneful  effects  of  intemperance,  but  being  fully  persuaded  that, 
without  Divine  help,  neither  the  temperance  pledge  nor  even  legis- 
lative prohibition  is  sufficient  to  overcome  the  numerous  temptations 
arising  from  the  sale  of  intoxicating  beverages,  we  therefore  desire  to 
impress  all  Christian  patriots  and  temperance  advocates  with  the 
great  necessity  for  the  assistance  of  and  dependence  upon  the  Holy 
Spirit,  by  whose  helj)  alone  can  it  be  assured  that  we  shall  yet  effec- 
tually remove  our  national  stain  of  intemperance."  All  the  ministers 
of  the  Wesleyan  Reform  Union  are  abstainers,  and  the  body  itself  is  in 
deep  sympathy  with  the  temperance  reformation. 

The  United  Free  Gospel  Churches  are  largely  leavened  with  tem- 
perance sentiment;  five -sixths  of  its  ministers  and  members  are 
abstainers. 

Deeply  thankful  for  what  is  being  done  by  the  Methodist  bodies 
of  this  country  in  opjiosing  the  ravages  and  the  causes  of  intem- 
perance, I  am  very  fully  con^^nced  we  ought  to  do  still  more.  We 
could  be  more  assiduous,  more  zealous,  more  prayerful,  iu  deahng 
with  this  gigantic  evil,  and  we  ought  to  be.  It  demands  our  utmost 
exertions.  No  effort  could  be  to  great  too  put  down  this  enemy  to 
God's  glory  and  man's  weal.  The  drinking  usages  of  our  laud 
are  a  huge  tree  of  which  we  cannot  say  we  have  come  seeking 
fruit  on  it  and  found  none.  It  bears  fruit,  it  bears  fruit  abun- 
dantly ;    but  the  fruit   is    so  baneful,    so   poisonous,  so  deadly,  that, 


214        THE  lord's  day  AND  TEMPERANCE. 

"without  regarding  intercession,  we  exclaim,  "  Cut  it  down  !  -why 
cumbereth  it  the  ground  ?  "  Surely  you  will  suffer  me  to  express 
an  ardent  wish  that  all  Methodists,  and  all  Christian  men,  would 
wash  their  hands  of  all  particijiation  in  the  drinking  customs  of  our 
land — customs  which,  like  the  roll  of  the  prophet  Ezekiel,  are  written 
within  and  without  with  lamentation  and  mourning  and  woe.  We 
shall  never,  I  fear,  cope  with  the  evil  until  Christian  men  in  general 
renounce  altogether  the  use,  sale,  manufacture,  or  gift,  of  intoxicating 
drinks.  No  remedy  less  thorough  than  total  abstinence  will  in  my 
judgment  meet  the  case.  There  is  a  leprosy  in  the  house.  Scraping 
and  plastering  will  not  remove  it  —the  plague  spreads ;  let  us  break 
down  the  house,  all  the  stones,  and  the  timber,  and  the  mortar  of  it, 
and  put  them  "  anywhere,  anywhere  out  of  the  world."  In  asking 
Christian  men  to  abstain  I  ground  my  appeal  on  principles  laid  down 
in  the  Word  of  God.  To  me  the  authority  of  inspired  men  is  an  end  of 
all  strife.     Longfellow  tells  us  to 

"  Consult  the  dead  on  things  that  were. 
But  the  living  alone  on  things  that  are." 

We  may  follow  this  dictum  and  yet  search  the  Scriptures  for  direction 
as  to  duty  in  reference  to  prevailing  intemperance.  "  Books,"  says 
Milton,  "  are  not  absolutely  dead  things,"  and  the  Bible  is  the  living 
word  of  the  living  God.  The  grounds  on  which  I  advocate  total 
abstinence  are  all  in  harmony  with  Holy  Writ.  Scripture  enjoins 
careful  foresight,  separation  from  evil,  self-denial.  Total  abstinence 
agrees  well  with  these.  It  teaches  us  to  love  our  neighbour  as  our- 
selves. Men  are  perishing  by  strong  drink,  To  save  them  let  us 
abstain. 

Mr.  H.  J.  Atkinson-  (Weslevan  Methodist)  said  ;  I  get  iTp  thus  early  in 
the  debate  because  I  believe  that  this  is  one  of  those  subjects  out  of  which 
we  may  get  much  practical  good  by  having  come  together.  I  have  always 
been  told  by  our  friends  that  Methodists  in  America  were  much  ahead  of 
us.  I  have  heard  of  it  both  privatelj'  and  publicly.  Personally,  I  have 
not  been  able  to  accept  the  invitations  given  to  me  at  tlie  last  and  previous 
Conferences  to  speak  at  what  were  called  the  Temperance  Conference 
meetings,  and  when  the  committee  invited  me  several  times  to  speak,  I 
explained  that  although  I  never  took  anything  stronger  than  zoedone,  yet  I 
did  not  feel  myself  able  to  stand  up  on  the  platform  where  people  were 
invited  to  sign  the  pledge,  when  I  had  not  signed  the  pledge  myself.  The 
question  some  of  you  would  naturally  put  to  me  would  be,  "  Why  have 
you  not  signed  the  pledge  ?  "  and  my  answer  to  that  is,  that  I  have  felt  up 
to  the  present  time  that  I  could  do  more  good  without  having  done  so. 
The  bishop  who  introduced  this  subject  said  temperance  was  another  word 
for  self-control ;  that  is,  that  self-control  was  the  translation  of  the  Greek 
word.  I  have  maintained  my  self-control  during  the  thirty  years  I  have 
been  a  Methodist  by  occasionally  passing  a  resolution,  not  signing  a  pledge, 
that  for  one  year,  or  two  years  sometimes,  I  would  not  take  any  intoxicating 
drink.  I  have  added  to  that  the  greatest  efforts  I  could  possibly  put  forth 
outside  the  temperance  societies  to  help  them  forward,  whether  in  my 
official  position  or  otherwise ;   and  I  have  gone  through  mayoralties  and 


GENERAL   REMARKS.  -'  2]  5 

contested  elections  without  touching  drink.  But  I  feel  now  that  some- 
thing more  is  required,  and  the  thing  that  stops  me  is  the  fact  that  my 
coadjutors  in  religion,  my  brethren  and  fathers,  do  not  take  that  step  which 
I  should  be  perfectly  ready  to  take.  I  am  told  to  use  hospitality  without 
grudging,  and  I  try  to  do  so,  and  I  do  it  in  a  place  which  has  been  thus  used 
for  religious  purposes  for  many  years.  But  I  feel  when  I  have  my  friends 
there,  I  must  do  for  them  what  they  do  for  themselves  at  home  ;  and  I 
know  men  for  whom  I  have  the  greatest  affection  and  reverence,  both 
ministers  and  laymen,  wlio,  if  wine  was  not  put  before  them,  would 
be  likely  to  make  a  disparaging  remark — not  upon  me — but  they  would 
say  I  had  gone  too  far.  I  have  heard  it  said  by  the  most  self-denying 
of  my  brethren  in  the  Methodist  Society  under  similar  circumstances. 
Now,  if  we  have  a  certain  sound  to  pronounce,  let  those  who  are  leaders, 
ministei-s,  and  others,  come  forward.  Every  day  of  my  life  I  pray  to  God 
to  make  me  more  useful  than  the  day  before,  and  I  am  quite  ready  to  take 
hold  of  any  point  that  will  make  me  more  useful.  I  am  stirred  up  by  the 
fact  that  the  Salvation  Army  is  ahead  of  us.  I  read  the  War  Cry  as  well 
as  the  Temperance  Record  every  week,  and  I  see  when  they  lay  hold  of  men 
to  bring  them  to  Christ,  they  also  say,  "  You  must  give  up  drinking." 
Why  ?  There  is  sound  philosophy  in  that.  Because  drink  is  the  most 
likely  thing  to  make  them  slide  back  again  from  the  religion  of  Christ. 
The  bishop  well  said  that  temperance  was  not  in  drinking,  as  we  call  it, 
alone,  but  also  in  things  that  lead  to  drinking.  I  call  the  attention  of  the 
Conference  to  this  fact,  that  when  there  was  something  mentioned  about 
narcotics  early  in  this  sitting,  I  heard  the  resolution  produced  just  before 
it  was  said  "  Yea  "  or  "  Nay  "  to  with  a  loud  voice,  but  th  it  resolution  was 
passed  suh  silentio.  Why  was  it  ?  I  did  not  know.  I  know  of  one  other 
case  of  this  sort  where  those  who  were  rather  troubled  in  their  own  minds 
went  out  silently  one  by  one.  It  is  not  for  me  to  say  that  any  had  a  guilty 
conscience,  because  I  do  not  believe  there  are  guilty  consciences  here, 
but  I  do  believe  it  was  convenient  to  some  men  not  to  say  "  Yes " 
or  "No"  to  that  resolution.  As  I  praise  the  Americans  for  being  before 
us  in  one  respect,  I  cannot  praise  them  for  being  before  us  in  tiie  other 
,  respect. 

Rev.  Chas.  Garrett  (Wesleyan  Methodist)  :  Having  taken  part  in 
temperance  work  in  this  country  for  a  considerable  number  of  years,  I  may 
be  expected  to  take  special  interest  in  the  discussion  this  morning.  It  is 
more  than  forty  years  ago  since  I  made  my  first  teetotal  speech.  I  have 
never  altered  my  opinion,  I  have  never  lowered  my  colours,  and  I  am  far 
more  full  of  hope  of  success  this  morning  than  I  was  when  I  first  stood 
up  to  attempt  to  say  a  word  on  behalf  of  this  great  movement.  It  is  a 
great  joy  for  me  as  an  old  teetotaller  to  know  that  Methodists  have  been  in 
the  very  forefront  of  this  work  from  the  very  beginning,  that  it  is  so  now, 
and  I  believe  it  will  be  so  to  tlie  end.  Amongst  the  very  first  men  who 
signed  the  total  abstinence  pledge  at  Preston  were  two  Metliodists,  if  not 
more.  I  cannot  forget  James  Teare,  a  man  who  did  a  wonderful  work  in 
this  country  in  promoting  abstinence,  and  by  whose  di  ath-bed  I  stood,  and 
with  whom  I  rejoiced  as  he  passed  away  to  heaven.  I  might  mention 
others  who  have  laboured  sometimes  in  storms,  sometimes  witli  gleams  of 
sunsliine  ;  but  still  Methodism,  as  a  whole,  has  been  faithful  in  this  matter. 
To-day  the  great  temperance  organisations  of  tliis  land  are  to  a  large 
extent  manned  by  Methodists.  I  wish  our  b  etli  -en  from  across  tiie 
Atlantic  to  understand  that.  The  President  of  ;he  British  Temperance 
League  is  a  hearty  Methodist,  and  a  representative  iit  this  Conference,  Mr. 
James  Barlow.  Mr.  Raper,  tlie  eloquent  Parliamentary  repres(»ntative  of 
the  United  Kingdom  Alliance,  is  a  Methodist,  and  tliMr  indomitable 
secretary,  ]\[r.  Barker,  is  another  true  Methodist.     Mr.  William  Hoyle,  the 


216       THE  lord's  day  and  temperance. 

statistician  of  the  temperance  movement,  is  also  a  Methodist.  Then  I 
rejoice  to  add  to  this  the  fact  that  I  have  in  my  possession  to-day  the 
signatures  of  nearly  800  of  our  Wesleyan  Methodist  preachers  to  the 
teetotal  pledge.  The  advance  has  been  steady  all  along  the  line,  and 
therefore  promises  well  for  the  future.  But  I  want  to  say  a  word  in 
support  of  the  position  taken  by  Mr.  Atkinson.  Our  young  ministers  are 
in  danger  from  two  quarters.  First,  from  the  doctors — though  we  are 
converting  them  ;  and  next,  from  the  good,  hearty,  generous,  sympathetic 
Methodist  ladies.  Here  is  the  great  cause  of  the  falling  away  of  our 
young  men.  They  are  worn  out  on  the  Monday  mornings,  and  they  go 
into  a  h.)me  where  there  is  nothing  but  love  and  purity,  and  the  matron, 
with  her  heart  full  of  love,  says,  "  You  are  not  well  this  morning.  I  think 
you  have  been  working  too  hard.  If  you  were  just  to  take  a  glass  of  old 
wine,  I  assure  you  there  is  nothing  in  it  to  do  you  harm."  The  young 
man,  through  his  admiration  of  the  lady — understand  it  was  an  old  lady — 
consents.  There  was  the  admiration  of  the  lady  for  her  many  excellences  ; 
there  was  his  sensitiveness  and  his  depression,  and  at  that  moment  he  takes 
one  glass  ;  by-and-by  another  and  another  ;  and  I  know  there  have  been 
young  men  ruined  for  time  and  eternity  by  the  kind  hospitality  of  our 
Methodist  friends. 

Eev.  a.  R.  Winfield  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South) :  Just  one 
word  on  this  question.  It  is  a  great  question  with  us,  and  it  is  one  of  those 
great  questions  on  which  we  are  happy  to  say  we  are  leading  our  Wesleyan 
brethren.  The  temperance  movement,  sir,  is  a  movement  of  the  masses 
for  the  deliverance  of  themselves  from  a  great  evil — an  evil,  social,  moral, 
and  political  ;  an  evil  that  affects  an  immortal  race,  and  we  can  only 
measure  its  vast  importance  and  the  relation  of  Methodism  to  it  by  the 
capabilities  of  the  race  to  be  saved,  and  the  possibilities  of  the  Methodism 
to  which  we  belong.  The  capabilities  of  the  race  can  only  be  measured  by 
the  great  truths  of  inspiration.  God  said  :  "  Let  us  make  man  in  our  own 
image."  The  New  Testament  replies  :  ''  Jesus  Christ  by  the  grace  of  God 
tasted  death  for  every  man."  Take  these  Scriptures  indicating  man's 
birth  and  man's  redemption,  and  you  can  form  some  poor  estimate  of  the 
great  worth  of  tliat  immortal  being  who  stands  the  only  being  in  God's 
wide  universe  that  was  ever  made  in  his  Maker's  image  ;  the  only  one  that 
shares  in  the  glorious  plans  of  human  redemption ;  it  is  said  of  such  a 
being  as  this,  "  God  so  loved  the  world  as  to  give  His  Son."  We  cannot 
overlook  the  relation  of  Methodism  to  a  great  movement  that  is  intended  to 
save  this  great  immortal  spirit.  No  one  questions  the  magnitude  of  the  great 
evils  of  intemperance.  They  are  world-wide.  We  are  agreed  that  they 
are  not  confined  to  your  continent  alone,  or  to  ours.  They  have  found 
their  way  to  every  part  of  the  wide  world.  I  was  sorry  to  see  in  standing  on 
the  shores  of  the  continent  of  old  Europe  that  you  were  cursed  with  the 
same  baneful  influence  that  I  find  on  the  other  side  of  the  great  Atlantic  ; 
but  I  am  glad  to  know  that  on  the  other  side  there  is  a  movement  from 
north  to  south,  from  east  to  west,  that  means  no  cessation  until  the  great 
evil  of  intemperance  is  checked,  destroyed,  and  by  law  forced  to  its  hiding- 
place,  so  that  man  shall  no  longer  manufacture  and  sell  this  beverage  of 
devils  to  curse  the  race  to  which  we  belong.  Our  people  are  deeply  in 
earnest  on  this  question.  We  not  only  appeal  to  the  laws  of  the  country, 
but  to  the  laws  of  God  and  man  combined  ;  and  we  have  put  our  shoulders 
to  the  wheel,  and  determined  never  to  know  any  cessation  of  hostilities  till 
victory  shall  perch  eternally  on  the  standard  of  our  pure  temperance  flag. 
We  have  temperance  organisations  almost  without  number  ;  I  was  sorry 
that  my  brother  did  not  have  another  ten  minutes  to  tell  us  the  names  of 
all  the  Churches  in  this  Great  Britain  connected  with  the  temperance 
movement.     I  can  simply  say  for  America  that  we  are  all  united.     No 


GENERAL   REMARKS.  217 

matter  what  our  name  is,  wliether  North  or  South,  whether  white  or  black, 
we  are  shoulder  to  shoulder  to  free  the  country  from  this  terrible  evil. 
The  black  man  with  the  ballot  in  his  hand  has  come  boldly  to  the  front  ; 
he  stands  by  the  side  of  his  Anglo-Saxon  brother,  and  says  the  country 
should  adopt  prohibition  as  a  part  of  the  organic  law  in  order  to  free 
our  nation.  You  need  not  imagine  tUat  we  distrust  the  cause  of  the  Cdl  mred 
brother.  No,  we  trust  our  brother  ;  he  is  marching  by  our  side,  shoulder 
to  shoulder,  and  with  his  help  it  is  only  a  question  of  time  when  every 
Southern  State  will  have  a  prohibitoiy  law. 

The  Hon.  J.  Wofford  Tucker  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South)  : 
I  rise  to  utter  one  single  thought,  with  just  a  little  amplification,  in 
order  that  the  good  and  great  and  wise  men  around  me  may  think  of 
it  and  shed  a  little  light  on  it,  for  with  me  it  is  a  case  of  conscience. 
I  have  been  lifelong  a  consistent  advocate  of  temperance  reform,  both 
by  precept  and  example.  I  conceive  it  to  be  our  duty,  as  individual 
Cln-istian  men,  to  aid  in  creating  a  popular  sentiment  strong  enough 
to  reach  the  law-making  assemblies,  and  compel  them  to  deal  in  earnest 
with  every  kind  of  tratiic  in  alcoholic  drinks,  and  thus  in  its  overt  and 
outward  aspects  to  crush  this  monstrous  evil  under  the  heel  of  power. 
But  this  is  outside  the  Christian  Church,  where  I  submit,  with  profound 
reverence,  it  ought  to  remain.  The  temperance  organisation  seeks  to 
enforce  the  observance  and  practice  of  one-half  of  one  Christian  virtue 
known  as  temperance.  If  it  succeed,  it  may  still  leave  the  moral  nature 
of  its  subject  a  mass  of  wickedness.  A  man  may  never  drink  and  never 
be  drunken,  and  yet  bear  a  heart  filled  with  falsehood  and  greed  and 
lust  and  revenge  ;  but  when  the  Gospel  lays  its  hand  on  human  nature  in 
ruins,  it  transforms  the  whole  character  ;  it  assaults  the  citadel  of  the  heart 
and  its  affections  ;  its  binds  the  strong  man  armed  and  casts  him  out  ;  it 
brings  the  subject,  the  converted  soul,  into  happy  relation  with  the 
moral  harmonies  of  the  universe.  Now,  I  humbly  conceive  that  the 
Church  has  no  more  concern,  in  her  character  as  such,  with  temperance 
societies,  than  she  has  with  masonic  fraternities,  or  any  other  benevolent 
associations.  It  seems  to  me,  Mr.  President,  that  the  Church  cannot  rely 
upon  these  outside  agencies  without  some  species  of  unbelief.  It  seems 
to  me  that  the  Church  cannot  rely  even  upon  Avhat  are  regarded  as  her 
auxiliary  forces  for  success  in  her  great  and  holy  work — not  even  upon  the 
Sunday-school,  useful  as  it  is,  nor  upon  colleges  and  divinity  schools, 
important  as  they  are,  for  the  ends  contemplated  ;  nor  on  numerical  force, 
nor  on  the  eloquence  and  learning  of  her  ministers.  She  must  rely,  I 
tiubmit,  upon  that  divinity  that  resides  in  the  Word  of  Life,  in  the  truth  of 
the  Divine  promises,  in  the  presence  and  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit  shed 
forth  upon  the  hearts  and  consciences  of  men.  Christianity  alone  has 
power  enough  to  save  the  world — not  only  to  make  men  sober,  but  to  keep 
them  pure  and  keep  them  holy. 

Kev.  H.  p.  Hughes  (Wesleyan  Methodist)  :  This  Conference  will  be  in- 
terested to  hear  the  position  occupied  by  the  Church  which  Mr,  Kirsop  has 
descrilied  as  the  mother  of  us  all.  We  have  been  regarded  as  somewhat 
V)ehind  our  Transatlantic  brethren.  Perhaps  that  has  been  true,  and  perhaps 
they  will  feel  to  some  small  extent  that  it  is  true  still.  Permit  me,  however, 
to  say,  in  the  first  place,  that  the  Wesleyan  Methodist  Church  of  this  country 
now  clearly  teaches  that  it  is  desirable  that  all  our  children  should  become 
total  abstainers,  and  that  no  Sunday-school  is  in  a  satisfactory  position  tliat 
has  not  a  Band  of  Hope  connected  with  it.  As  we  have  already  heard,  our 
Band  of  Hope  children  now  number  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  million,  and  are 
increasing  at  the  rate  of  about  'i.'i.OOO  a  year.  But  with  respect  to  the 
position  of  adults  there  is  a  little  ditl'ercnce,  and  I  beg  to  call  the  attention 
of  the  Conference  to  it.     The  position  we  take  is  regarded  by  some  as  a 


218         THE  LORD'S  DAY  AND  TEMPERANCE. 

virtue  and  by  others  as  a  vice.  The  position  of  other  Churches  may  be 
very  different  from  ours.  Some  of  our  most  devoted  ministers  and  laymen 
in  this  country  have  not  been  able  to  see  ey,e  to  eye  with  Mr.  Garrett  and 
myself.  Under  those  circumstances  what  have  we  done  ?  We  have 
learned,  not  for  the  first  time  in  our  judgment,  an  excellent  lesson  from 
the  Church  of  England.  We  have  adopted  their  broad  platform  ;  we  have 
invited  our  non-abstaining  brethren  to  co-operate  with  us  in  this  matter  as 
far  as  they  see  their  way  to  do  so.  What  is  the  result  in  the  Church  of 
England  ?  I  have  it  on  the  authority  of  Mr.  Sargeant  himself,  their 
admirable  secretary,  that  whereas  prior  to  this  step  the  number  of  abstain- 
ing clergymen  amounted  to  hundreds,  it  now  amounts  to  thousands. 
When  to'.al  abstainers  unite  the  wisdom  of  the  serpent  with  the  innocence 
of  the  dove,  especially  in  such  a  country  as  ours,  they  will  find  that  their 
own  special  objects  will  be  best  advanced  by  adopting  the  method  we  have 
followed.  Permit  me  to  give  an  illustration  that  has  just  come  to  hand. 
In  our  church  at  Cardiff,  which  is  in  a  very  flourishing  spiritual  state,  a 
temperance  society  has  been  formed  on  this  broad  basis.  As  in  other 
places,  some  of  our  abstaining  brethren  found  it  difficult  to  adopt  this  new- 
fangled system.  They  could  not  understand  any  other  basis  than  that  of 
total  abstinence,  and  they  held  aloof,  and  created  a  little  local  difficulty, 
with  the  best  of  motives.  However,  what  has  been  the  result  ?  That  a 
number  of  our  leading  friends  in  the  towns,  who  would  not  have  joined 
the  temperance  society  if  its  basis  had  been  one  of  total  abstinence 
exclusively,  did  join,  and  when  coming  nearer  and  putting  perhaps  some  of 
their  little  prejudices  on  one  side  they  found  what  an  excellent  thing  it 
was  to  become  total  abstainers  ;  and  the  practical  result  of  the  stop,  made 
easy  to  them,  is  that  they  are  nearly  all  total  abstainers  to-day,  and  there 
has  been  a  complete  revolution  in  the  position  of  Methodism  in  Cardiff 
with  respect  to  this  question.  I  am  convinced  that  in  such  a  Church  as 
ours,  as  I  have  said  before,  we  have  everything  to  gain,  and  nothing  to 
lose,  by  soliciting  the  co-operation  of  our  brethren  who  do  not  take  pre- 
cisely the  same  view  as  ourselves.  I  am  here  to  testify  that  this  co- 
operation has  been  sincere  and  hearty,  and  that  there  has  been  no  difficalty 
in  practice.  The  result  is  that  we  have  met  the  difficulty  to  which  the 
previous  speaker  has  referred  by  assuming  that  the  ideal  of  Methodism  is 
not  to  have  some  adjunct  or  supplementary  agency  of  a  temperance  nature, 
but  the  idea  is  that  the  Methodist  Church  itself  should  be  the  Temperance 
Society  ;  that  the  two  should  be  co-extensive.  We  regard  it  in  our  Church 
as  an  essential  part  of  the  duty  of  every  Christian  Methodist  minister  to 
promote  temperance  work.  It  is  suggested  by  the  Conference  that  on  the 
second  Sunday  of  December  an  unmistakable  note  should  be  sounded  on 
this  subject,  both  in  the  pulpit  of  the  sanctuary,  and  from  the  desk  of  the 
Sunday-school.  It  is  the  duty  of  every  member  of  our  Church  to  promote 
this  temperance  movement. 

Dk.  Kynett  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church)  :  I  concur  with  the  brother 
who  a  few  moments  since  spoke  of  this  as  one  of  the  questions  the 
discussion  of  which  should  bring  good  to  the  whole  Methodist  body. 
If  in  some  one  branch  of  our  conuno.n  Methodism  the  better  way  has  been 
found  in  dealing  with  any  matter  of  common  interest,  and  that  better  way 
can  be  clearly  stated  on  this  floor,  then  all  the  rest  should  consider  it 
carefully,  and  profit  by  the  experience  of  their  brethren,  as  their  own 
consciences  shall  dictate.  If  any  of  us  have  not  grace  to  do  this,  then  we 
should  cease  preaching  Christian  perfection  until  we  have  learned  to 
practise  the  first  principles,  self-denial.  We  in  America  have  learned 
that  it  will  not  do  to  preach  one  thing  and  practise  another.  If  one  of  our 
ministers  were  known  to  indulge  in  intoxicating  liquors,  however  little,  his 
ministry,  especially  in  relation  to  temperance,  would  be  worse  than  useless. 


GENERAL   KEMARKS.  219 

Nor  will  it  do  in  our  country  to  both  practise  and  preach  mocJeration. 
We  have,  in  the  City  of  New  York,  an  eminent  minister  of  another  com- 
munion who  put  himself  at  the  head  of  a  so-called  vioderation  movement, 
and  he  preached  an  able  and  eloquent  sermon  in  defence  of  his  position. 
But  the  Brewers'  Association,  one  of  the  most  powerful  foes  the  cause  of 
temperance  has  to  encounter,  published  his  sermon  and  scattered  it  broad- 
cast over  the  country  as  a  campaign  document  in  their  interest.  We,  as 
temperance  men,  would  rather  meet  the  combined  forces  of  the  Brewers' 
and  Liquor  Dealers'  Associations,  than  the  influence  created  by  that  one 
moderation  minister.  Again,  one  of  the  things  that  we  dread  most,  in 
connection  with  our  young  people  visiting  Europe,  is  the  prevalence  of 
social  drinking.  In  your  best  Christian  families  the  wine-cup  is  placed 
before  them,  and  we  fear  many  of  your  ministers  set  the  example  of  its 
use.  We  who  are  older  are  willing  to  risk  the  strength  and  stability  of  our 
principles  for  a  defence,  but  we  fear  that  some  of  our  young  people  may 
imbibe,  with  the  wine,  your  notion  that  there  is  nothing  wrong  in  it,  and 
contract  habits  from  which  they  may  not  be  delivered.  We  pray  you  help 
deliver  them  from  temptation.  Is  not  this  the  better  way  ?  If  so,  may 
not  any  who  are  not  thus  advanced  derive  advantage  from  this  discussion  ? 
We  of  America  shall  look  anxiously  to  find  wherein  any  of  you  may  excel 
us,  and  I  trust  some  of  us  at  least  may  be  able  to  profit  therein  by  your 
better  example. 

Rev.  J.  C.  Price  (African  Methodist  Episcopal  Zion  Church)  :  I  have 
been  a  teetotaller  ever  since  I  was  sixteen,  and  we,  who  represent  North 
Carolina  to-day,  are  fresh  from  one  of  the  greatest  temperance  move- 
ments, and  the  most  heated  campaigns  that  were  ever  carried  on  in  that 
State,  and  I  can  confirm  the  words  of  the  gentleman  on  my  left,  when  he 
said  that  in  the  great  temperance  movement  in  the  South,  all  lines  were 
obliterated.  So  it  was  in  North  Carolina  ;  there  was  no  democratic  party, 
no  republican  party  ;  no  black  men,  no  white  men  ;  but  all  were  liumani- 
tarians  labouring  for  the  elevation  of  suifering  humanity.  And  in  the  fight, 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  petitioned  the  legislature  to  pass  a 
prohibition  law,  and  175  ministers  of  that  communion  signed  the  petition. 
As  far  as  the  coloured  men  were  concerned,  the  leaders  in  the  State  and  in 
the  Church  were  eager  and  anxious,  and  showed  their  eagerness  and  anxiety 
by  taking  an  interest  in  the  temperance  cause.  But,  Mr.  President,  we 
failed  to  carry  our  question.  And  why  did  we  fail  ?  Because  the  Church 
failed  to  understand  its  position  in  the  fight.  As  a  rule,  the  ministers, 
white  and  coloured,  were  in  favour  of  the  movem.ent,  but  there  were  rare 
and  regretted  exceptions.  The  members  of  the  Church  were  divided  ;  and 
on  account  of  this  division  we  failed.  But,  ]Mr.  President,  as  I  said  then, 
and  as  I  say  now,  it  does  seem  to  me  that  the  position  of  the  Church  in 
this  matter  is  one  of  the  most  intimate  relationship.  It  is  a  part  of  our 
principles.  And  why  ?  She  is  for  the  elevation  of  mankind,  not  only  in 
her  particular  mission  of  the  Gospel,  but  in  carrymg  the  principles  of 
peace  and  quietness  to  every  home.  And  what  can  decrease  her  influence 
on  mankind  more  than  intemperance  ?  Go  to  your  gaols,  your  pauper- 
houses,  your  insane  asylums,  and  there  you  will  get  men  with  their 
intellects  obscured,  with  the  best  energies  of  the  soul  paralysed,  humanity 
gone,  and  brutishness  supreme.  You  see  then  the  relation  of  the  Methodist 
Church  to  the  greatest  movement  of  the  age.  But  this  relation  of  the 
Church  can  be  seen  from  her  own  nature.  She  is  supposed  to  be  a  holy 
body — God's  people  without  spot  and  wrinkle — and  hence* she  cannot 
countenance  evil  of  any  kind  ;  but  virtue  in  every  form  must  be  pro- 
moted and  encouraged,  vice  in  every  conceivable  shape  nmst  be  con- 
demned, and  the  Christian  Church  must  do  that  if  she  would  keep  pace 
with  her  work  of  reform. 


220  THE  lord's  day  and  temperance. 

The  Doxology  was  tlien   sung,   and  the  President  having  pro- 
nounced the  Benediction,  the  Conference  adjourned  pro  teia. 


In  the  Afternoon  the  Conference  reassembled.  After  the 
Devotional  Service,  the  Rev.  Charles  Garrett  (Wesleyan  Metho- 
dist Church)  read  an  essay  on  Juvenile  Temperance  Organisations 
and  tJieir  Promotion  through  the  Sunday-School  and  Church. 

He  said :  The  subject  allotted  to  me  is  "Juvenile  Temperance  Organi- 
sations, and  their  Promotion  through  the  Sunday- School  and  Cliurch," 
and  I  venture  to  think  that  no  subject  of  greater  importance  will  come 
before  this  Conference.  The  future  of  both  the  Church  and  the 
world  depends  upon  the  character  and  conduct  of  the  young.  If 
they  grow  up  sober,  intelligent,  and  Christian,  the  millennial  glory  will 
soon  be  here.  If  they  become  intemperate,  sensual,  and  sinful,  there 
is  nothing  before  us  but  ages  of  sorrow  and  shame.  We  may  well, 
then,  gather  from  all  lands,  and  with  prayerful  earnestness  ask,  What 
can  we  do  to  ensure  the  well-being  of  our  children  ? 

It  is  a  terrible  fact  that  myriads  of  our  young  people  have  perished 
through  strong  drink,  and  that  multitudes  of  others  are  in  imminent 
danger.  Intemperance  is  the  giant  evU  of  our  land.  Its  victims  are 
on  every  hand,  and  its  blighting  shadow  rests  almost  on  every  home« 
This  is  not  a  mere  theory,  but  a  hideous  fact,  the  evidence  of  which  is 
written  in  tears  and  blood.  Our  greatest  brewer  (Mr.  Buxton)  has 
declared  it  to  be  "  the  worst  of  j)lagues,"  and  our  greatest  statesman 
(Mr.  Gladstone)  has  said  that  ' '  its  results  are  more  terrible  than  those 
of  war,  pestilence,  and  famine  combined." 

This  evil,  juvenile  temperance  organisations  are  designed  to  grapple 
with  and  destroy.  They,  like  most  other  of  our  great  social  move- 
ments, are  children  of  the  nineteenth  century,  but  they  have  akeady 
accomplislied  such  glorious  results,  that  I  am  warranted  in  saying  that 
they  are  destined  to  assist  in  making  this  century  memorable  till  time 
shall  be  no  more. 

These  organisations  are  founded  upon  what  appears  to  me  to  be  the 
wisest  and  soundest  principles.  They  deal  with  the  young,  knowing 
that  if  the  young  are  rightly  trained  the  manhood  of  the  future  will  be 
safe.  They  say  that  drunkenness  is  caused  exclusively  by  the  use  of 
intoxicating  drinks,  being  unknown  where  these  drinks  are  unknown, 
and  existing  wherever  they  are  used,  cursing  the  rich  man's  palace  as 
well  as  the  poor  man's  cot,  and  dragging  down  the  chUd  of  the  Christian 
as  readily  as  the  child  of  the  outcast ;  that  science  has  declared  them 
to  be  not  only  unnecessary  for  the  j^oung,  but  most  injurious  to  them. 
They  therefore  go  to  the  root  of  the  matter,  and  require  every  member 
to  pledge  himself  to  total  abstinence,  knowing  that  the  child  who  keeps 
that  pledge  may  be  a  thousand  other  things,  but  can  never  be  a  drunkard. 


EEV.  CHARLES   GARRETT'S  ADDRESS.  221 

Tliese  organisations  have  already  made  rapid  progress  amongst  us, 
and  Lave  done  a  great  ■work.  There  are  in  Great  Britain  at  least  ten 
thousand,  with  over  a  million  members,  and  I  trust  we  shall  hear  to- 
day that  in  other  lands  their  progress  has  been  still  more  rapid,  and 
the  results  still  more  gratifying. 

The  question  before  us  is,  What  can  the  Sunday-school  and  the 
Church  do  to  promote  these  organisations  ?  This  question  I  ^viiih 
briefly  to  answer.  And,  as  the  time  is  so  limited,  I  shall  have  to 
content  myself  with  giving  a  few  suggestions,  with  scarcely  a  word  of 
explanation  or  illustration.  First,  the  school — and  when  I  speak  of  the 
school  I  speak  of  the  Church,  for  the  school  is  now  practically  the 
juvenile  part  of  the  Church.  The  school  should  adopt  the  temperance 
organisation,  and  make  it,  not  a  mere  accidental  appendage,  as  it  has 
been  hitherto,  but  an  essential,  integral  i?art  of  her  organisation.  It 
should  no  longer  be  left  to  the  mercy  of  any  passer-by  who  may  have 
the  courage  to  take  hold  of  it,  but  should  be  nourished  and  cherished  I  y 
the  school  as  part  of  herself.  She  should  organise,  support,  and  work 
the  whole  machinery,  and  take  the  entire  responsibility  upon  herself. 
Then,  and  only  then,  will  the  work  be  j)roperly  done. 

To  facilitate  this,  it  will  be  well  for  each  school  to  elect  a  Temperance 
secretary,  as  it  does  a  Missionary  secretary  or  Librarian,  and  it  should 
be  his  duty  to  take  the  oversight  of  the  temperance  department  of  the 
school  work.  In  this  way  the  abstaining  scholars  will  be  recognised, 
encouraged,  and  guided,  and  class  by  class  the  whole  school  be 
ultimately  enrolled  in  the  temperance  ranks. 

Addresses  on  the  subject  should  be  given  quarterly;  and,  as  with 
missions,  a  special  sermon  be  preached  every  year. 

Temperance  should  also  find  its  full  place  in  the  periodicals  of  the 
school,  and  everything  be  done  to  impress  upon  the  scholars  the  fact 
that  temperance  must  be  the  rule  of  their  life. 

I  know  that  this  will  be  a  great  step  to  take,  far  greater  than  our 
friends  from  America  imagine,  but  it  is  a  step  imperatively  demanded 
by  the  condition  of  things  around  us,  and  the  beneficial  results 
of  which  will  be  so  great  that,  once  taken,  it  will  never  again  be 
retraced. 

Let  me  name  a  few  of  these  results.  First,  it  will  be  of  incalculable 
value  to  the  temperance  organisations  themselves.  Hitherto  the 
Church  has  been  too  much  like  some  fashionable  mothers,  so  busy  with 
her  own  adornments  and  gratifications,  that  she  has  left  her  children 
to  the  care  of  servants,  contenting  herself  with  a  passing  word  of 
approval  on  special  occasions.  So  this  temperance  child  has  been  left 
pretty  much  to  itself,  and,  as  a  consequence,  it  has  said  and  done 
things  that  have  grieved  fts  best  friends,  things  it  never  would  have 
said  and  done  if  its  mother  had  performed  her  duty.  Now  we  know 
that  God  has  said,  "  A  child  left  to  himself  bringeth  his  mother  to 
shame."     The  shame,  therefore,  of  this  belongs  to  the  mother,  and  not 


222      THE  lord's  day  and  temperance. 

to  the  child.  It  has  been  its  misfortune,  not  its  fault.  Let  the  mother 
understand  that  her  child  has  rights  as  well  as  duties.  Let  her  set  to 
work  to  do  her  duty,  instead  of  talking  about  her  rights ;  the  evils  will 
then  soon  be  remedied,  and  the  child  enter  upon  an  era  of  hapi^iness 
and  prosperity.  Next,  look  at  the  benefits  which  the  Church  will 
derive  from  such  a  course.  These,  I  rejoice  to  say,  are  so  many,  that 
I  should  require  the  whole  of  the  twenty  minutes  allotted  to  me  even 
to  name  them.  I  will,  therefore,  content  myself  with  mentioning  one  or 
two ;  a  host  of  others  will,  I  am  surcy  present  themselves  to  every  one 
that  takes  the  trouble  to  look  at  the  matter. 

First,  it  would  infuse  new  vigour  into  the  school  itself.  Nothing 
benefits  young  people  so  much  as  setting  them  to  work.  "  Satan  finds 
some  mischief  still  for  idle  hands  to  do."  And  many  of  our  schools 
are  a  sad  illustration  of  this  truth.  From  want  of  work,  a  kind  of 
mental  dyspepsia  has  set  in,  and  they  are  in  a  chronic  state  of  irri- 
tability and  discontent.  Set  them  to  work,  and  all  this  will  be 
speedily  remedied,  and  a  temperance  organisation  will  provide  them 
with  just  what  tbey  need.  The  teachers  and  scholars  will  then  be 
united  in  the  sympathy  which  arises  from  their  being  actively  engaged 
in  a  common  work.  They  will  begin  to  understand  and  appreciate 
each  other  more  highly.  It  will  provide  work  for  every  one,  and  give 
every  one  his  work.  There  will  be  meetings  to  be  arranged  for,  songs 
to  be  sung,  recitations  to  be  given,  absentees  to  seek,  adherents  to  gain. 
Thus  every  one  will  be  actively  employed,  and  each  will  have  the 
joyous  consciousness  that  he  is  not  living  in  vain. 

Second,  it  would  do  much  to  retain  the  elder  scholars.  At  present  a 
large  number  who  are  ending  their  teens,  think  it  beneath  them  to  sit 
in  classes,  and  be  taught ;  but  let  them  be  identified  with  this  great 
work,  and  their  enthusiasm  in  its  support  will  intensify  as  their  intel- 
ligence increases.  Those  who  are  not  yet  converted  can  thus  be  most 
usefully  employed,  and  heartily  recognised,  and,  as  they  watch  the 
progress  of  their  work,  they  will  be  strengthened  with  the  stimulus  of 
conscious  victory.  All  the  latent  wealth  of  the  school  will  also  be  laid 
under  contribution.  Music,  education,  taste,  gift  of  speech,  faculty  for 
organisation,  power  of  persuasion,  will  all  be  enlisted,  and  gifts  be 
developed,  the  very  existence  of  which  would  othetwise  be  unknown. 

Third,  it  would  immensely  help  the  Church  in  the  performance  of 
her  aggressive  work.  At  present  a  gulf  yawns  between  the  Church 
and  the  multitude.  Gatherings  of  the  wisest  and  the  best,  members 
of  the  Church,  have  been  called,  to  study  the  question  of  "  How  to 
reach  the  masses  ?  "  This  perplexing  problem  is  solved  at  once  by  the 
temperance  movement.  It  throws  a  bridge  across  the  gulf,  over  which 
the  Church  can  go  to  the  people,  with  her  message  of  love  and  mercy, 
and  over  which  thousands  of  them  are  already  flocking  to  her  for  light 
and  salvation.  The  vast  hosts  of  young  people,  full  of  enthusiasm 
about  meetings  in  wliich  they  are  to  take  a  part,  will  be  human 


REV.    CHARLES   GARRETT'S   ADDRESS.  223 

advertisements,  seen  and  heard  of  all  men,  and  under  their  influence 
the  sympathy  and  curiosity  of  the  jjarents  will  be  excited,  and 
thoustxnds  of  them  will  attend  who  would  never  come  to  hear  a  sermon, 
and,  coming  to  the  temperance-meeting,  prejudice  will  be  removed, 
old  memories  be  awakened,  and  an  influence  exerted  which  will  ulti- 
mately lead  many  of  them  to  the  Saviour. 

Besides  this,  the  school  would  not  be  content  with  merely  holdn  ; 
meetings,  but  would  do,  as  is  done  in  all  well-managed  temperance 
societies,  organise  a  literature  department,  the  scholars  being  en- 
couraged to  attempt  the  sale  of  books  and  periodicals.  These  being 
obtained  at  wholesale  prices,  will  leave  a  good  margin  for  profi.t ;  the 
account  being  carried  on  till  the  end  of  the  year,  and  the  whole  amount 
made  by  each  scholar  being  given  to  him  in  some  useful  form.  Thus 
many  a  lad  will  be  enabled  to  form  the  nucleus  of  a  good  library  out  of 
his  earnings,  a  library  that  may  be  of  immense  value  both  to  him  and 
to  his  home.  This  is  not  mere  theory.  I  know  of  one  Wesleyan  Band 
of  Hope,  in  a  poor  neighbourhood,  that  sold  last  year  more  than  40,000 
books  and  periodicals.  Now,  who  can  tell  the  advantage  of  such  a 
spread  of  pure  literature — advantages,  not  only  to  the  scholars,  but 
also  to  the  school,  the  purchaser,  and  society  at  large  ? 

The  fact  is,  that  such  an  organisation  would  at  once  turn  the  whole 
army  of  Sunday-scholars  into  Colporteurs  and  Home  Missionaries, 
and  so  jiroduce  a  mighty  effect  on  the  population  around. 

It  will  also  be  of  great  benefit  to  the  young  people  themselves.  It 
will  not  only  shield  them  from  the  terrible  drink  curse,  but  will  protect 
them  from  a  large  number  of  dangerous  companions.  Young  men  who 
like  the  glass  will  not  want  abstainers  for  their  companions,  and  thus, 
in  the  nature  of  things,  the  abstainer  will  escape  a  fearful  peril.  It 
will  also  do  much  to  develop  the  moral  courage  of  the  members.  It  is 
a  most  humiliating  fact  that  a  large  number  of  people  are  very  defective 
in  this  respect,  especially  in  matters  pertaining  to  morality  and  religion. 
They  are  governed  by  feeling,  policy,  convenience,  ease,  or  worldly  in- 
terest rather  than  by  principle.  They  are,  therefore,  to  a  large  extent 
the  creatures  of  circumstances.  They  can  never  say  "  Yes  "  or  "  No" 
on  the  real  merits  of  a  question.  They  always  "  Think  so,  too."  They 
neither  row  nor  steer,  but  drift,  and  are  at  the  mei'cy  of  every  wind 
that  blows.  Whatever  Church  or  party  comes  to  the  front,  attracts 
them,  like  so  many  particles  of  dead  matter.  If  thej'  go  to  a  to^Ti 
where  Methodism  is  strong  and  influential,  they  take  a  seat  at  the  • 
Methodist  chapel ;  but  if  they  go  to  another  town  where  Methodism  is 
weak  and  poor,  they  pass  by  on  the  other  side.  Now,  this  organisa- 
tion, well  worked,  will  do  much  to  remedy  this  miserable  state  of 
things.  It  will  teach  the  young  people  to  judge,  discriminate,  decide, 
and  act  upon  their  decision.  It  may  seem  to  be  a  little  thing  for  a  boy 
or  girl  to  say  "No"  when  asked  to  take  a  glass  of  wine,  but  it  will 
have  a  mighty  influence  ujion  the  future  character  and  history  of  that 


224       THE  lord's  day  and  temperance. 

child.  Having  said  "  No  "  in  the  face  of  example,  and  custom,  and 
against  strong  pressure,  once,  will  do  much  to  enable  him  to  say  "  No  " 
to  other  temptations,  and  under  other  circumstances.  It  is  the  first 
step  in  a  path  that  will  often  be  steep  and  rugged,  but  a  path  that 
leads  to  glory  and  honour.  It  is  to  the  child  a  battle  which,  ending 
in  victory,  will  nerve  him  for  future  conflicts,  and  will  do  something 
towards  placing  him  at  last  among  those  who,  having  overcome,  shall 
inherit  all  things. 

This  most  desirable  object  will  not  be  accomplished  without  opposi- 
tion and  difficulty.  Some  hoary  prejudices  will  stand  in  the  way,  and 
early-formed  habits  will  sorely  hamper  some  whose  co-operation  is 
most  desirable ;  but  the  object  contemi^lated  is  so  immense,  so  im- 
portant, and  so  pressing,  that  it  ought  to  be  earnestly  and  prayerfully 
attempted  at  once.  Christian  men  have  but  to  understand  the  fearful 
peril  to  which  the  children  are  exposed,  in  order  to  be  prepared  to 
make  a  sacrifice — aye,  even  a  great  sacrifice,  in  order  to  preserve  them 
from  ruin.  Selfishness  and  Christianity  are  diametrically  opposed. 
We  are  not  to  live  to  ourselves.     We  are  our  children's  keepers. 

Methodism  has  publicly  declared  that  "  it  should  be  the  rule  of  our 
lives  to  take  no  step  where  the  weak  brother  may  not  safely  follow." 
There  are  but  two  paths  open  to  the  children — one  is  the  broad,  wind- 
ing, indefinite  path  of  moderation,  the  path  by  which  every  drunkard 
reached  the  way  of  darkness  and  despair ;  and  the  plain,  clear,  safe 
path  of  total  abstinence.  The  children — with  faith  in  our  wisdom,  and 
love  beaming  from  every  face— ask  us,  as  individuals  and  as  Churches, 
"  Which  way  shall  we  take ? "  Surely,  surely,  we  shall  not  hesitate; 
but,  taking  them  by  the  hand,  shall  lead  them  to  the  path  of  total 
abstinence,  and  say  by  our  words  and  our  lives,  "  This  is  the.  way,  walk 
ye  in  it." 

Eev.  E.W.  S.Peck  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church):  The  evil  results  of 
intemperance  upon  the  masses,  upon  the  juvenile  as  well  as  the  adult, 
are  too  well  known  to  the  members  of  this  distinguished  assembly  for 
me  to  refer  to  in  detail.  Indeed,  my  time  will  not  allow  such  a 
reference.  I  wiU  only  occupy  a  moment  or  so  in  which  to  offer  a  few 
suggestions  upon  the  topic  now  before  us,  "Juvenile  Temperance 
Organisations,  their  Promotion  through  the  Sunday- School  and  Church." 
It  is  certainly  true,  indeed  it  is  a  liAdng  reality  that  has  caused  sadness 
and  much  confusion  in  the  ranks  of  the  advocates  and'Tagents  of  intem- 
perance, that  the  Christian  Church  of  to-day  throughout  Christendom 
has  declared  war  against  them ;  not  only  arraying  in  hostile  attitude 
upon  the  one  hand  her  mighty  forces  for  the  dreadful  conflict  now 
ensuing ;  but,  on  the  other,  we  are  fighting  successfully  in  many  places 
against  intemperance,  the  common  foe  of  God  and  man.  The  pro- 
clamation has  gone  forth.  The  trumpets  give  no  uncertain  sound. 
The  war-cry  is  an  absolute  and  an  uncompromising  surrender,  victory, 


REV.    E.   W.    S.    peck's   ADDRESS.  225 

nay,  death  to  this  arch  destroyer  of  human  happmess,  this  wicked 
enemy  of  virtue — intemperance. 

Do  we  not  beheve  that  Jesus  shall  reign,  His  kingdom  shall  spread, 
and  is  now  spreading,  o'er  all  the  earth,  destroying  the  works  of  the 
devil,  and  bringing  the  nations  to  Himself?  So  have  we  sufficient 
grounds  for  faith,  that  in  the  purposes  of  God,  through  the  instrumen- 
tality of  His  people,  the  evils  of  intemperance  shall  be  subdued,  its 
furious  flames  shall  be  quenched,  and  its  influence  destroyed.  To  this 
thousands  of  anguished  hearts  responsive  say,  "  Amen,  so  mote  it  be  !  " 
The  topic  suggests  what  we  must  do  to  hasten  on,  to  usher  in  this  long- 
desired  time,  this  time  so  long  prayed  for  ;  and  what  a  glorious  time  it 
will  be,  "  when  beneath  Messiah's  sway,  every  nation,  every  clime, 
shall  the  Gospel  call " — the  Gospel  call  of  temperance  obey.  The 
work  in  this  direction,  as  to  plans  and  modes  of  operation,  has  been 
chiefly  performed  to  save  the  adult  from  the  woeful  gi-asj)  of  this 
demon  of  iniquity,  to  prevent  the  youth,  fresh  blooming  into  manhood, 
from  falling  a  prey  to  this  destroyer.  Our  General  Conferences  have 
wisely  legislated  to  this  end,  while  the  Church,  as  an  organisation  for 
this  woi'k,  has  much  cause  for  rejoicing  over  the  success  already  gained 
in  saving  thousands  from  the  drunkard's  grave  into  the  kingdom  of 
Jesus.  Yet  we  find  the  enemy  is  moving  for  vantage  ground  in  another 
direction,  by  which  to  defeat  the  Church  in  her  blessed  work  and  labour 
of  love.  This  foe,  by  stealthy  modes  of  procedure,  intends  to  entice,  to 
allure,  the  children  of  our  day— enticing  them  to  accept  the  intoxi- 
cating cup.  Is  this  true,  do  you  ask  ?  I  say  unto  you,  we  have  not 
only  to  go  along  the  crowded  thoroughfares  of  the  great  cities,  nor  in 
the  haunts  of  vice,  or  among  the  vicious  classes  of  the  common  people, 
to  obtain  the  proof  of  this  statement,  but  the  practice  is  seen,  and  the 
little  ones  are  tempted,  in  the  homes  of  the  so-called  great  and  wise, 
even  among  some  who  profess  to  be  the  followers  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.  I  afl&rm  that  this  is  a  strong  position  for  intemperance,  naj' 
dangerous,  and  if  not  prevented  will  prove  disastrous  in  its  effect  upon 
the  future  of  the  children  we  are  sent  to  save.  What  have  we  as  a 
Church — and,  may  I  add,  as  representatives  of  various  nations  of  the 
earth  ?—  what  have  we  to  hope  for,  as  the  results  of  our  ministry,  our 
Christian  living,  our  educational  work,  and  as  touching  all  that  we  arc 
doing  both  in  the  Church  and  State  ?  In  answer  to  these  important 
questions,  I  have  only  to  employ  the  words  of  one  of  the  fathers  of  the 
Church  who  is  present  wdth  us  in  this  Conference,  language  well  de- 
fined, and  that  tells  the  meaning  of  all  our  Christian  endeavour,  namely, 
"That  the  future  Church  and  State  will  be  what  the  children  of 
the  present  day  will  make  them."  Therefore,  if  we  will  have  holy 
men  and  women  of  God  to  govern  and  control  the  Church  of  the 
future,  leading  her  on  to  glorious  renown;  if  we  will  have  pious  men 
and  women  to  rule  over  the  future  interests  of  the  nations,  whose 
examples  and  living,  like  leaven,  shall  permeate  tluough  aL'  society; 

Q 


226      THE  loed's  day  and  temperance. 

tlien  let  us  labour  to  that  end  by  all  the  means  we  can  possibly  employ. 
The  Sunday-school  is  the  religious  traiuing-gi'ouud  for  the  children,  or, 
rather,  where  thej'^  are  disciplined  and  educated  in  religious  truths, 
and  I  suggest  that  here  is  the  important  field  for  temperance  work ; 
here  the  twig  can  be  bent  to  grow  in  wisdom's  way  and  find  her  path — 
the  path  of  peace.     Here,  as  we  classify  the  children  under  teachers, 
so  can  they  be  organised  into  temperance  bands  and  companies,  call 
these  organisations  what  you  may,   as,  for  instance,  bands  of  hoj)e, 
little  temperance  guards,  &c.,  until  at  length  we  shall  have  immense 
armies  of  little  temperance  workers  in  all   lands,  well  drilled  under 
careful  leaders,  well  informed  by  capable  instructors,  fighting  against 
this  sjjirit  of  wickedness  in  high  places.     The  children  will  appreciate 
these  organisations,  as  has  been  demonstrated  in  many  instances  to  the 
joy  of  those  who  have  undertaken  this   work,  while  the  results  have 
been  rich  in  blessings.     We  will  have  the  children,  then,  that  love  the 
Saviour,  that  love  the  gospel  of  temperance,  while  they  see  in  it  the 
strong  fortress,  the  rock  of  defence  of  their  virtue  and  life.     These  will 
grow  up  to  glorify  God,  to  bless  and  beautify  all  lands.     From  these 
shall  come  forth,  as  I  have  already  stated,  the  godly  men  and  women 
to  carry  forward  the  Church   of  Christ,  and  righteously  govern  the 
nations  of  the  earth.     They  shall  aid  to  bring  the  much-desired  time 
when  the  nations  shall  learn  of  war  no  more.     "  For  the  kingdoms  of 
this  world  shall  become  the  kingdoms  of  our  Lord  and  of  His  Christ." 
The  Church  cannot  afford  to  be  less  vigilant  in  regard  to  the  moral 
and  religious  welfare  of  children.     If  we  are  to  reap  the  fruits  of  our 
doing,  we   will  have  to  gather  it   greatly  from  the  multitudes  of  the 
little  ones,  and  may  the  Lord  help  us  to  gather  into  His  garner  a  rich 
and  abundant  harvest  I 

We  are  not  unmindful  of  the  fact  that  what  we  ai*e  to-day  we  owe  it 
to  the  consecrated  labours  and  faithful  toils  of  those  who  composed  the 
Church  before  us.  They  worked  for  our  salvation,  and  to  perpetuate 
by  us  the  greatest  of  all  institutions  given  to  men,  the  Church  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ ;  and  to  this  work  for  saving  the  children  we  stand 
committed  by  the  most  solemn  obligations.  I  respectfully  submit, 
therefore,  let  the  Church  stand  by  and  heartily  supj)ort  these  juvenile 
temperance  organisations  in  the  Sunday-school,  by  the  living  Word 
from  her  pulpits,  in  the  family  circle,  by  personal  recognition  and 
co-operation — nay,  by  all  the  means  needed  to  perfect  this  organised 
work  and  hasten  its  triumphs. 

Mr.  T.  J.  Magruder  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church)  said  :  I  should  like 
to  submit  a  very  few  observations  upon  this  important  subject.  I  admit 
the  great  evil  of  intemperance  ;  I  have  seen,  and  to  some  extent  realised, 
the  great  curse  of  intemperance,  and  for  nearly  forty  years  past  I  have 
been  a  worker  in  the  Sunday-school,  and  have  advocated  temperance  before 
the  Sunday-school  scholars  from  Sabbath  to  Sabbath.  More  than  twenty 
years  ago,!  organised  a  Juvenile  Temperance  Society  in  the  Sunday-school, 
and  for  fifteen  years  that  organisation  continued,  and  was,  to  some  extent, 


GENERAL   REMARKS.  22? 

nspfnl  and  snocessful,  I  have  nothinc;  to  say  against  juvenile  temperance 
oriianisation*.  I  admit  in  most  cases  they  are  good  and  can  be  made 
useful  ;  but  at  tlie  same  time  I  tliink  that  we  should  guard  our  schools  in 
regard  to  bringing  in  other  organisations.  The  Sunday-school  is  part  of 
the  Church  ;  it  is  so  in  our  country  ;  it  is  so,  I  have  no  doubt,  here  in 
Great  Britain  and  everywhere.  It  is  intimately  connected  with  the  Church 
It  is  under  the  direction  of  the  Pastor  and  of  the  Quarterly  Conference, 
and  therefore  we  should  be  very  careful  even  in  organising  temperance 
societies  in  our  Sunday-schools.  If  organised,  they  sliould  bo  under  the 
Pastor  of  the  church,  so  that  they  may  be  conducted  in  a  proper  manner. 
If  you  will  allow  me  I  will  give  you,  in  a  few  words,  the  plan  that  we 
have  adopted  in  the  Sunday-school  of  which  I  have  been  the  superin- 
tendent for  a  number  of  years.  We  have  no  temperance  society,  such  as 
it  is  called  at  the  present  day,  but  we  make  this  impression,  and  we  have 
it  before  the  school  constantly,  that  the  church  is  a  temperance  society, 
that  the  school  connected  with  it  is  also  a  temperance  society,  and  once  a 
quarter  we  have  a  lesson  on  temperance,  which  is  taught  to  every  class  in 
the  school  on  the  Sunday  morning.  In  tlie  afternoon  we  hold  a  temperance 
meeting,  and  we  invite  not  only  the  Sunday-school  but  the  congregation, 
and  the  temperance  cause  is  advocated  there.  Boys  and  girls  are  instructed 
that  they  are  within  the  pale  of  a  temperance  society,  and  in  this  way  . 
we  have  success  ;  so  that  to-day  we  have  more  than  200  scholars  who  are 
members  of  the  church.  Of  course,  when  their  names  are  put  upon 
the  church  register  they  are  members  of  the  best  temperance  society  ever 
organised — the  temperance  society  of  John  Wesley — and  they  are  in- 
structed in  the  doctrines  of  the  ^Methodist  Church.  I  want  it  understood 
by  all  present  that  I  do  not  oppose  these  societies.  All  that  I  desire 
is,  that  we  should  get  at  the  best  plan  of  promoting  the  good  of  this  great 
cause,  of  instructing  our  boys,  especially  in  temperance  ;  and  whether  it  is 
best  to  bring  societies  within  our  Sunday-schools  and  let  the  children  feel 
and  realise  that  our  Sunday-schools  are  temperance  societies,  I  have  not  yet 
fully  decided  or  made  up  my  mind.  I  am  glad  that  this  subject  is  before 
this  convention. 

Rev.  J.  AVooD,  M.A.  (Primitive  Methodist)  :  There  is  one  aspect  of  this 
important  question  which  I  am  anxious  to  have  brought  clearh^  before  this 
great  assembly.  I  do  not  know  that  I  shall  be  able  to  do  it,  but  I  mention 
it  in  order  that  others  may  take  it  up.  This  morning  we  were  discussing 
the  best  means  of  curing  the  great  evil  of  intemperance,  and  this  afternoon 
we  are  considering  perhaps  the  more  important  question  of  preventing  it. 
I  have  been  very  pleased  with  the  excellent  paper  of  my  friend,  Mr. 
Garrett,  and  also  with  the  one  that  followed  his  ;  but  we  nuist  go  a  little 
further  in  order  to  get  at  the  root  of  the  evil  ;  further  than  we  can  possibly 
go  in  the  Sunday-school.  We  shall  never,  I  think,  succeed  in  curing  this 
evil,  nor  even  in  preventing  it,  unless  we  can  promote  a  roform  in  the 
style  of  living  in  many  families,  and  it  is  my  great  fear  that  the  expensive 
style  of  living,  even  in  many  Methodist  families,  leads  to  habits  of 
intemperance  amongst  our  people.  We  all  know  God  in  His  good 
Providence  has  blessed  Methodists  with  a  great  amount  of  this  world's 
goods  ;  hence  many,  we  find,  keep  expensive  tables,  which  groan  beneath 
all  sorts  of  good  things,  and  some  that  are  not  good,  and  to  these  tables 
the  young  people  come,  and  they  take  intoxicating  drinks,  and  acquire  an 
appetite  for  those  drinks,  and  eventually  become  very  heavy  drinkers.  I 
am  not  speaking  this  afternoon  as  a  vegetarian — I  am  not  one — but  my 
good  friend  on  the  right.  Rev.  C.  Kendall,  thinks  I  am  progressing 
favourably  in  that  direction,  and  shall  come  to  the  knowledge  of  the 
truth  by-and-by  ;  but  I  fear  that  over-indulgence  in  flesh  meat  creates  a 
thirst  tliat  leads  frequently  to  an  appetite  for  drink,  and  therefore  pro- 

Q  2 


228         THE  lord's  day  AND  TEMPEllANCE. 

motes  intemperance.  Now,  I  regret  to  find  that  the  sons  of  many  of  our 
well-to-do  families  become  intemperate  and  alienated  from  our  Church.  I 
have  before  my  mind  now  the  family  of  a  wealthy  gentleman,  at  whose 
house  I  used  to  visit  twenty-five  or  twenty-six  years  ago.  In  that  family 
there  were  four  sons  Vvho,  physically,  grew  up  to  be  as  fine  young  men  as 
the  sun  ever  shone  upon  ;  but  when  they  were  fourteen  or  fifteen  years 
of  age,  they  could  be  seen  smoking  pipes  or  cigars,  and  taking  a  glass 
of  beer,  or  wine,  or  other  spirit  at  the  table.  Three  of  those  fell  into 
drunkards'  graves,  and  the  fourth  is  going  thither  as  fast  as  he  can,  and 
the  father  was  brought  down  with  sorrow  to  tiie  grave  even  before  his 
hair  had  time  to  turn  grey.  Our  friend,  ]\Ir.  Waddy,  the  other  day  (whom 
I  am  sure  we  were  all  delighted  to  hear),  placed  ministers  and  local 
preachers  on  precisely  the  same  level  ;  he  would  not  admit  that  our 
buttoned-up  waistcoats,  or  stiflE  collars,  or  D.D.'s,  or  LL.D.'s,  placed  us  on 
any  vantage  ground  whatever.  I  think  Mr.  Waddy  should  show  us  that 
it  would  be  well  for  well-to-do  laymen  to  be  on  our  level  in  other  respects, 
and  to  live  on  the  same  income  as  we  do.  He  said  that  the  lay  preachers 
did  by  no  means  enjoy  a  monopoly  of  the  poor  preachers.  I  think  he 
should  also  contend  that  they  also  do  not  enjoy  a  monopoly  of  large 
incomes  and  expensive  living.  Let  us  be  more  equal  on  this  ground.  I  am 
quite  sure  that  this  will  do  a  great  deal  towards  promoting  temperance  in 
our  Church. 

Rev.  a.  Edwards,  D.  D.  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church) :  I  should  like, 
in  lieu  of  any  remarks  which  I  by  obtaining  the  floor  may  be  entitled  to 
make,  to  present  the  sentiments  expressed  by  the  General  Conference  of 
the  Church  to  which  I  belong,  a  few  years  since.  The  sentiments  passed 
the  General  Conference  unanimously,  and  I  submit  this  as  one  of  the  best 
speeches  that  can  possibly  be  made  on  the  question  : — 

Methodist  Ejnscopal  Church  on  Temperance  and  Prohibition. 
The  following  report  of  the  Committee  on  Temperance,  and  resolutions 
thereon,  were  unanimously  adopted  at  the  evening  session  of  the  twenty- 
fifth  day  of  the  General  Conference  of  the  American  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  held  at  Baltimore,  Maryland,  May  29th,  1876  : — 

Report  oj   the  Committee  on  Intemperance. 

To  the  Christian  Church  belongs  the  leadership  in  all  moral  reforms, 
therefore  her  utterances  should  be  bold  and  emphatic  in  favour  of  temper- 
ance, and  against  the  manufacture,  sale,  or  use  of  all  that  will  intoxicate. 
The  sale  and  use  of  intoxicating  drinks  foster  intemperance,  afflict  the 
Church,  State,  communities,  and  family  circles  with  numerous  great  evils, 
obstructing  the  progress  of  the  Gospel  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  counter- 
acting very  largely  religious  and  secular  education,  leading  to  Sabbath 
desecration,  vice,  crime,  and  venality  in  legislation  and  the  civil  service, 
impairing  moral,  mental,  and  physical  health,  and  endangering  the 
perpetuity  of  free  government.  While  the  Church  in  her  ministry  and 
membership  has  always  taken  a  responsible  part  in  the  temperance  reform, 
she  should  recognise  a  more  emphatic  call  to  resist  and  repel  the  free- 
thinking  infidel  influence  now  using  the  liquor  traffic  for  the  overthrow  of 
the  Christian  Sabbath  and  vital  injunctions  of  the  Decalogue,  and  make  a 
determined,  systematic,  aggressive  war  for  the  entire  suppression  of  this 
gigantic  evil,  the  morbid  outgrowth  of  the  carnal  appetities  not  subject  to 
the  law  of  God,  neither,  indeed,  can  be.  The  presence  of  this  destroyer, 
side  by  side  with  the  grand  achievements  of  the  religious  and  secular 
industries  of  this  exalted  era,  forms  a  melancholy  contrast,  at  once  painful 
and  revolting.  No  Christian  can  tolerate  or  compromise  with  this  evil. 
The  attitude  of  the  Church  should   be   hostile   toward  the   monster.     We 


GENERAL   REMARKS.  229 

render  thanks  to  our  "Father  in  heaven  for  the  p:reat]y  increased  temperance 
sentirnont  throughout  the  country.  Both  the  Church  and  State  are  waking 
up  to  the  magnitude  of  the  interests  involved.  The  State  is  taking  hold  of 
the  monster  through  legislative  enactments  and  judicial  discussion  ;  while 
the  Church,  under  the'  influence  of  Christian  women,  has  renewed  with 
more  vigour  the  attack  on  this  stronghold  of  the  prince  of  darkness,  and 
is  urging  an  aggressive  war  against  this  branch  of  the  army  of  Antichrist. 
This"  is  the  battle  of  the  agos,  and  it  is  the  duty  of  each  on-coming 
generation  to  take  up  the  conflict  where  the  preceding  left  it,  and  continue 
the  struggle  until  total  legal  prohibition  shall  become  the  undisputed  and 
settled  policy  of  the  whole  earth,  therefore, 

Kesolved — 1.  That  we  are  unalterably  opposed  to  the  importation, 
manufacture,  and  sale  of  all  kinds  of  distilled,  fermented,  and  vinous 
liquors,  designed  to  be  used  as  a  beverage  ;  and  that  it  is  the  duty  of 
every  member  of  the  Christian  Church  to  discountenance  and  oppose  the 
evil  at  all  times  by  voice  and  vote. 

2.  That  we  earnestly  protest  against  the  members  of  our  Church  giving 
countenance  to  the  liquor  traffic  by  signing  petitions  for,  or  voting  to 
grant,  licenses  for  the  sale  of  spirituous  or  malt  liquors,  or  becoming 
"bondsmen  for  persons  selling  by  license,  or  renting  property  in  or  on 
which  such  liquors  are  sold. 

3.  That  we  are  fully  convinced  of  the  wisdom  and  absolute  need  of  total 
legal  prohibition. 

\  That  we  recommend  the  organisation  of  Juvenile  Temperance  Societies 
in  all  our  charges  and  Sunday-schools. 

5.  That  we  recognise  the  necessity  of  healthy  temperance  literature,  and 
therefore  recommend  the  publications  of  the  National  Temperance  As- 
sociation of  New  York  to  the  patronage  of  our  people  and  Sunday-schools. 

6.  That  we  recommend  the  use  of  none  but  pure  unfermented  juice  of 
the  grape  on  oiu-  sacramental  occasions, 

7.  That  we  gratefully  recognise  and  heartily  commend  the  ministry  of 
the  gifted  and  godly  women  of  tlie  churches  in  the  work  of  temperance, 
and  in  their  holy  crusade  against  the  liquor  traffic. 

The  bell  rang  before  the  rev.  gentleman  had  concluded  his  reading,  but 
the  remainder  was  read  by  tlie  Rev.  A.  Wheeler. 

Rev.  J.  M.  TowNSEND  (African  Methodist  Episcopal  Church):  As  I  under- 
stand, Mr.  President,  we  are  trying  to  ascertain,  if  possible,  how  we  as 
Methodists  would  do  the  most  effective  temperance  work  as  a  Church  ; 
and  we  are  here,  as  I  understand  it  further,  to  have  an  understanding  as 
to  how  our  general  work  is  to  be  accomplished.  I  s])eak  this  afternoon 
for  a  large  class  of  Methodists — men,  women,  and  children — in  the  United 
States  of  America.  During  the  discussions  which  have  taken  place  in 
■  this  convention,  I  have  observed  all  along  that  one  side  of  many  questions 
.  has  been  presented.  There  is  another  view  that  should  be  taken  of 
some  questions  which  have  been  discussed,  and  I  wish  now,  as  this  is  a 
very  opportune  moment,  to  drop  an  intimation  for  fear  that  some  of  the 
good  English  brutliren  who  are  liere  may  V)e  misled.  AYhen  I  make  the 
remarks  that  I  do  this  afternoon,  I  want  it  understood  that  I  do  not  S})cak 
with  reference  to  any  particular  allusion,  but  I  simply  touch  on  general 
principles  as  they  affect  me  and  mine  in  another  country.  Now,  \\  itli 
regard  to  this  temperance  work,  I  have  but  to  say,  as  I  have  said  with 
regard  to  other  church  work  in  our  country-,  that  there  is  one  question 
which  lies  behind  all  the  plans,  and  all  the  suggestions,  and  all  the  ques- 
tions which  have  been  mooted  here.  I  desire  to  say  this,  that  before  we 
can  triumph  over  intemperance  there  must  be  a  united  effort  on  the  part  of 
Methodists  of  all  branches;  there  must  be  a  general  understanding;  we 
must  act  as  a  unit ;  uud  I  am  here  this  afternoou  to  say  that  this  caniiot 


2o0         THE  LOKD'S  DAY  AND  TEMPERANCE. 

possibly  bein  America  under  the  present  condition  of  things.  I  repeat  it, 
and  repeat  it  with  empliasis,  that  under  the  present  condition  of  things  in 
America  it  is  impossible  for  all  the  branches  of  Methodism  to  act  as  a  unit 
upon  one  single,  solitary  work,  on  account  of  the  strong  race  prejudices 
which  exist.  The  "colour  line  "  must  be  eliminated,  and  the  caste  question 
settled.  It  seems  to  me  further  that  we  need  organisation,  and  I  pray  God 
that  the  time  may  soon  come  when  we  can  do  so,"just  as  the  Good  Templars 
of  the  world  are  organised.  I  heard  one  gentleman  remark  here  this 
morning  that  America  was  perhaps  in  advance  in  temperance  work.  I 
wish  only  to  say,  speaking  simply  for  my  own  people,  that  the  Good 
Templars  of  the  world,  the  leaders  of  which  were  first  organised  in  New 
York,  and  whose  head-quarters  are  now  in  England,  are  doing  more 
effectual  temperance  work  among  our  people  than  all  the  other  temperance 
societies  combined. 

Mr.T.  Watson,  J.P.  (United  Methodist  Free  Churches),  said  :  I  think 
there  is  a  difficulty  in  attaching  the  temperance  movement  to  our  Church 
organisation.  That  difficulty  arises  fi'om  the  fact  that  we  are  not  all  of 
one  mind  as  to  the  use  of  alcoholic  drink  ;  and  I  have  no  doubt  that  this 
has  been  the  difficulty  all  along  the  line.  We  are  very  much  nearer  to 
settling  it  to-day  than  we  have  ever  been  before.  I  want  to  suggest  to 
the  Conference  that  we  should  have  more  sympathy  from  our  ministerial 
brethren,  our  local  preachers,  and  our  class-leaders,  and  our  stewards,  in 
reference  to  our  juvenile  temperance  movement.  If  ever  this  great 
temperance  movement  is  to  put  any  effective  check  upon  intemperance,  it 
must  be  carried  by  the  Church.  I  do  not  think  we  are  prepared  to  call  our 
Church  organisations  temperance  societies  unless  all  Church  members  have 
signed  the  temperance  pledge.  Of  all  temperance  organisations,  I  have 
the  greatest  faith  in  those  for  our  J^oung  people.  We  take  our  little  ones 
at  the  earliest  moment  and  impress  upon  them  the  truth.  I  hold  that  our 
temperance  movement  is  a  part  of  our  religion,  and  ought  to  be  attached 
to  the  teaching  of  moral  truth  when  we  are  teaching  Christianity  to  our 
juveniles.  Then  with  regard  to  smoking.  This  is  a  great  evil  in  our 
young  people.  Possibly  they  learned  it  from  their  fathers,  in  some  cases 
from  their  mothers  ;  in  other  cases  from  their  pastors.  John  Bright,  in 
one  of  his  speeches,  asked,  "  When  does  a  man  become  a  drunkard,  and  by 
what  cause  ?"  His  argument  was,  "  Is  it  the  first,  the  second,  the  third, 
the  fourtli,  the  fifth,  or  the  sixth  glass  ?"  and  he  said,  "  Do  not  take  the 
first,  and  you  will  not  take  the  second."  That  has  burned  itself  into  my 
very  self  on  this  temperance  question.  I  feel  very  strongly  on  this 
matter,  and  I  pray  God  to  give  us  some  plan  by  which  we  can  have  an 
organisation  that  will  bring  sympathy  from  every  part  of  the  Christian 
world. 

Rev.  a.  Wheeler,  D.  D.  (M.  E.  Church),  after  reading  the  con- 
clusion of  the  report  part  of  Avhich  Dr.  Edwards  read,  said :  I  will  add 
d.  few  remarks.  This,  so  far  as  I  understand  it,  is  the  united  testimony  of 
almost  all  the  Christian  Churches  of  America.  They  may  differ  and  do 
dift'er  in  other  regards,  but  upon  this  point  there  is  no  substantial  difference, 
and  I  know  no  reason  why  the  Methodism  of  America  may  not  act  as  a 
unit  upon  the  temperance  question,  and  taking  even  these  resolutions  as  a 
basis,  I  know  of  scarcely  any  reason  why  all  the  Evangelical  Churches  of 
America  cannot  stand  upon  the  same  platform.  So  far  as  I  know  they  do, 
and,  so  far  as  I  am  acquainted  with  their  efforts,  they  are  banding  them- 
selves to  the  accomplishment  of  this  great  design.  I  have  the  conviction, 
Avhich  has  become  well  settled  in  the  minds  of  many  nien  in  the  United 
States,  that  no  permanent,  no  radical  reform  can  be  accomplished  except 
tlnough  legislation.  The  same  arm  must  be  called  into  exercise  to  strike 
down  intemperance  as  is  asked  to  be  lifted  to  strike  down  other  crimes. 


EEV\    DR.    WALDEN's   ADDRESS.  231 

Intemperance  is  more  than  an  imprudence,  more  than  an  inexpediency, 
more  than  a  venial  wrong.  We  believe  it  ouojht  to  be  placed  in  the 
cates^ory  of  crimes  and  dealt  with  as  a  crime  by  the  same  power  that  deals 
witli  other  crimes.  There  is  another  conviction  that  rests  upon  the  minds 
of  American  temperance  men,  and  that  is  that  total  abstinence  is  the  safety 
of  adults,  but  especially  the  safety  of  the  yoimg  ;  and  whatever  may  be 
our  notions  with  regard  to  personal  liberty  and  personal  freedom  and  what 
the  Gospel  might  allow  us  to  do  under  certain  C(uiditions,  there  is  no 
difference  in  this  one  conviction  that  St.  Paul's  principle  of  expediency 
demands  total  abstinence  on  the  part  of  all  Christian  men,  and  especiallj' 
of  all  Christian  pastors,  in  public,  j)rivate,  everywhere,  and  always. 

Rev.  J.  jVIcH.  Farley  said  :  Whatever  our  differences  may  be  in  regard 
to  the  little  peculiarities  of  our  Churches,  upon  this  question  of  trying  to 
destroy  the  liquor  tratiic  amongst  the  ministers  and  people  I  hope  every 
member  of  this  Conference  will  stand  shoulder  to  shoulder.  Wliatever 
our  opinions  are  on  any  other  question,  let  us  stand  together  to  do  all  we 
can  to  disconnect  the  liquor  traffic  among  our  members  and  the  ministry. 
I  know  that  the  ministry  is  not  free  from  this.  I  come  from  old  Virginia, 
where  we  have  passed  resolution  after  resolution,  resolving  that  we  will  do 
this  and  that  to  do  away  with  the  liquor  traffic  ;  but  let  us  stand  together 
on  this  question,  and  let  it  be  laid  down  in  our  Methodist  discipline,  that 
we  expel  all  the  ministers  and  members  who  use  intoxicating  liquors. 

The  Conference  then  proceeded  to  the  consideration  of  the  question 
of  Civil  Measures  to  Suppress  Intemperance,  and  tlie  Relation  of  the 
Church  to  such  Movements. 

The  President  :  We  now  approach  a  subject  of  very  great  im- 
portance, and  I  am  prepared  to  express  my  opinion  that  the  voice  of 
the  Conference  will  have  great  weight  in  this  and  other  countries. 
I  think  that  one  of  the  most  precious  results  that  can  be  con- 
templated by  a  Conference  like  this  is  the  influence  which  its 
deliberations  and  decisions  may  have  upon  legislatures  and  legisla- 
tion. I  maintain  that  Christian  legislators  are  bound  to  help  us  in 
putting  down  not  merely  a  public  nuisance  but  a  public  fascination  ; 
an  attraction,  if  I  may  so  express  it,  leading  people  of  all  ranks, 
especially  the  destitute  classes  who  have  no  homes,  or  none  that  can 
deserve  the  title  of  homes,  to  ruin.  I  rejoice  that  so  large  a  body  of 
men  can  be  got  together  as  this  (Ecumenical  Conference  comprises 
to  pronounce  an  opinion  and  judgment  upon  this  subject. 

Rev.  J.  M.  Walden,  D.D.,  LL.D.  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church), 
then  read  the  following  essay  on  Civil  Measures  to  Suppress  Intemper- 
ance, and  the  Relatiun  of  the  Church  to  such  Movements. 

This  twofold  theme  brings  before  us  at  once  the  duty  of  the  State 
and  the  duty  of  the  Christian  Church  in  regard  to  temperance 
legislation.  I  shall  only  attempt  to  consider  the  questions  in  their 
relation  to  Great  Britain  and  America,  where  legislation  proceeds  from 


232  THE  lord's  day  and  temperance. 

the  people,  and  where  the  Churches  represented  in  this  Conference 
have  their  largest  numbers  and  form  an  influential  element  in  society. 
Beyond  these  obvious  reasons  for  this  limitation,  I  may  add  that  a 
recent  visit  to  France,  Germany,  and  other  Continental  countries  has 
convinced  me  that  the  conditions  are  so  different  there  that  the  limits 
of  this  paper  will  not  admit  of  their  proper  statement,  much  less  that 
careful  consideration  they  should  have  if  discussed  before  this  body. 

I  take  it  for  granted  that,  in  formulating  the  theme,  it  was  the  view 
of  the  committee  that  just  and  practicable  civil  measures  for  the 
suppression  of  intemperance  are  right  in  themselves  and  necessary 
to  the  welfare  of  society.  In  most  of  our  countries  laws  have  been 
enacted  to  secure  this  end,  or  to  work  toward  it.  Whether  effective 
or  not,  their  existence  proves  that  the  people  believe  such  civil 
measures  to  be  necessary,  I  am  sure  that  most  Methodists,  if  not 
all,  are  in  accord  with  this  public  sentiment.  This  general  assent 
to  the  rightfulness  and  necessity  of  such  measures,  which  relieves  me 
from  discussing  these  phases  of  the  subject,  marks,  in  a  significant 
way,  the  advance  already  made  by  the  temperance  reform,  and 
warrants  the  expectation  of  a  wider  and  more  raj)id  progress. 

The  necessity  of  civil  measures  for  the  suppression  of  intemperance 
being  conceded,  I  shall  speak  chiefly  of  their  proper  scope.  The 
purpose  of  temperance  legislation  is  to  relieve  society  from  the  evils 
of  intemperance.  This  relief  can  only  be  secured  by  removing  the  causes 
of  intemperance.  My  conviction  is  that  this  end  cannot  be  reached 
until  the  manufacture  and  sale  of  every  kind  of  intoxicating  liquor,  as 
a  beverage,  are  prohibited  by  law.  Whatever  be  the  relation  of  the 
drinking  usages  of  society  and  the  drinking  habits  of  individuals  to 
the  prevalence  of  intemperance  ;  whatever  be  the  influence  of  moral 
suasion  in  changing  those  usages  and  correcting  those  habits ;  no  com- 
munity. State,  or  nation  can  be  delivered  from  the  evils  of  intem- 
perance until  every  place  therein  for  the  sale  of  strong  drink,  whether 
distilled,  vinous,  or  malt  liquor,  be  closed  by  law  and  kept  closed.  I 
do  not  claim  that  all  drinking  would  cease  with  the  enactment  of  such 
law,  but  it  requires  no  argument  to  prove  that  the  prohibition  of  the 
liquor  traffic,  the  abolition  of  the  dram-shop,  would  bring  a  degree 
of  reUef  to  society  far,  very  far,  beyond  the  best  results  of  all 
other  measures  without  the  co-operation  of  such  law.  Hence  the 
question  of  first  importance  is.  Can  jjrohibition  be  reached  by  just 
laws?  I  have  time  only  to  consider  two  points  on  which  opinion 
divides,  the  rightfuhieas  and  the  2}racticabiHti/  of  this  measure.  From 
my  study  of  the  subject  I  conclude  that  in  Great  Britain  the  chief 
objection  urged  against  prohibition  is  that  it  is  not  a  rightful  form 
of  legislation,  because  it  would  abrogate  privileges  long  enjoyed  by 
individuals  and  classes  ;  while  in  the  United  States,  where  the  power 
of  the  legislative  bodies  is  determined  by  written  constitutions,  subject 
to  change,  the  c    ef  objection — the  objection  wliich  most  of  all  delays 


REV.    DR.    WALDEN's    ADDRESS.  23-3 

its  adoption — is  that  it  is  not  a  practicable  measure.  That  which  seems 
to  be  the  dominant  objection  in  the  British  mind,  that  prohibition 
■would  be  unjust,  arises  from  a  profound  respect  for  precedent,  a  senti- 
ment which  is  an  important  factor  in  English  society,  and  essential  to 
the  perpetuity  of  a  grand  system  of  government.  Shall  this  whole- 
some sentiment  perpetuate  the  liquor  traffic  ?  Already  there  are  Acts 
of  Parliament  intended  to  discourage  and  restrain  this  traffic,  enacted 
on  the  ground  that  such  legislation  is  required  by  the  welfare  of 
society.  Here  is  a  distinct  recognition  of  the  fact  that  the  welfare 
of  society  is  superior  to  the  immunities  of  a  class  ;  therefore,  if  the 
general  good  require  the  prohibition  of  the  liquor  traffic,  that  prohi- 
bition would  involve  no  princii^le  of  legislation  relating  to  the  immu- 
nities of  individuals  or  classes  which  have  not  already  been  acted  upon 
by  the  passage  of  the  Forbes-McKenzie,  and  other  Bills.  The  limita- 
tion and  abrogation  of  special  immunities  when  required  by  the  i^ublic 
weal  is  not  a  novel  thing  to  Englishmen  and  the  student  of  English 
history.  From  the  period  of  Magna  Charta  to  the  present  the  reforms 
which  make  that  history  glorious  have  been  based  on  the  principle  that 
the  prerogatives  of  the  few  are  subordinate  to  the  well-being  of  the 
many.  Legislation  by  those  who  represent  the  English  people  should 
be  in  the  interest  of  the  largest  number  of  that  people,  and  this  prin- 
ciple removes  the  most  serious  objection  to  the  prohibition  of  the  liquor 
traffic,  when  public  opinion  shall  ask  for,  and  be  ready  to  maintain, 
such  prohibition.  In  this  connection  it  is  important  to  note  that  pro- 
hibition is  to  be  reached,  not  by  revolution,  but  by  reform ;  not  through 
men's  prejudices,  but  their  judgment ;  not  through  political  manoeuvres, 
but  by  creating  a  public  opinion  in  its  favour,  a  radical  reform  by 
conservative  methods. 

Is  prohibition  a  practicable  measure  ?  If  enacted,  can  it  be  enforced? 
This  question  is  best  answered  by  the  facts.  Nearly  thirty  years  ago 
such  a  law  was  enacted  in  the  State  of  Maine.  The  only  modifications 
made  in  it  since  are  those  which  experience  showed  to  be  necessary  to 
its  efficiency.  The  testimony  of  the  leading  men  of  the  State  is  that  it 
has  been  of  incalculable  benefit ;  the  entire  moral  element  in  society 
would  resist  its  repeal ;  it  has  received  the  endorsement  of  the  leading 
political  parties,  and  no  party  dares  to  openly  antagonise  it.  The 
experiment  proves  that  prohibition  is  practicable  in  some  places.  The 
success  of  prohibition  in  Maine  is  no  insignificant  matter.  She  is  the 
largest  of  the  New  England  States ;  she  has  the  longest  shore-hne  of 
any  of  the  Atlantic  States ;  a  foreign  country  forms  the  boundary  on 
her  eastern  and  northern  sides  ;  on  her  west  is  a  sister  State  in  which 
the  traffic  is  tolerated :  notwitlistanding  the  fact  that  these  features  of 
her  position,  different  from  those  of  any  other  State  in  the  Union, 
expose  her  in  a  pecuUar  way  to  the  inroads  of  a  clandestine  traffic,  and 
notwithstanding  the  fact  that  large  cities,  busy  seaports,  manufacturing 
towns,  farming  districts,  and  lumbering  regions  give  great  diversity  to 


234       THE  lord's  day  and  temperance. 

the  character  of  her  population,  yet  a  prohibitory  law  has  been  so  snc- 
cessfully  administered  that  her  people  maintain  it  with  a  unanimity 
unprecedented  in  the  history  of  political  measures.  This  success  in 
Maine  does  not  warrant  the  presumption  that  prohibition  would  suc- 
ceed at  once  in  all  of  her  sister  states,  or  in  Great  Britain  and  her 
provinces,  but  it  does  prove  that  the  one  condition  of  its  success  may 
in  time  be  reached,  namely,  a  public  sentiment  which  shall  demand 
and  sustain  this  measure.  In  the  absence  of  that  public  sentiment,  all 
the  measures  of  Government  for  the  suppression  of  intemperance 
should  be  so  shaped  as  to  tend  constantly  toward  prohibition.  The 
stringency  of  existing  laws  should  at  least  keep  pace  with  the 
progress  of  temperance  sentiment  among  the  people.  There  is  no 
time  to  discuss  particular  public  movements,  but  I  will  say  that  all 
civil  measures  for  the  suppression  of  intemperance  which  indicate 
progress  in  the  direction  of  ultimate  prohibition,  such  as  Sunday  Closing 
Bills,  Local  Option  Bills,  and  kindred  enactments,  may  have  a  place, 
an  important  place,  in  the  solution  of  this  greatest  problem  of  govern- 
ment. 

What  is  the  relation  of  the  Church  to  such  movements  ?  that  is,  to  those 
movements  through  which  civil  measures  for  the  suppression  of  intem- 
perance shall  be  secured,  movements  through  which  a  favourable  public 
sentiment  shall  be  created,  that  favourable  public  sentiment  crys- 
tallised into  laws,  and  those  laws  promptly  and  impartially  enforced  ? 
These  movements  may  put  forward  the  distinct  issue  when  legislators 
are  to  be  chosen — may  originate  a  new  party  when  existing  ones  evade 
the  issue  ;  but  whatever  phase  they  may  from  time  to  time  assume,  to 
be  effective  they  can  only  be  the  exponent  of  public  sentiment.  The 
true  relation  of  the  Church  to  these  movements  is  not  of  a  neutral 
character— she  is  not  a  passive  observer  of  them.  Her  chief  purpose  is 
to  lead  sinners  to  the  Saviour,  and  help  saints  to  lead  a  holy  life  ;  but 
one  design  of  her  organic  existence  is  to  aid  in  elevating  and  purifying 
society.  The  moral  character  of  society  will  be  elevated  by  the 
legal  suppression  of  intemperance,  therefore  her  privilege  and  duty 
demand  more  than  good  wishes  and  a  moderate  desire  for  the  success 
of  movements  favourable  to  temperance  legislation.  The  consideration 
of  her  true  position  and  proper  course  of  action  will  be  relieved  from 
embarrassment  by  keeping  in  mind  the  fundamental  difference  existing 
between  the  creation  of  a  public  sentiment  by  appealing  to  the  judg- 
ment and  conscience,  and  the  incorporation  of  that  sentiment  into  law 
through  political  action.  The  Church,  as  such,  should  have  no  part  in 
political  action  as  such,  but  she  has  to  do  with  public  ox)inion  upon 
questions  which  affect  the  public  morals,  and,  to  the  extent  of  all  the 
influence  she  can  exert,  is  responsible  for  the  development  of  a  public 
sentiment  which,  operating  through  law  as  well  as  by  other  means,  will 
remove  public  evils.  Intemperance  inflicts  society  with  so  many  and 
so  great  evils,  that  it  is  plainly  the  duty  of  the  Church  to  use  every 


EEV.    DR.    WALDEN  .S    ADDRESS.  235 

means  to  create  a  public  sentiment  which  will  compel  the  enactment 
and  sustain  the  enforcement  of  civil  measures  for  its  suppression. 

Methodism  having  become  a  potential  factor  in  society,  the  place 
and  time  of  this  Conference  require  me  to  speak  specifically  of  her 
relation  to  public  movements  through  which  effective  temperance 
legislation  may  be  secured.  The  principles  already  stated,  which 
determine  the  position  and  duty  of  the  Christian  Church  in  regard 
to  civil  measures,  are  recognised  and  acted  upon  by  most,  if  not  all, 
Methodist  denominations.  Our  Articles  of  Religion  enjoin  loyalty  to 
Government,  which  implies  the  duty  to  favour  such  laws  and  adminis- 
tration as  entitle  Government  to  a  hearty  and  conscientious  loyalty. 
History  warrants  the  claim  that  much  of  the  temperance  sentiment  on 
both  sides  of  the  Atlantic  is  attributable  to  the  influence  of  Methodism. 
Mr.  Wesley  spoke  with  his  characteristic  force  and  precision  in  regard 
to  the  criminality  of  the  liquor  traffic  and  the  evils  of  intemperance. 
(See  Sermon  L.)  From  the  time  it  became  evident  that  intemperance 
could  not  be  suppressed  without  the  aid  of  civil  measures,  preachers 
and  laymen  in  different  Methodist  bodies  have  been  foremost  among 
the  zealous  advocates  of  such  measures.  With  gratitude  I  name  the 
fact,  that  the  preachers  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  by  action 
in  her  annual  conferences,  and  the  whole  Church — preachers  and  lay- 
men— by  the  action  of  her  General  Conference,  is  on  the  record  in 
strong,  unequivocal  language  in  favour  of  honest,  stringent,  prohibitory 
legislation.  Methodism  is  responsible  for  all  the  wholesome  influence 
she  can  possibly  exert  in  all  her  borders,  and  I  do  not  hesitate  to  say 
that  it  is  her  duty  to  raise  a  standard  in  favour  of  prohibition,  and 
employ  all  proper  means,  at  all  proper  times,  to  create  a  public  sen- 
timent which  shall  demand  increasingly  striaigeut  legislation,  until 
prohibition  be  the  law  of  every  land. 

How  can  Methodism  do  her  part  in  creating  this  public  sentiment  ? 
The  general  answer  is.  Take  and  maintain  an  unequivocal  position  in 
regard  to  civil  measures  for  the  suppression  of  intemperance — declare 
in  plain  terms  in  favour  of  reaching,  as  soon  as  practicable,  the  pro)  i- 
bition  of  the  sale,  yea,  and  the  manufactxire,  of  all  intoxicating  liquors 
except  for  mechanical  and  medical  purposes.  (It  is  not  admissible  to 
use  an  intoxicating  liquor  for  sacramental  purposes.)  Is  this  demand 
for  prohibition  radical  and  extreme  ?  Remember,  the  liquor  traffic 
leads  to  the  violation  of  every  Commandment  in  the  Decalogue. 
Under  the  influence  of  liquor  men  and  women  forget  God,  profane  His 
name,  and  desecrate  His  day  ;  dishonour  their  parents,  and  perjietrate 
every  other  interdicted  crime.  Mr.  Wesley  calls  sj)irituous  liquors 
"  Uquid  fire,"  and  those  who  sell  them  "i)oisoners  in  general."  He 
says,  "They  murder  his  Majesty's  subjects  by  wholesale,  neither 
does  their  eye  pity  or  spare.  They  drive  them  to  hell  like  sheep." 
(Sermon  L.)  Those  who  study  the  matter  will  learn  that  malt  liquors 
and  wines  in  our  countries,  because  of  their  pernicious  effects,  must 


236       THE  lord's  day  and  temperance. 

now  be  grouped  with  the  spirituous  liquors  whose  ravages  kindled 
Mr.  Wesley  with  a  holy  indignation.  With  his  words  ringing  out 
through  the  world-wide  parish  he  claimed  for  himself,  now  occupied  by 
his  spiritual  sons,  dare  the  Churches  which  honour  him  as  their 
founder  do  less  than  wage  the  battle  for  temperance,  to  which  they 
are  called  by  his  ringing  notes  ?  Should  not  the  pulpit  of  Methodism, 
which  .  he  emancipated,  be  out-spoken  ?  Should  not  the  press  of 
Methodism,  which  he  projected,  be  earnest  and  constant  in  its 
utterances  ?  Should  not  the  Sunday-schools  of  Methodism,  which 
flourished  as  spiritual  nurseries  because  of  his  early  care,  inculcate 
his  views  ?  Let  the  agencies  of  Methodism  be  employed  in  creating  a 
healthful  public  sentiment  in  accord  with  his  sentiments,  and  many 
in  this  Conference  will  Hve  to  see  the  convictions  of  the  people  in 
many  States,  if  not  nations,  wrought  into  laws  even  more  effective 
than  those  which  have  redeemed  Maine,  Iowa,  and  Kansas. 

The  practice  of  Methodists  should  be  a  constant,  uniform  protest 
against  the  use  of  all  forms  of  intoxicants,  mi].d  or  strong.  It 
is  an  honour  to  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  that  no  one  who 
is  known  to  indulge  in  the  use  of  intoxicants,  whether  distilled 
liquors,  ale,  beer,  or  wine,  can  maintain  his  standing  in  her 
ministry — (I  speak  of  this  Church  because  I  know  the  facts  in  her 
case) — there  is  not  a  society  in  her  Connexion  which  would  will- 
ingly receive  a  tippler,  wine-bibber,  or  moderate  drinker  as  a  pastor  ; 
the  sentiment  of  this  Church  demands  total  abstinence  on  the  part 
of  her  ministers,  and  her  ministers,  as  a  body,  are  in  hearty  accord 
with  this  sentiment.  Mr.  Arthur  stated  in  his  paper  that  homes  which 
first  received  the  itinerant  preacher  on  his  round  were  those  where  first 
liospitaHty  ceased  to  be  connected  with  intemperance.  Let  this  be 
the  record  of  all  Methodist  preachers.  Methodist  laymen  should  be  as 
temperate  as  Methodist  ministers,  and  whenever  opportunity  comes  to 
them  as  citizens,  their  oificial  action  and  their  votes  should  be  favour- 
able to  temperance.  Total  abstinence  should  prevail  in  Methodist 
homes.  These  are  sacred  social  sanctuaries  in  which  there  is  no  place 
for  any  of  the  drinking  usages  of  society  on  any  occasion,  public  or 
private.  This  sanctity  of  the  home  is  of  far  greater  importance  than 
social  drinking  customs.  The  course  of  Mrs.  President  Hayes  in  disre- 
garding the  precedents  of  the  White  House  that  her  sons  might  live  in 
a  temperance  home  is  an  exalted  example,  and  those  Methodist  wives 
and  mothers  who  follow  it  will  hallow  their  homes,  honour  Christ,  and 
send  forth  a  healthful  influence  into  the  community. 

WhUe  temperance  societies  may  not  give  great  permanency  to  their 
work,  yet  co-operation  with  these  movements  will  tend  to  hasten  pro- 
hibition, as  every  earnest  effort  to  save  the  drunkard  is  an  active 
protest  against  the  liquor  trafl&c. 

The  sum  of  the  whole  matter  is,  that  Methodists  can  best  affect 
public  sentiment  and  hasten  prohibition  by  being  true  to  Methodist 


MR.    WILLIAM   BECKWORTH'S   ADDRESS.  237 

history.  The  oldest  successful  temperance  society  in  Great  Britain 
was  formed  by  John  and  Charles  Wesley  ;  its  constitution  bears  the 
date  May  1,  1743,  and  its  members  pledged  themselves  to  avoid 
"Drunkenness,  buying  or  selling  spirituous  liquors,  or  drinking  them, 
unless  in  cases  of  extreme  necessity."  In  the  light  of  Mr.  Wesley's 
sermons  and  other  writings,  the  only  construction  to  be  given  to  this 
rule  is,  that  it  was  a  total  abstinence  pledge — that  it  was  Mr.  Wesley's 
purpose  to  inculcate  the  duty  and  encourage  the  practice  of  total 
abstinence.  The  General  Rules  are  the  symbols  of  Metliodist  practice 
as  much  as  the  Articles  of  Religion  are  the  symbols  of  Methodist  belief ; 
and  scrupulous  fidelity  to  the  rule  which,  fairly  interpreted,  inter- 
dicts the  use  of  all  intoxicating  liquors  as  a  beverage,  would  put 
Methodism  where  the  whole  Christian  Church  ought  to  be,  in  the 
forefront  of  the  movement,  whose  success  will  arrest  more  evil, 
alleviate  more  sorrow,  gladden  more  homes,  save  more  men  from  ruin, 
bless  more  wives,  mothers,  and  children  than  any  other  reform  ever 
projected  by  man. 

Mr.  Wm.  Beckworth  (Primitive  Methodist  Church),  in  delivering 
the  invited  address,  said  :  In  discussing  a  question  of  this  kind  I  think 
we  should  seek  a  ground  upon  which  we  can  all  agree,  and  I  take  it, 
after  what  has  passed  here  to-day,  we  shall  all  be  prepared  to  admit 
that  civil  methods  for  the  suppression  of  intemperance  are  not  only 
desirable,  but  absolutely  requisite.  Civil  measures,  whether  they  have 
been  already  applied,  or  only  as  yet  advocated,  seem  to  me  to  fall 
under  three  distinct  classes — penal  measures,  educational  measures, 
and  prohibitive  measures.  In  this  country  the  civil  power  has  rehed 
almost  exclusively  upon  penal  measures  for  dealing  with  this  great 
evil.  Drunkenness  is  declared  to  be  a  crime  punishable  by  fine  or 
imprisonment.  Such  measures  unquestionably  have  a  deterrent  effect 
to  a  certain  extent,  but  regarded  as  a  real  check  to  the  evil  they  are 
manifestly  inadequate,  partly  because  there  is  a  great  amount  of 
intemperance  which  is  not  oi^en,  and  a  large  amount  too  which  never 
reaches  the  actual  stage  of  intoxication  ;  and  they  are  inadequate 
partly  because  the  temptation  to  drink  prevails  over  all  fear  of 
consequences.  As  an  illustration  of  that  truth,  may  I  cite  a  case  in 
our  own  town  of  Leeds  ?  We  have  a  woman  who  has  been  convicted 
of  this  offence  no  less  than  one  hundred  and  forty  times,  and  on  each 
occasion  she  appears  to  be  penitent,  but  still  goes  on  repeating  the 
offence.  Educational  measures  are  of  a  different  character.  We  have 
in  our  public  elementary  schools  the  majority  of  children  between 
five  and  twelve  years  of  age.  I  am  glad  to  think  that  the  control  of 
these  public  elementary  schools  is  even  by  the  suffrages  of  the  i)eople  in 
the  hands  of  Christian  men.  Now,  an  enlightened  educational  policy 
is  seeking  to  give  not  only  the  ordinary  rudiments  of  education,  but 
some  knowledge  of  such  subjects  as  the  laws  of  health,  the  advantages 


238       THE  lord's  day  and  temperance. 

of  thrift,  aad  elementary  lessons  in  political  economy.  There  seems 
to  me  to  be  here  a  splendid  opportunity ;  for  measures  which  are 
taken  with  the  young,  though  they  may  be  slow  in  bearing  fruit,  are 
all  the  more  certain  and  satisfactory  in  their  ultimate  result.  Let 
there  be  taught  in  these  public  elementary  schools  in  connection 
with  such  subjects  as  I  have  indicated,  such  things  as  these  :  The 
effect  of  intoxicants  upon  the  brain  and  upon  the  body,  the  waste  of 
wealth  resulting  from  the  use  of  these  intoxicants,  the  advantages 
of  saving  this  wealth  both  to  the  individual  and  to  the  community. 
Let  these  subjects  be  taught,  not  perfunctorily,  but  systematically, 
and  the  lessons  thus  learned  will  last  them  a  lifetime,  and  produce 
greater  effect  in  sobriety  amongst  the  people  than  all  the  penal 
measures  which  have  hitherto  been  enforced.  Prohibitive  measures 
have  amongst  us,  for  the  most  part,  only  been  advocated,  not  applied 
to  an  actual  test.  In  discussing  them  there  are  many  considerations 
which  occur,  but  I  will  only  name  two.  One  is  that  there  is  a  con- 
elusive  evidence  afforded  us  by  experience  that  where  you  make  the 
sale  of  intoxicants  more  free,  and  the  more  you  multiply  the  places  for 
their  sale,  there  you  have  an  almost  precisely  proportionate  increase 
of  intemperance  ;  whereas,  if  you  restrict  the  sale  and  diminish  the 
number  of  houses,  you  proportionately  decrease  drunkenness.  The 
other  consideration  is  this ;  that  the  victims  of  this  vice  are  not  all  will- 
ingly such.  I  know  that  if  you  were  to  make  public-houses  few  in 
number,  there  would  be  a  great  many  people  who  would  still  resort  to 
them  for  indulgence,  and  there  would  be,  perhaps,  an  increase  of  private 
drinking ;  but  there  are  many  more  who  would  be  profoundly  grateful 
in  their  hearts  to  have  the  snare  which  now  besets  them  swej)t  out  of 
their  path.  Now  these  considerations,  amongst  others,  seem  to  me  to 
l^oint  to  prohibition,  either  partial  or  entire,  as  the  most  effective 
means  for  suppressing  intemperance ;  but  how  far  these  measures  of 
prohibition  or  restriction  can  be  carried  safely,  depends  altogether,  as 
it  seems  to  me,  upon  prevailing  pubhc  sentiment,  and  I  am  glad  to 
think  that  there  are  not  wanting  indications  amongst  us  in  this 
country  that  public  opinion  is  very  rapidly  growing  favourable  to  such 
measures  of  restriction  and  prohibition.  I  think  we  see  a  sign  of  it 
in  the  readiness  with  which  Sunday  closing  has  been  sought  and 
granted  in  Ireland  and  Wales ;  and,  but  for  matters  which  block  the 
way,  I  verily  believe  it  would  ere  this  have  extended  also  to  England. 
Now,  what  is  the  duty  of  a  Church — of  this  particular  Church,  our 
great  Methodist  Church — upon  this  question  ?  Well,  it  is  clear  to  my 
own  mind  that  penal  measures  should  be  upheld,  and  that  a  more 
vigorous  enforcement  should  be  called  for,  especially  against  those 
who  supply  the  intoxicant.  But  whilst  we  would  uphold  that  power, 
we  should  be  careful  not  to  wink  at  the  evil  within  our  own  com- 
munion; and  where  there  are  cases  occurring — which,  unhappily,  do 
occur — they  should  be  dealt  with  tirmly  and  faithfully.     Our   duty 


GENERAL   REMARKS.  239 

vnth  regard  to  this  great  movement,  which  is  daily  gathering  force  in 
favour  of  restriction  and  prohibition,  is  to  my  mind  equally  clear  — 
that  is,  that  we  should  give  it  our  sui^port.  I  know  that  an  En  ^hsh 
prelate,  from  his  place  in  the  House  of  Lords,  not  long  ago  declared 
that  he  would  rather  have  England  free  than  England  sober.  But 
that  is  not  the  alternative  which  is  j)resented  to  us.  Yet  I  think  that 
support,  simiDly  tacit  supfjort  of  this  great  movement,  does  not  reach 
the  limit  of  our  duty  as  a  Christian  Church  ;  I  think  it  extends,  also, 
to  earnest,  zealous,  active  advocacy  of  such  movements.  Legislation 
cannot  safely  outrun  public  sentiment ;  but  who  is  to  form  and  lead 
public  sentiment  on  a  subject  hke  this  ?  Who,  indeed,  but  the  Church, 
the  men  and  the  women  claiming  the  discipleship  of  the  Lord  Jesus, 
who  Himself  has  set  it  forth  as  the  first  sign  and  test  of  that  disciple- 
ship, that  we  should  deny  ourselves  for  the  sake  of  others  ? 

Rev.  W.  B.  Lark  (Bible  Christian  Churches)  :  I  agree  with  you,  Mr. 
President,  that  no  more  important  subject  has  been  before  this  Conference 
than  the  subject  that  is  now  under  discussion,  and   I  do  not  think  that 
there  is   any  debate  which  could   be  followed  with   greater  interest  by 
members  of  the  Methodist  Churches  and  the  outside  world  than  the  debate 
which  is  now  going  on.     In  advocating  civil  measures  for  putting  down 
intemperance,  I  take  my  stand  on  the  position  laid  down  by  Mr.  Gladstone 
— viz.,  that  it  is  the  duty  of  the  Government  to  make  it  diflicult  for  men 
to  go  wrong,  and  eimy  for  them  to  go  right.     Now,  I  contend  that  so  far 
as  our  present  legislation  on  this  question  goes,  it  is  difficult  for  large 
numbers  of  people  to  go  right,  and  very  easy  for  them  to  go  wrong.     I  am 
surprised  at  the  objections  which  are  raised  against  civil  measures  for  the 
putting  down   of  intenqjerance.     A  remark  has  been  quoted  which  was 
made  bj'  one  of  our  learned  bishops  in  the  House  of  Lords,  that  he  would 
rather  have  England  free  than  England   sober.     Sir,  we  shall  never  have 
England  free  until  England  is  sober — never !     We  are  told  that  we  are 
attempting  to  make  people  moral  by  Act  of  Parliament.     Well,  sir,  if  we 
can  make  people  moral  by  Act  of  Parliament,  why  not?     What  possible 
objection  can  there    be  to  that?      The  men  who  offer  the  objection,  I 
imagine,  have  no  faith  in  it  themselves,  for  the  objection,  if  you  carry  it 
out,  will  tell  against  all  legislation  that  bears  on  the  morals  of  the  com- 
munity.     We  might  just  as  well  throw  aside  all  legishition  for  putting- 
down  gambling-houses.     Besides,  do  we  not  call  in  the  arm  of  the  law  to 
shut  up  public-houses  during  the  hours  of  D.vine  service  on  the  Sabbath- 
day  ?     I  only  want  to  go  a  step  farther,  and  shut  them  up  through  all  the 
days  of  the  week.     The  truth  is  that  the  objection  really  has  no  weight ; 
and  if  we  are  to  admit  it,  it  is,  as  I  have  said,  an  objection  that  will  tell 
against  all  legislation  that  has  any  bearing  on  the  moi'als  of  the  connnunity. 
Then,  further,  we  are  told  that  such  legislation  would  inaugurate  a  great 
agitation  throughout  the  country.     I  hold  that  we  are  not  going  to  shrink 
from  such  an  agitation  ;  let  it  begin  when  it  will,  I  hope  that  as  Methodists 
we  are  prepared  to  take  our  part  in  that  agitation.     Whenever  it  may 
commence  I  hope  that  we  shall  do  so,  having  strong  faith  in  the  righteous- 
ness of  our  position  and  the  cause  which  we  advocate.     I  contend,  as  it 
regards  this  question,  that  the  sober  portions  of  the  community  are  taxed 
from  day  to  day  to  provide   means  for  the  terrible  results  of  this  liquor 
traffic  that  exists  in  our  midst ;    and  if  the  legislature  has  made  the  traffic, 
the  legislature  can  unmake  it.     We  liave,  I  think,  good  reason  to  go  to 
the  legislature  and  ask  it  to  give  the  people  the  power  to  close  the  public- 


240       THE  lord's  day  and  temperance. 

houses,  if  the  people  wish  to  have  the  pubhc-liouses  closed.  We  are  told 
that  these  houses  are  opened  and  licensed  for  the  benefit  of  the  community  ; 
and  where  is  the  injustice  of  allowing  the  community  to  say  if  they  need 
such  benefits  ?  I  deny  the  right  of  any  Government  to  license  any  public- 
house  to  tempt  my  children  from  the  path  of  virtue  and  righteousness. 

Mr.  Shepherd  Allen,  M.P.  :  Allusion  has  been  made  to  the  old- 
fashioned  expression  that  you  cannot  make  men  sober  by  Act  of  Parliament. 
Well,  if  we  cannot,  we  have  certainly  wasted  a  great  many  valuable  hours 
in  Parliament  in  trying  to  do  so.  But  there  is  no  question  that,  in  exact 
proportion  as  you  increase  facilities  for  drinking  you  will  increase  drunken- 
ness, and  that  as  you  diminish  the  facilities  for  drinking  you  will  lessen 
drunkenness.  Take  the  case  of  a  village  in  which  there  is  no  public- 
house  :  you  will  find  that  there  is  little  crime  and  no  need  for  a  policeman. 
But  if  you  put  a  public-house  there,  and  place  in  it  a  goodly  landlord— a 
jovial  fellow — and  a  landlady  of  similar  proportions,  j^ou  will  infallibly 
create  a  certain  number  of  drunkards  and  bring  into  the  till  of  the  publican 
some  of  the  money  which  ought  to  go  to  the  support  of  their  wives  and 
families.  Now,  the  question  is,  on  what  lines  legislation  ought  to  go.  I 
think,  first  and  foremost,  we  ought  to  demand  Sunday  closing  for  England. 
We  have  it  for  Scotland  and  we  have  it  for  Ireland,  and  we  know  that  it 
has  been  proved  to  be  a  great  blessing.  We  have  it  likewise  for  Wales, 
and  I  have  no  doubt  it  will  be  equally  beneficial  there.  Then  comes  the 
question  of  prohibition.  I,  for  one,  am  entirely  in  favour  of  prohibition. 
At  the  same  time  we  must  remember  that  in  a  great  constitutional  country 
like  this  we  must  legislate  in  accordance  with  public  opinion.  I  do  not 
think  that  public  o})inion  at  present  is  ripe  for  a  general  prohibitory  law, 
but  I  do  think  that  it  is  ripe  for  the  principle  of  local  option,  so  that  towns 
or  villages  where  they  are  ripe  for  closing  public-houses  may  have  the 
power  to  do  so.  Then  comes  the  duty  of  the  Christian  Church  in  reference 
to  this  great  question.  I  believe  every  individual  Christian  may  do  a  great 
deal  by  example.  I  confess  that  my  little  children  educated  me  on  this 
point.  When  I  looked  on  their  bright  and  happy  faces  I  felt  that  I  could 
not  place  wine  or  beer  or  spirits  before  them.  As  a  Church  we  should 
support  with  all  our  power  the  principle  of  local  option  :  we  should 
support  it  by  petitions,  we  should  support  it  by  influencing  those  who 
I'cpresent  us,  and  it  is  astonishing  how  amenable  to  influence  the  represen- 
tatives of  the  people  are  when  that  influence  is  judiciously  exercised. 
The  evil  is  so  great,  and  the  crime  and  the  misery  and  the  wretchedness 
caused  by  drink  are  so  terrible,  that  I,  for  one,  in  all  humility,  must  state 
my  opinion  that  it  is  the  duty  of  every  Christian  minister,  and  every 
Christian  man,  and  every  Christian  Church,  to  do  all  in  their  power  to  put  a 
stop  to  them. 

Rev.  Dr.  C.  H.  Payne  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church)  :  Undoubtedly,  we 
have  now  before  us  the  supreme  question  of  interest  which  this  Conference 
will  have  to  discuss  ;  the  whole  world  to-day  is  waiting  with  intense  in- 
terest to  hear  what  the  greatest  Church  of  Christendom  has  to  say  upon 
the  greatest  question  of  Christendom.  So  far  as  its  influence  upon  our- 
selves and  upon  our  Churches  is  concerned,  the  practical  effect  of  this 
discussion  will  be  more  felt,  I  apprehend,  than  that  of  any  other  discus- 
sion. Now,  Avhere  are  we,  and  what  can  we  say  and  do  in  respect  to  this 
all-important  subject  ?  I  believe  there  are  two  or  three  things  upon  which 
we  are  agreed.  I  think  we  are  all  agreed  that  if  we  could  lift  ourselves 
and  our  Churches  up  to  a  platform  of  absolute  total  abstinence  for  every 
minister  and  every  member  we  should  gain  a  great  deal.  If  this  be  the 
best  and  the  ideal  condition,  cannot  a  company  of  Methodists,  men  enjoying 
the  blessings  of  justification  and  sanctification,  and  with  abundant  supplies 
of  the  grace  of  God,  be  lifted  up  to  this  high  platform  ?     In  the  second 


GENERAL   REJIARKS.  241 

place,  I  think  we  all  agree  that  if  we  could  secure  prohibition  of  this 
accursed  drink  traffic  we  should  do  the  world  immense  good.  If  we  Cfiuld 
close  up  these  miserable  dens  in  your  great  city  of  London,  and  throughout 
England,  open  for  men,  women,  and  children,  and  if  we  could  do  it  in 
America,  what  a  benediction  would  come  to  humanity !  If  there  is  any- 
thing the  world,  the  flesh,  and  the  devil  hate  and  vilify  and  lie  about, 
it  is  prohibition  of  the  liquor  traffic.  Nearly  the  whole  secular  press  on 
both  sides  the  water  have  combined  to  bear  false  testimony  against  pro- 
hibition. They  falsify  concerning  it  ;  they  affirm  that  it  is  a  failure  when 
it  is  the  greatest  success  we  have  ever  had.  We  know  it  is  a  success 
across  the  water  wherever  it  has  had  anything  like  a  fair  chance,  and  if  we 
could  take  our  stand  here  to-day  and  let  the  word  go  out  all  over  the  world 
that  the  great  Methodist  OEcumenical  Conference  is  in  favour  of  prohibit- 
ing the  traffic  in  intoxicating  drinks,  it  would  lift  humanity  up  higher  than 
it  has  ever  yet  reached.  What  we  want  is  for  this  great  Conference,  all  of 
us,  hand  in  hand,  and  heart  beating  with  heart,  to  say  to  the  Church,  to 
say  to  the  world  everywhere,  "We  are  a  unit  hencefortli,  first  in  regard  to 
personal  total  abstinence  for  every  minister  and  every  member  of  the 
Methodist  Church  throughout  the  world  ;  and,  secondly,  we  pledge  our- 
selves to  labour  for  the  prohibition  of  this  traffic,  and  to  use  every  possible 
means  to  raise  our  people  up  to  this  standard.  God  give  us  grace  to  take 
this  stand  ! 

Mr.  R.  W.  Perks  (Wesleyan  Methodist)  :  I  have  often  felt  that  we,  as 
Methodist  people,  have  failed  to  use  the  wealth,  the  influence,  and  political 
power  of  the  Methodist  Church  in  the  fuicherance  of  those  matters  which 
aflEect  the  temporal  welfare  and  the  eternal  interest  of  the  people  of  this 
country.  In  this  we  have  somewhat  failed  to  catch  the  spirit  of  our  great 
founder,  John  Wesley.  In  this  meeting  I  need  give  no  other  illustration  of 
the  manner  in  which  Wesley  dealt  with  public  questions  aflEecting  the  welfare 
of  his  country  than  that  bold  and  trenchant  letter  which,  at  a  great  crisis 
in  our  history,  he  addressed  to  the  Premier  of  this  land,  in  which  the 
founder  of  the  United  Societies  foretold  the  formation  of  the  United  States, 
and  in  which  he  said  of  our  American  brethren  that  they  were  one  and  all 
enthusiasts — enthusiasts  for  liberty.  Sir,  reference  has  been  made  this 
moraing  to  one  of  our  episcopal  legislators  who  spoke  of  England  free 
and  England  sober  ;  but  if  a  free  England  means  a  gin-palace  at  every 
corner  of  the  broad  thoroughfares  of  this  city,  and  a  pawnbroker's  shop  at 
the  opposite  corner,  then  I  say  the  tune  has  come  for  us  to  throw  a  veil 
over  the  statue  of  liberty.  I  think  that  the  time  has  come  when  we  as  a 
Church  and  a  religious  people  must  concentrate  our  whole  efforts  upon  the 
total  suppression  of  the  great  traffic  in  drink.  I  am  not  so  foolish  and  so 
unwise  as  to  suppose  that  this  great  reform,  affecting  so  materially  tlie 
habits,  the  constitution,  and  laws  of  this  country,  is  to  be  accomplished  in 
a  few  hours — nothing  of  the  sort.  I  think  that  if  we  watch  carefully  our 
legislators,  if  we  watch  them,  not  simply  in  Parliament,  but  watch  thern 
when  they  come  to  us  to  solicit  our  votes,  we  shall  accomplish  a  great  deal 
in  this  direction.  There  is  one  useful  reform  I  should  be  glad  to  see 
immediately  effected.  I  think  when  we  see  little  children  carrying  jugs 
of  beer  from  the  public-houses,  we  shall  all  agree  that  it  ought  to  be  made 
penal  for  publicans  to  serve  drink  to  little  children. 

Mr.  S.  D.  Waddv  (Wesleyan  Methodist) :  I  am  called  upon  this  after- 
noon to  answer  some  challenge  with  regard  to  what  I  said  the  other  day. 
If  the  remarks  that  were  made  agreed  witli  mine  they  were  clearly  riglit, 
80  I  shall  not  touch  upon  them.  If  they  did  not  agree  with  mine  they 
were  entirely  out  of  order,  because  it  is  out  of  order  to  refer  to  a  speech 
on  a  previous  day — it  is  quite  unparliamentary,  and  I  never  answer  people 
vho  themselves  take  two  days  and  a  half  to  find  out  what  to  say.  _  With 

K 


242  THE  lord's  DAT  AND   TEMPERANCE. 

regard  to  the  question  of  legislation  as  to  temperance,  we  are  told  it  is  un- 
reasonable, because  you  cannot  make  people  moral,  &c.  People  forget 
that  you  have  legislation  already.  I  declare  I  would  rather  have  free 
trade  in  public-houses  than  have  things  as  they  are.  I  believe  in  that  case 
public-houses  would  not  pay,  and  as  a  result  there  would  be  precious  few 
of  them,  because  people  would  not  carry  them  on  from  philanthropic 
motives  very  long.  But  what  have  you  done  ?  The  present  system  of 
legislation  establishes  a  monopoly  to  just  such  an  extent  that  if  a  man 
does  get  a  license  it  raises  the  value  of  his  property  immensely,  and  makes 
it  usually  profitable  to  have  a  public-house.  Now,  stop  your  legislation 
altogether  if  you  are  going  on  principle.  But  we  do  not  object  to  legisla- 
tion ;  all  we  want  is,  some  legislation  that  is  good.  Further,  I  stand  here  to 
claim  Local  Option.  It  is  impossible  for  us  in  the  time  allowed  for  this 
debate  to  go  over  the"  ground  with  regard  to  Sunday  Closing  and  Local 
Option  ;  but  I  am  here  to  render  what  was  called  the  other  day  personal 
testimony.  You  talk  about  limiting  the  liberty  of  the  subject.  Let  me 
take  my  own  case.  I  lived  formerly  about  half  a  mile  from  the  chapel 
where  I  have  now  the  privilege  to  attend.  There  were  some  public-houses 
between  my  house  and  the  chapel,  and  it  was  practically  impossible  for  me 
to  get  my  wife  and  children  to  chapel  on  Sunday  without  having  almost  to 
push  and  elbow  our  way  through  a  crowd  of  people  who  were  half  drunk. 
The  language  we  had  to  listen  to,  and  the  inconvenience  we  sufEered,  were 
such  as  no  man  had  a  right  to  submit  me  to.  You  talk  about  securing 
freedom.  I  want  to  secure  freedom.  I  want  to  get  to  the  house  of  God 
in  freedom,  without  the  ears  of  my  wife  and  children  being  polluted  by 
filth  and  blasphemy,  and  I-  claim  that  as  a  free  man  in  a  free  country. 
But  it  may  be  said,  "  These  people  have  a  right  to  go  there  to  drink." 
I  deny  their  right  to  come  and  make  themselves  a  nuisance  where 
they  are  not  wanted.  I  firmly  believe  that  if  at  any  moment  the  whole 
district  had  been  polled  within  a  radius  of  a  quarter  of  a  mile,  you 
would  not  have  found  one  man  in  500  who  wanted  that  public-house 
kept  open.  But  there  they  were  "  for  the  benefit  of  other  people,"  and 
there  were  Dick,  Tom,  and  Harry  drinking  together,  coming  from  all 
parts  of  London  to  stop  me  and  my  family  from  going  in  peace  to 
chapel  on  Sunday.  I  say  they  have  no  right  to  infringe  on  the  liberty 
of  Englishmen,  and  I  won't  allow  you,  sir,  to  infringe  on  my  liberty  by 
ringing  that  bell. 

Rev.  Dr.  A.  Sutherland  (Methodist  Church  of  Canada)  :  We  seem  to 
be  very  thoroughly  agreed  that  there  are  just  two  ways  of  dealing  with 
this  gi-eat  question — moral  suasion  and  legislative  enactment  ;  and  I  think 
we  are  pretty  well  agreed  that  the  best  plan  we  can  adopt  is  to  combine 
both  of  these  methods,  using  moral  suasion  with  those  classes  that  it 
will  reach  and  influence,  and  at  the  same  time  pressing  steadily  for  legisla- 
tive prohibition  of  the  entire  traflic.  This  virtual  unity  of  sentiment  upon 
this  question  marks  the  enormous  progress  that  has  been  made  within 
even  the  last  twenty  years.  I  suppose  that  twenty  years  ago  we  could 
not  have  secured  anything  like  the  same  unity  of  sentiment  upon  this 
question  as  we  have  here  to-day.  There  was  a  time  when  many  persons 
said,  "  You  must  not  prohibit  the  traffic,  you  must  try  to  regulate  it  ;"  but 
the  experiments  made  in  this  direction  have  only  served  to  demonstrate 
that  you  might  just  as  well  try  to  regulate  "  the  pestilence  that  walketh  in 
darkness  "  as  to  regulate  this  '"'destruction  that  wasteth  at  noon-day."  _We 
have  had  some  experience  on  this  matter  in  my  own  country,  which  is  a- 
very  young  one  yet.  We  tried  moral  suasion  for  a  considerable  length  of 
time,  and  we  thought  we  had  good  warrant  for  it,  too  ;  for  we  had  read 
that  if  only  an  ox  or  an  ass  should  fall  into  a  pit  we  were  to  pull  him  out 
even  on  the  Sabbath-day.     But  after  trying  this  thing  awhile,  we  woke  up 


GENERAL   REMARKS.  243 

to  the  fact  that  the  ox  and  the  ass  had  got  into  a  habit  of  falling  into 
the  pit  every  Sabbath-day  and  every  other  day  besides,  and  we  were  likely 
to  spend  all  our  time  in  tlie  vain  task  of  pulling  them  out  of  the  pit  only 
to  see  them  fall  in  again.  Then  somebody  suggested  whether  it  would 
not,  to  say  the  least  of  it,  be  cheaper  either  to  sell  the  ass,  or  else  fill  up 
the  pit.  In  this  case  we  could  not  very  well  sell  the  ass,  for  he  was  a  man 
and  a  brother,  so  we  thought  we  would  try  to  fill  up  the  pit.  But  we  kept 
this  fact  steadily  in  view,  that  it  would  be  of  very  little  use  to  secure  a 
measure  prohibiting  either  the  manufacture  or  sale  of  intoxicating  liquors 
unless  it  was  sustained  by  a  strong,  healthy  public  sentiment  ;  and  so,  after 
experimenting  in  various  directions  for  a  length  of  time,  we  at  last  secured 
one  of  the  best  Local  Option  measures  that  is  to  be  found  on  any  statute- 
book  to-day,  so  that  any  incorporated  village,  or  town,  or  city,  or  county, 
has  the  option  of  suppressing  entirely  the  traffic  of  intoxicating  drinks 
within  its  boundaries.  It  is  but  lately  that  this  measure  has  been  secured, 
and  it  is  only  in  a  limited  number  of  municipalities  that  it  has  .been  put 
into  operation.  The  results,  however,  have  been  such  as  to  encourage  very 
greatly  the  advocates  of  the  measure,  and  we  think  we  see  our  way 
clearly,  at  no  distant  day,  to  the  entire  abolition  of  the  traffic.  I  am  glad 
that  one  point  has  been  presented  here  to-day  and  emphasised  a  little, 
namely,  that  the  principle  of  prohibition  is  conceded  already  in  almost 
every  civilised  nation.  It  is  conceded  in  the  existing  license  system,  for 
if  one  man  in  a  hundred  can  have  a  license  to  sell  intoxicating  drink,  and 
the  other  ninety  and  nine  are  prohibited  from  doing  so,  we  may  take  the 
ground  that  the  power  that  can  prohibit  the  ninety  and  nine  can  prohibit 
the  other  one  also.  And  so  with  reference  to  another  point — I  refer  to  the 
Sunday  closing  law.  I  am  glad  to  find  it  is  in  operation  in  Scotland, 
in  Ireland,  and  in  Wales,  and  you  will  have  it  in  England  very  shortly  as 
another  step  in  advancement  of  this  cause.  We  contend,  again,  that  the 
authority  which  can  prohibit  the  sale  of  intoxicants  on  one  day  of  the 
seven  can  proliibit  it  on  all  the  other  six.  We  have  heard  a  good  deal 
about  the  rights  of  property  and  the  dutj'  of  protecting  vested  interests, 
but  we  want  something  that  will  protect  the  millions  of  innocent  persons 
who  suttVr  from  this  gigantic  sum  of  all  villanies — the  greatest  since 
slavery  was  abolished. 

Hon.  Oliver  H.  Horton  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church) :  Ipiave  the  pleasure 
and  pride  in  many  respects  to  hail  from  a  city  (Chicago)  where,  though 
public  sentiment  would  not  maintain  or  sustain  absolute  prohibition,  yet  in 
that  city  the  minor  is  protected,  and,  singular  as  it  may  seem,  the  saloon- 
keepers join  to  assist  those  of  the  League  for  the  protection  of  the  minors. 
Let  that  be  done  for  one  generation,  and  then  where  is  the  occupation  of 
the  saloon-keepers  gone  ?  Public  sentiment  is  not  sufficiently  advanced 
for  prohil)ition,  but  it  protects  the  young  under  twenty-one  years  of  age. 
Let  that  be  done  effectually  and  twenty-one  years  from  now  you  will 
need  no  prohibition.  This,  too,  has  been  done  in  a  city  where  the  women 
have  proceeded  to  the  legislature  with  a  petition  so  long,  that  I  dare  not 
mention  its  length,  and  could  not  get  prohibition  ;  yet  all  through  that 
State  public  sentiment  executes  the  law  that  will  protect  the  children. 
Can  this  not  be  done  everywhere,  even  though  you  may  not  have  prohibi- 
tion ?  Further,  sir,  I  do  not  know  how  it  may  be  here,  but  may  there  not 
be  in  all  places  a  law,  as  in  our  State,  that  holds  the  man  who  sells  the 
poison,  or  owns  the  property  where  it  is  sold,  responsible  for  the  damage 
done  by  his  selling  ?  That  is  practicable.  You,  1  doubt  not,  will  hold  the 
druggist  responsible  that  sells  the  poison  ;  why  not  hold  him  responsible, 
call  liim  whatever  name  you  please,  that  sells  poison  ?  Do  it,  sir,  and  the 
men  that  own  the  property'  will  be  careful  how  they  place  in  the  hands  of, 
perhaps,  an  irresponsible  party  the  power  to  place  a  lien  upon  their  property 

r2 


244         THE  LORDS  DAY  AND  TEMPERANCE. 

for  the  damage  done.  Let  these  things  be  done  and  prohibition  will  come ; 
it  will  take  care  of  itself. 

Mr.  J.  H.  SwANTON  (Irish  Methodist  Church)  :  I  have  but  one  or  two 
words  to  say  upon  this  question.  I  happen  to  be  President  of  the  Band  of 
Hope  Union  in  Ireland,  which  has  been  referred  to  as  having  succeeded  in 
obtaining  Sunday  closing,  but  we  have  only  been  able  to  obtain  it  for  four 
years  ;  it  will  expire  in  about  eighteen  months,  so  that  we  must  have  a 
renewal  of  the  Bill  next  s^^ssion.  I  got  a  letter  this  morning  from  Dublin 
to  say  that  there  will  be  meetings  held  in  the  month  of  November  in  order 
to  petition  Parliament  to  renew  the  Sunday  Closing  Bill  in  Ireland  ;  but 
the  success  of  that  Bill  has  been  so  great  that  there  will  be  no  difficulty 
whatever  in  renewing  it.  There  is  one  fact  which,  perhaps,  may  have 
escaped  Members  of  Parliament  representing  English  counties  and  boroughs, 
and  that  is,  in  the  Land  Bill  there  is  a  clause  which  gives  the  power  of 
Local  Option  to  every  landlord.  Now  there  are  600,000  tenants  in  Ireland, 
and  the  landlords  have  the  power  of  stopping  a  public-house  on  any  part 
of  their  property.  That  is  a  most  extraordinary  fact,  and  I  do  not  think  it 
is  known  by  the  friends  of  Local  Option  in  Ireland  or  in  this  meeting.  It 
must  have  been  introduced  by  those  in  favour  of  Local  Option— perhaps 
Mr.  Gladstone  himself  was  spoken  to  about  it — and  if  that  was  the  fact  it 
would  be  a  very  cheeiing  one.  There  is  another  point :  we  have  a 
Temperance  Association  in  Dublin  and  in  several  parts  of  Ireland.  I  had 
the  honour  of  being  called,  a  few  months  ago,  to  take  the  chair  at  one  of 
its  meetings,  and  it  was  astonishing  to  hear  the  report  given  at  that 
meeting  by  the  secretary.  It  appears  that  a  number  of  ladies  wbo  have 
banded  together  have  decided  to  put  no  sort  of  intoxicating  drinks  on  their 
tables,  and  I  know  this  has  had  a  very  good  effect.  I  only  wish  some  of 
the  ladies  of  London  and  England  would  adopt  the  same  principle. 

Rev.  J.  W.  McDonald,  D.  D.  (M.  E.  Church) :  In  my  State  an  active 
campaign  is  going  on  preparatory  to  a  vote  upon  a  proposed  constitutional 
amendment  to  prohibit  traffic  in  intoxicating  liquors.  In  advocating  pro- 
hibition we  are  met  with  four  special  objections.  It  is  often  objected  that 
this  matter  ought  to  be  treated  from  the  moral  standpoint,  and  that  moral 
suasion  is  the  principle  to  act  upon,  as  if  in  seeking  for  prohibition  we 
denied  that,  or  proposed  to  neglect  moral  agencies.  We  emphasise  moral 
suasion  ;  but  we  want  prohibition  to  ass'  t  us  in  this  great  work.  We  feel 
that  licensing  with  one  hand  and  trying  to  persuade  morallj^  with  another 
is  like  trying  to  build  on  a  quicksand.  A  second  objection  is  that  we  can- 
not make  men  good  by  law.  That  is  true,  but  we  do  and  can  prevent  men 
from  exhibiting  their  impurity  and  dealing  in  a  public  way  with  impure 
literature  and  kindred  vices.  It  is  objected,  also,  that  prohibition  is  a 
failure  ;  but  that  goes  upon  the  assumption  that  prohibition  is  an  old 
method  long  tried  and  found  to  be  a  failure,  and  that  the  licensing  system 
is  a  new  method  promising  success.  That  is  the  reverse  of  history.  The 
licensing  system  is  the  old  and  oft-exploded  method,  while  prohibition  is 
the  new  and  promising  and  hopeful  method  of  dealing  with  this  question. 
It  is  asserted  also  that  we  are  interfering  with  personal  rights.  No  member 
of  society  has  a  personal  right  to  engage  in  a  traffic  that  injures  society. 
He  has  a  right  to  control  himself  in  his  own  way  as  to  his  own  habits,  but 
when  he  comes  before  the  public  to  engage  in  business,  he  has  no  right 
personally  or  otherwise  to  engage  in  a  traffic  that  injures  societj\  The 
aggregate  interests  of  society  are  paramount  to  individual  business,  there- 
fore we  say  this  traffic  ought  to  be  prohibited.  But  I  want  to  call  attention 
to  another  fact.  The  licensing  of  this  great  traffic,  which  involves  vast 
capital  and  a  vast  number  of  men,  arrays  them  against  the  sobriety  of  the 
people  and  against  the  teaching  of  temperance  principles  to  the  children. 
Their  money  is  at  stake  ;  their  business  success  is  at  stake  ;  their  reputation 


GENERAL   REMARKS.  245 

as  business  men  is  at  stake  ;  because  if  they  do  not  make  recniits,  and 
rapid  recruits,  from  those  who  have  not  ah-ead}'  formed  habits  of  intem- 
perance, they  will  soon  find  their  business  fail.  If  we  could  prevent 
children,  for  a  decade  of  years,  indulging  in  the  drinking  of  intoxicating 
liquors,  the  business  of  those  engaged  in  the  liquor  traffic  would  go  by  the 
board.  Therefore  all  their  interests  lead  them  to  oppose  every  measure 
and  principle  that  prevent  children  and  youth  from  beginning  the  habit  of 
drinking  liquors,  and  they  counteract  the  teaching  of  the  Home,  the  Sunday- 
school,  and  the  Church  in  every  way  they  possibly  can.  They  are  deter- 
mined that  the  doctrine  of  total  abstinence  shall  not  succeed,  because  their 
wliole  interests  are  thus  imperilled.  Mothers  complain  of  these  men  who 
with  their  money  and  their  social  strength  endeavour  to  break  down 
the  teaching  given  to  the  children.  They  open  their  saloons,  and  in  every 
method  possible  tempt  the  children  and  mislead  them  while  they  are  in 
their  tender  years,  when  they  cannot  judge  correctly  as  to  right  principles 
taught  them  at  home  and  at  school.  They  are  working  in  this  way 
continually  to  break  down  these  barriers  ;  and  by  licensing  this  system  we 
are  licensing  a  great  traffic  whose  success  and  whose  highest  interests  are 
in  direct  antagonism  to  the  principles  of  temperance. 

Alderman  Charlton  (Primitive  Methodist),  who  was  very  indistinctly 
heard,  was  understood  to  say  that  several  speakers  had  gone  upon  the 
principle  that  public  opinion  was  not  prepared  for  prohibition.  As  an 
advocate  for  the  last  forty-six  years  of  temperance  principles  in  the  North 
Country,  he  was  prepared  to  say  they  were  quite  as  ready  for  prohibition 
as  they  were  for  Sunday  closing.  An  agitation  that  would  get  Sunday 
closing  would  get  the  whole  thing  ;  and  if  it  went  forth  from  the  Confer- 
ence that  they  were  all  agreed,  as  one  man,  upon  prohibition,  no  Government 
that  the  country  ever  had  could  resist  the  public  sentiment  of  the  religious 
and  intelligent  people  of  the  country.  The  great  thing  was  to  have  unity 
amongst  themselves,  and  it  behoved  them  as  Methodists  to  determine  to 
get  one  of  the  greatest  obstacles  to  their  religious  progress  out  of  the  way. 

Rev.  David  Hill  (Wesleyan  Mission,  China)  :  I  have  been  somewhat 
surprised  to  find  this  afternoon  that  the  most  widespread  form  of  intem- 
perance in  the  world  has  not  been  touched  upon  in  this  meeting — the  form 
of  intemperance  with  which  the  British  Government  is  even  more  deeply 
implicated  than  with  the  liquor  traffic.  I  refer  to  the  opium  traffic,  the 
monopoly  and  the  growth  of  which  in  India  is  in  the  hands  of  the  British 
Government.  Having  spent  several  years  of  my  life  in  China,  and  having 
had  to  face  the  difficulty  which  a  Christian  missionary  has  to  meet  with 
every  day  of  his  life  in  prosecuting  his  labours  there,  I  should  be  recreant 
to  duty  if  I  did  not  say  a  word  or  two  on  this  subject.  The  injury  which 
is  being  inflicted  by  the  opium  traffic  in  China  is  simply  unspeakable  ;  its 
victims  are  not  numbered  by  thousands  but  by  millions.  In  one  of  the 
cities  in  which  I  resided,  some  seventy  or  eighty  per  cent,  of  the  adult 
population  were  addicted  to  this  vice.  Throughout  the  whole  of  the 
country  it  is  said  that  there  are  twenty  or  thirty  per  cent,  of  the  people 
given  over  to  this  evil.  It  may  not  be  generally  known  to  the  members  of 
this  Conference  that  opium  is  grown,  prepared,  and  sold  by  the  British 
Government  ;  it  is  then  passed  over  into  the  hands  of  British  merchants 
and  sold  to  the  Chinese  ;  the  Chinese  nation,  not  having  within  it  moral 
force  sufficient  to  resist  the  temptation,  has  allowed  the  evil  to  spread. 
But  while  the  evil  is  spreading  (and  opium  is,  I  regret  to  saj^,  being  used 
more  widely  than  ever  throughout  China),  there  are  amongst  the  officials 
in  that  country  several  in  high  places  who  would  use  every  moans  in  their 
power  to  assist  in  the  prohibition  of  the  traffic  amongst  their  own  people. 
With  these  facts  before  us  I  trust  that  this  Conference  will  give  forth  no 
uncertain   sound  in  reference  to  this  matter.     It  would  be   one   of  the 


2-i6      THE  lord's  day  and  temperance. 

greatest  aids  to  our  missionary  work  in  China  if  the  Conference  would 
express  itself  most  clearly  on  this  subject,  and  would  urge  upon  our 
friends  throughout  England  especially  to  take  the  matter  up  and  place  it 
fairly  before  both  their  Parliamentary  candidates  and  the  religious  public. 

The  President  :  I  did  not  interrupt  my  friend,  Mr.  Hill,  because  there 
is  an  opium  intemperance  growing  and  spreading  in  England,  the  returns 
and  details  of  which  would  astonish  many  of  our  frieu""!*  on  +he  other  side 
of  the  wal  r.  But  with  reference  to  the  action  of  the  Govoi-ument  on  the 
opium  traffic,  it  is  proposed  that  a  resolution  shall  be  introduced  to  the 
Conference,  and  when  that  is  done  I  hope  the  Conference  will  speak  out 
with  no  uncertain  sound. 

Rev.  T.  B.  Stephenson,  LL.D.,  suggested  that  a  resolution  should  be 
drawn  up  on  the  subject  to  be  passed  by  the  Conference. 

The  President  said  the  most  orderly  way  would  be  for  Mr.  Stephenson 
to  draw  up  such  a  resolution  and  send  it  to  the  Business  Committee. 

Mr.  Stephenson  then  gave  notice  that  he  would  do  so. 


Rev.  J.  Bond  reported  from  the  Business  Committee,  in  reply  to 
the  inquiry  submitted  by  Bishop  Peck,  that  in  the  special  case  of 
Dr.  Curry,  his  paper  may  be  read  by  his  substitute,  but  it  must  not 
be  regarded  as  a  precedent.  With  reference  to  the  proposal  for  a 
united  Pastoral  Address  from  the  Conference  to  the  Methodist 
world,  the  Committee  brought  it  before  the  Conference,  with  the 
suggestion  that  four  persons  constitute  the  committee  to  draw  up 
such  address — namely,  a  representative  from  each  general  division 
of  the  Conference ;  and  that  those  gentlemen  be  the  Rev.  Bishop 
Peck,  Rev.  Wm.  Arthur,  Rev.  A.  W.  Nicolson,  and  the  Rev.  C.  C. 
M'Kechnie. 

The  report  was  agreed  to,  and  the  proceedings  closed  with  the 
Benediction. 


SIXTH  DAY,  Tuesday,  Septemher  13th, 


Pre»ident~JilsuoP  H.  N.  M-Tyeiee,  D.D.,  Methodist  Episcojjal  Church,  Sauth. 


Subject  : 
POSSIBLE  PERILS  OF  METHODISM. 


rpHE  CONFERENCE  resumed  this  morning  at  Ten  o'clock;  the 
-^  Rev.  Bishop  M'Tyeire  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South) 
presided,  and  led  the  Devotional  Service. 

The  minutes  of  Monday's  session  were  read  and  confirmed. 

Rev.  J.  Bond  (Secretary)  read  the  report  of  the  Business  Com- 
mittee, which  stated  that  the  discussion  of  the  resolution  relating 
to  Sunday  Closing  was  the  first  in  order. 

Ekv.  J.  Travis  (Primitive  Methodist)  proposed— "  That  this  Conference 
gratefully  recognises  the  good  which  has  resulted  from  the  prohibition  of 
the  common  sale  of  intoxicating  liquors  on  the  Lord's  Day  in  Scotland  and 
in  Ireland  ;  and  congratulates  the  inhabitants  of  Wales  on  their  recent 
success  in  obtaining  a  Sunday  Closing  Act  for  the  Principality  ;  and  also 
would  respectfully  urge  the  Methodist  people  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland 
not  to  relax  their  efforts  until  the  Lord's  Day  ceases  to  be  desecrated  by 
the  opening  of  public-houses  in  any  part  of  the  United  Kingdom."  He 
said  :  If  we  were  on  a  political  platform  I  should  ask  for  Sunday  closing 
on  the  ground  that  the  Sunday  liquor  traffic  of  England  is  a  political 
injustice.  It  is  unjust  that  the  law  should  permit  the  publican  to  carry  on 
his  business  on  the  Sabbath-day,  while  all  other  persons  throughout  the 
country  are  prohibited,  and  it  is  unjust  that  the  law  should  compel  a 
publican  to  open  his  house  on  the  Sabbath,  and  deprive  him  and  his  family 
and  servants  of  their  weekly  Sabbath.  And  if  I  were  on  a  political  plat- 
form I  should  ask  for  it  on  the  ground  of  expediency.  It  would  be  no 
difficult  matter  to  show  that  the  closing  of  the  public-houses  on  the  Lord's 
Day  would  be  a  gain  to  commerce,  to  social  comfort,  to  national  morality, 
and  to  religion.  But  we  are  here  as  representatives  of  Christian  Churches 
and  if  I  thought  it  necessary  to  discuss  the  question  in  an  assembly  of  this 
kind,  I  should  argue  that  the  Sunday  liquor  traffic  as  at  present  conducted 
is  antagonistic  to  every  Divine  and  Christian  purpose  of  the  Christian 
Sabbath,  and  that  it  is  an  outrage  on  the  sanctity  of  the  Christian  Sabbath. 
But  I  do  not  feel  it  necessary  to  argue  the  question  in  an  assembly  of 
Methodists.  In  some  religious  assemblies  an  objection  would  be  taken  to 
closing  pubhc-houses  on  the  Lord's  Day  on  the  ground  that  the  Christian 


248  POSSIBLE   PERILS   OF  METHODISM, 

Sabbath  cannot  be  properly  enjoyed  without  fresh  beer  for  dinner  and 
supper.  If  I  were  addressing-  an  assembly  of  that  kind  I  would  remind 
them,  as  the  Archbishop  of  York  at  Manchester  some  time  ago  reminded 
another  assembly,  that  in  this  nineteenth  century  bottles  are  manufactured 
in  England  in  which  beer  can  be  corked  up  and  kept  fresh  for  Sunday, 
provided  the  temptation  to  consume  it  on  the  Saturday  night  does  not 
prove  irresistible.  But  I  believe  we  are  all  agreed  on  the  question  of 
closing  public-houses  on  the  Lord's  Day.  We  are  grateful  to  recognise 
the  good  resulting  from  Sunday  closing.  It  has  been  tried,  I  understand, 
in  the  Western  world,  and  has  proved  successful ;  and  it  has  been  tried  in 
some  British  colonies,  and  proved  successful.  It  has  been  tried  for  more  than 
a  quarter  of  a  century  in  Scotland,  and  the  result  has  been  that  in  the  ten 
years  succeeding  the  passing  of  the  Forbes-Mackenzie  Act  there  were  forty 
million  gallons  of  spirits  less  consumed  than  in  the  ten  years  that  preceded 
the  passing  of  that  Act ;  so  that  it  does  not  seem  that  the  passing  of  the 
Sunday  Closing  Act  will  increase  private  drunkenness.  And  then  Sunday 
drunkenness  has  decreased  in  Scotland.  Just  before  the  passing  of  the 
Forbes-Mackenzie  Act  a  vote  was  obtained  to  enlarge  the  Edinburgh  Gaol, 
but  after  the  passing  of  the  Act,  it  was  found  that  the  gaol  was  large 
enough,  and  I  suppose  it  has  not  been  enlarged  to  this  hour.  The  benefits 
of  Sunday  closing  in  Ireland  are  so  manifest  that  Mr.  Forster,  the  Secretary 
of  State  for  Ireland,  some  months  ago  told  a  deputation  that  when  the 
question  of  the  Irish  Sund9,y  Closing  Act  came  up  for  reconsideration, 
the  probability  was  that  it  would  be  extended  to  the  whole  of  Ireland — that 
the  five  large  towns  exempt  from  the  provisions  of  the  present  Act  would 
be  brought  under  the  operation  of  the  new  Act.  And  we  congratulate  our 
Welsh  friends.  They  entered  into  a  partnership  with  the  English  people 
to  secure  a  Sunday  Closing  Act,  but  we  went  so  slowly  that  they  dissolved 
partnership,  and  I  think  wisely  so  ;  with  an  earnestness  that  could  not  be 
resisted  demanded  a  Sunday  Closing  Act  for  themselves  ;  and  I  thank  God 
they  have  obtained  it.  Now  we  are  moving  on  in  England  slowly  but 
surely,  and  if  we  do  not  retreat,  the  victory  is  not  far  distant.  I  feel  sure 
Methodists  will  take  part  in  this  struggle.  I  should  like  a  united  petition 
to  go  from  all  the  Methodist  Churches  to  the  next  session  of  Parliament, 
and  I  feel  quite  sure  that  we  could  secure  500,000  signatures  to  it,  and  if 
that  were  presented  at  the  commencement  of  the  next  session,  there  would 
be  a  Sunday  Closing  Bill  for  England. 

Rev.  J.  Slater  (Primitive  Methodist)  said  there  was  in  this  city  a  public- 
house  in  which  the  following  rules  were  posted  up  :  ''  No  person  served  a 
second  time.  No  person  served  in  the  least  intoxicated.  No  improper  lan- 
guage allowed.  When  you  enter  a  place  of  business,  transact  your  business, 
and  go  about  your  business  ;  "  and  last,  though  not  least,  "  Closed  all  day  on 
Sunday."  I  am  not  sure  whether  such  a  place  and  such  rules  exist  now,  but  I 
am  quite  sure  that  such  rules  ought  to  exist  and  ought  to  be  observed  in  all 
the  public-houses  and  beer-houses  of  this  land.  I  submit  that  the  Sunday 
liquor  law  is  entirely  unnecessary.  Beer  will  keep  ;  and  a  man  can  do 
without  it  for  at  least  one  day.  I  am  not  a  rich  man,  but  I  am  rich  enough 
to  redeem  all  the  promises  I  make  liere  to-day,  and  that  is  more  than  can 
be  said  of  Members  of  Parliament  in  connection  with  contested  elections. 
I  am  prepared  to  maintain  all  the  orphans  and  widows  of  the  men  who  die 
because  they  cannot  obtain  beer  on  Sunday,  provided,  on  the  other  hand 
the  publicans,  not  to  say  sinners,  will  undertake  to  maintain  all  the  orphans 
and  widows  of  men  who  die  as  the  direct  or  indirect  result  of  their  Sunday 
trading.  But  I  go  a  step  further,  and  I  say  that  the  law  as  it  stands  is 
wrong.  It  is  morally  wrong,  and  what  is  morally  wrong  can  never  be 
politically  right.  "  But,"  said  Mr.  Fielding,  some  time  ago  in  the  House  of 
Common's — not  General   Fielding,   but  another  Fielding — "you  have   no 


GENERAL   REMARKS,  249 

right  to  compel  working  men  to  buy  their  beer  on  the  Saturday  night ; 
they  may  not  Hke  it,  and  it  may  not  agi-ee  with  them."  Now  the  question 
is  not  to  compel  them  to  buy  it  on  Saturday  night  ;  the  question  is  that  we 
do  not  tliiuk  they  ought  to  be  allowed  to  buy  it  on  a  Sunday,  while  all 
other  trades  are  prohibited  by  law.  Now,  in  relation  to  the  state  of  public 
opinion  in  this  country  on  this  subject,  I  am  happy  to  say  that  800,000 
householders  have  been  canvassed  on  this  subject,  comprising  one-sixth  of 
the  whole  population  of  England  and  Wales,  and  with  the  following 
result : — For  total  closing,  675,098  ;  against,  77,963  ;  neutral,  48,512  ;  or  a 
majority  in  favour  of  548,623,  or  82  per  cent.  I  think,  therefore,  con- 
sidering the  state  of  public  opinion,  our  duty  is  plain  and  clear — namely,  to 
proceed  with  our  agitation  until  what  they  have  in  Scotland  and  in  Wales, 
and  more  than  what  they  have  in  Ireland,  the  old  country  may  also  possess. 
I  am  aware  that  there  may  be  150,000  publicans  and  others  interested  in 
keeping  things  as  they  are  against  us,  but  are  there  not  40,000  ministers  of 
religion  with  us,  160,000  church  officers,  350,000  Sunday-school  teachers, 
4,000,000  church  members,  and  10,000,000  church  and  chapel-going  people 
in  this  country  in  favour  of  this  object  ?  With  such  a  host,  sir,  we  need  only 
keep  united,  determined,  and  persevering,  and  we  shall  scatter  our  foes  like 
chaff:  before  the  wind,  and  march  on  to  a  right  royal,  glorious,  and  grand 
victory. 

Rev.  J.  M.  Reid  :  The  single  thought  which  I  wish  to  put  before  the 
assembly  is,  whether  it  is  proper  for  us  to  confine  such  a  resolution  as  that 
to  the  case  of  England  alone.  I  am  not  prepared  for  anything  but  the 
suggestion. 

Rev.  Dr.  Gardiner  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church  of  Canada)  said  :  The 
resolution  refers  to  the  opening  of  public-houses.  I  think  it  is  necessary 
to  make  it  distinct,  and  to  say,  "  for  the  sale  of  liquors."  We  cannot  shut 
the  houses.  I  merely  suggest  that  to  the  persons  who  have  charge  of  the 
resolution.  It  strikes  me  that  there  is  a  defect  in  the  form  of  it.  Our 
custom  where  I  live,  in  all  the  Province  of  Ontario,  is  to  close  our  houses 
for  the  sale  of  intoxicants  from  seven  on  Saturday  evening  until  seven  on 
]\Ionday  morning,  so  that  there  is  no  Sabbath  desecration  by  the  .sale  or 
drinking  of  spirits  ;  but  travellers,  boarders,  and  others  are  at  liberty  to 
enter  these  houses  and  occupy  them  for  all  purposes  except  drinking. 

Mr.  Lewis  Williams  (Wesleyan  Methodist)  said  :  Allusion  has  been 
made  to  the  successful  passage  of  the  Bill  for  Wales.  Coming  from 
Wales,  I  should  like  to  say  that  there  is  nothing  that  has  brought  such  joy 
to  the  Christian  hearts  of  the  Principality  as  the  action  of  the  legislature 
in  passing  that  Bill.  There  was  a  most  complete  unanimity  amongst  the 
Churches,  and  I  may  say  here  that  it  was  the  action  of  the  Chmxhes  that 
really  secured  the  passage  of  that  Bill.  The  Christians  took  the  matter 
up  ;  they  led  public  opinion  ;  and  public  opinion  being  ripe,  the  legislature 
very  wisely  acted  upon  that  opinion  in  giving  us  that  Bill.  I  may  say  that, 
having  secured  the  boon  ourselves,  we  are  quite  prepared  to  join  our  friends 
in  all  other  parts  of  the  country  to  secure  a  like  blessing  for  England.  I 
believe  that  the  working  men  of  tliis  country  are  prepared  for  the  measure. 
They  tell  us  sometimes  about  sacrificing,  their  liberty.  We  have  read  that 
classic  story  of  Ulysses,  that  when  he  was  passing  the  Enchanted  Island  he 
was  willing  to  be  bound  to  the  mast,  fearing  the  inlluence  of  the  Sirens' 
music,  and  that  he  took  care  that  the  boatmen  had  their  ears  stopped  that 
they  should  not  be  so  influenced.  So  I  believe  the  working  men  of  this 
kingdom  are  willing  to  forego  their  liberty  to  prevent  their  fellow-men 
being  cast  upon  those  shores  upon  which  so  many  thousands  of  our 
countrymen  are  wrecked.  I  will  conclude  with  one  illustration  from  the 
working  classes.  I  was  travelling  by  train  a  few  weeks  ago,  and  there 
came  into  the  carriage  a  big  swarthy  navvy.     After  sitting  down  awhile, 


250  POSSIBLE   PEEILS   OF   METHODISM. 

he  unbuttoned  his  coat  and  took  out  a  quart  bottle  of  beer.  After  in- 
dulging rather  freely,  he  looked  across  to  me  and  said,  "  Guvnor,  will  you 
take  a  swig  ?  "  I  replied,  "  Friend,  I  would  rather  be  excused  :  that  is  not 
exactly  my  way.  Do  you  see  this  ?  " — pointing  to  a  Temperance  paper. 
He  says,  "  What  does  that  mean  ?  "  I  said,  "  This  means  we  have  been 
trying  to  teach  the  young  to  keep  clear  of  that  evil,  and  I  advise  you  to  do 
the  same."  "  Oh  !  "  he  said,  "  I  am  not  a  bad  sort  of  chap  ;  I  keep  clear 
for  three  months  at  a  time  sometimes  ;  but  somehow  I  got  into  the  public 
yesterday,  that  was  Sunday,  and  I  feel  to-day  as  if  I  must  have  a  drop 
again."  I  said,  "  Are  you  one  of  the  working  men  who  are  particularly 
anxious  to  have  public-houses  open  on  Sunday  ?  "  "  Anxious  !  Eh,  guvnor, 
I'll  tell  you  what — I'd  shut  them  up  ;  and  i^jft  comes  to  that  I'd  shut  them 
up  altogether  for  the  good  they  do,  because  it's  all  harm."  I  believe  the 
views  of  that  working  man,  who  was  under  the  influence  of  drink  at  that 
time,  are  representative  of  those  of  the  great  mass  of  working  men  of  tliis 
country  ;  and  if  the  Churches  will  but  do  their  duty  in  creating  a  strong 
public  opinion  on  this  question,  I  think  the  day  is  not  far  distant  when 
England  will  have  to  rejoice,  as  we  rejoice  in  Wales  to-day,  in  having  that 
day,  which  the  late  Professor  Maurice  said  was  alike  a  witness  to  the  Father- 
hood of  God  and  the  brotherliood  of  men,  preserved  from  this  great  evil. 

Bishop  Peck  (Methodist  Episcopal  Clmrch)  :  I  wish  to  suggest  an 
amendment  which  I  think  the  entire  Conference  will  accept  It  is  in  these 
words  :  "  And  we  commend  the  principle  of  this  resolution  to  all  the 
countries  from  which  we  come." 

Tlie  President  :  The  Chairman  would  respectfully  suggest  to  Bishop 
Peck  tliat  the  rules  might  interpose  a  difficulty  to  that  amendment.  It  is 
required  tliat  every  proposal  or  resolution  for  the  action  of  this  body  shall 
be  first  sent  to  the  Business  Committee.  You  may  introduce  an  amendment 
without  introducing  a  new  thought,  and  a  new  point  will  have  to  be  sent 
back  to  the  Business  Committee. 

Bishop  Peck  :  The  ruling  of  the  Chair  is  always  sovereign  to  me. 

Rev.  W.  Arthur  (Wesleyan  Methodist)  :  I  doubt  whether  it  was  the 
intention  of  the  rule  to  shut  up  tlie  Conference  from  amending  a  resolution 
which  is  before  it.  I  doubt  whether  in  any  legislative  body  such  a  rule 
has  ever  been  enforced.  In  fact,  I  think  the  consequence  of  such  a  ruling 
might  become  very  serious  and  very  inconvenient. 

Bishop  Peck  :  I  did  not  appeal  from  the  chair. 

The  President  :  The  Chair  begs  leave  to  say  that  it  is  not  a  positive 
decision.  I  merely  submit  that  to  be  considered.  The  point  made  is,  that 
an  amendment  may  be  introduced  that  shall  materially  alter  the  paper  that 
stands  before  you,  and  a  result  may  thus  be  brought  about  which  it  has 
been  sought  to  avoid. 

Rev.  E.  E.  Jenkins  (Wesleyan  Methodist) :  I  would  suggest  to  the  Presi- 
dent that  it  may  be  introduced  as  an  improvement,  not  as  an  amendment ;  so 
that  it  may  pass  this  Conference  without  being  sent  back  to  th«  Business 
Committee.  I  would  not,  of  course,  suggest  any  ruling  myself,  but  I  do 
not  take  it  that  the  addition  read  by  Bishop  Peck  is  an  amendment.  It  is 
rather  an  improvement  and  an  enlargement  of  the  resolution  which  we 
should  accept  at  once. 

Rev.  J.  Travis  (Primitive  Methodist)  said  he  was  quite  willing  to  let 
the  resolution  read  : 

"  That  the  Conference  gratefully  recognises  the  good  which  has  resulted 
from  the  prohibition  of  the  common  sale  of  intoxicating  liquors  on  the 
Lord's  Day  in  Scotland  and  in  Ireland,  and  congratulates  the  inhabitants 
of  Wales  on  their  recent  success  in  obtaining  a  Sunday  Closing  Act  for  the 
Principality,  and  also  would  respectfully  urge  the  Methodist  people  of 
Great  Britain  and  Ireland  not  to  relax  their  efEorts  till  public-houses  in 


GENERAL   REMARKS.  251 

every  part  of  the  United  Kingdom  are  closed  durin;!?  the  whole  of  the  Lord's 
Day  except  to  honu-fde  travellers  and  lodgers,  and  we  commend  the 
principle  of  this  legislation  to  the  countries  whence  we  come." 

Bishop  Peck  :  That  is  satisfactory  to  me. 

Dr.  J.  M.  Reid  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church)  :  I  made  a  suggestion 
just  now,  when  the  thought  occurred  to  me,  but  objections  were  suggested 
to  me  immediately  afterwards  to  this  effect :  A  large  number  of  us,  and  I 
am  of  that  number,  believe  in  the  principle  of  total  prohibition.  We  have 
as  yet  made  no  declaration  on  that  line.  If  we  should  make  a  declaration 
— Avhich  I  believe  to  be  perfectly  proper — and  not  on  the  other  line  also, 
in  the  United  States,  such  men  as  Dr.  Crosby,  for  instance,  would  claim 
that  this  Conference  entertained  his  view  of  the  subject,  and  believed  that 
we  ought  to  go  no  further.  Now  it  seems  to  me  that  the  very  thought 
that  first  sprang  into  my  mind  has  sprung  into  the  mind  of  my  honoured 
brother.  Bishop  Peck.  After  I  had  risen  to  address  you,  and  been 
recognised,  I  doubted  whether  it  was  wise  to  do  that,  therefore  I  made  no 
proposition.  I  am  afraid  that  the  insertion  of  the  clause  will  say  to 
multitudes  of  minds  in  the  United  States  precisely  what  the  great  bodj^  of 
this  Conference  would  not  wish  to  have  them  understand  that  we  did  say. 

Bishop  Peck  :  I  rise  simply  to  say  that  I  thought  of  the  objection  named 
by  my  brother,  and  hence  I  put  in  "  the  principles  "  of  their  legislation, 
which  is  right  so  far  as  it  goes.  I  have  no  doubt  that  we  shall,  as  a  Con- 
ference, say  stronger  things  by-and-by  ;  but  let  us  go  toward  our  goal,  and 
go  as  far  as  we  can. 

Rev.  F.  S.  Hoyt,  D.  D.  (M.  E.  Church):  If  I  understand  it  the 
proposition  before  the  Conference  is,  that  the  entire  pronouncement  or 
announcement  of  doctrine  on  this  subject  to  be  made  by  this  Conference  is 
contained  in  those  words.  If  that  is  the  sum  and  substance  and  finality, 
we  would  like  to  know  it  here. 

Bishop  Peck  :  It  is  on  the  question  of  the  Lord's  Day  that  this  mattet 
is  before  us. 

The  President  :  The  Chair  is  not  competent  to  interpret  or  to  answer  the 
question  of  Dr.  Hoyt. 

The  resohition,  as  altered,  was  unanimously  agreed  to. 

Rev.  J.  W.  Lewis  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South)  handed 
in  a  resolution  recommending  the  preparation  by  a  joint  committee 
ol  a  Catechism  and  Hymn-book  for  the  use  of  all  Methodists. 

The  PitESiDENT  said  the  resolution  would  be  referred  to  the 
Business  Committee. 

Rev.  Dr.  Walden  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church)  brought  up  a 
report  from  the  Publication  Committee,  containing  an  estimate  ot 
the  cost  of  a  volume  of  about  600  pages,  to  contain  the  report  of  the 
proceedings  of  the  Conference. 

Rev.  W.  Arthur  (Wesleyan  Methodist)  supported  the  recom- 
mendations of  the  Committee,  and  a  conversation  followed  on  the 
details  connected  with  the  subject. 

Resolutions  were  then  handed  in  for  reference  to  the  Business 
Committee,  relating  to  the  following  subjects  : — The  Promotion  of 
International  Peace  ;  The  Opium  Traffic  ;  A  Common  Hymu-book  ; 
and  A  Common  Catechism  and  Hymn-book. 


252  POSSIBLE    PERILS    OF    METHODISM. 

The  first  essay  for  the  day  on  the  subject  of  The  Possible  Perils  of 
MetJiodism  from  the  Papacy,  from  Sacerdotalism  and  its  Connected 
Errors,  was  read  by  Rev.  J.  Guttridge  (United  Methodist  Free 
Churches  of  Great  Britain). 

Rome  and  Methodism  are  terms  ■which  are  exceedingly  incongruous. 
They  are  voices  which  are  essentially  dissonant.  Blend  they  cannot.  As 
ecclesiastical  competitors  they  start  not  from  the  same  point,  and  they 
arrive  not  at  the  same  goal.  Rome  is  Christianity  partially  despoiled, 
bereft  of  much  of  its  ancient  simplicity  and  genuine  strength  ;  officialised 
most  elaborately,  and  with  its  numerous  relics  and  highly-wrought  miracles 
rendered  fabulous.  Methodism  is  Christianity  very  much  as  it  was  when 
first  announced  by  its  authorised  and  unrivalled  teachers,  and  when  first 
defended  by  its  unfaltering  martyrs — martyrs  wlio  gathered  their  high  order 
of  inspiration  not  from  either  the  philosophy  of  the  schools  or  the  legality  of 
the  synagogue,  but  from  the  tragical  cross  and  the  empty  tomb. 

Methodism,  renowned,  especially  in  its  earlier  years,  as  an  eminently  vital 
force,  as  indeed  "  Christianity  in  earnest,"  is  comparati'  e  y  recent.  It  is  not 
a  century  and  a  half  since  a  small  band  of  Oxford  undeiginluates  assembled 
together  to  study  Greek  ;  and  attracting  attention  by  t  leir  exactness  of 
habit,  were  named,  if  not  branded — Methodists  !  But  Rome  is  hoary  with 
the  roll  of  the  ages.  To  some  her  venerableness  adds  much  to  her  attraction 
and  claims.  From  her  history  it  is  evident  that  she  has  allowed  her  doctrines 
to  be  partially  determined,  and  her  ritual  partially  arranged,  by  influences 
which  have  reached  her  from  Judaism  on  the  one  hand  and  Paganism  on  the 
other.  The  Papacy  having  gone  astray,  retraces  not  her  steps.  Rome  is 
to-day  what  Rome  was  a  thousand  years  ago :  shrewd  in  her  guiles,  lofty  in 
her  pretensions,  and  in  her  curses  bitter. 

To  understand  her  history  is  to  understand  most  of  the  political  and 
ecclesiastical  controversies,  not  only  of  Europe  generally,  but  of  our  own 
land  in  particular  ;  of  Henry  II.  and  Thomas  a  Becket,  along  with  the 
tragical  scene  enacted  in  the  nave  of  Canterbury  Cathedral.  Of  him,  too, 
who  was  the  acutest  thinker,  the  ripest  scholar,  the  closest  reasoner,  and  the 
most  heroic  man  of  the  fourteenth  century,  who  dared  to  call  in  question  the 
Scriptural  accuracy  of  the  then  popular  faith — the  creed  of  Christendom — 
though  received  and  supported  by  the  throne  upon  which  the  sovereign  sat, 
and  the  altar  at  which  the  priest  ministered.  Wycliffe  was  the  earliest 
harbinger,  the  morniog  star  of  the  Reformation  ! 

Two  centuries  later  there  was  Henry  VIII.  and  Cardinal  Wolsey.  Then, 
after  Mary,  there  was  Queen  Elizabeth  and  the  Spanish  Armada  ;  and,  sub- 
sequently, James  II.,  his  violation  of  the  Protestant  oath  which  he  had  taken, 
and  his  precipitate  escape  from  a  throne  the  security  of  which  was  menaced 
by  the  victorious  advances  of  William,  Prince  of  Orange. 

For  three  centuries  England  has  been  known  throughout  Europe  and  the 
world  as  Protestant.  The  Anglican  Church,  however,  has,  from  the  date  ol 
the  Reformation,  been  nearer  to  the  Papal  than  any  of  the  Nonconformist 


EEV.   J.    GUTTRIDGE'S  ADDRESS,  253 

communities.  She  has  promulorated  principles  which  would  rather  lead  to, 
than  conduct  from,  Rome.  She  has  taught,  and  somewhat  earnestly,  too, 
the  doctrine  of  Apostolic  Succession.  Wilberforce,  the  late  Bishop  of 
Oxford,  affirmed  that  "  The  bishops  of  the  Church  of  England  were,  by 
unbroken  succession,  the  descendants  and  representatives  of  the  original 
Twelve."     (Dr.  Mellor's  Priesthood,  p.  110.) 

A  few,  however,  of  the  more  erudite  and  renowned  of  the  clergy  have 
taui;ht  the  contrary.  Archbishop  Whately  maintained  "  that  there  was  not  a 
minister  in  all  Christendom  who  was  able  to  trace  up,  with  any  approach  to 
certainty,  his  spiritual  pedigree."     {Ibid.  p.  120.) 

Along  with  the  doctrine  of  Apostolic  Succession,  she  has  empowered  her 
clergy  to  pronounce  Absolution  when  ministering  to  the  needs  of  the  sick  and 
dying  ;  and  has  also  given  the  weight  of  her  high  authority  in  maintaining 
the  doctrine  of  Baptismal  Regeneration. 

Under  these  circumstances  it  is  not  strange  that  half  a  century  ago  there 
should  have  been  formed,  at  Oxford,  the  Sacerdotal,  or  Tractarian  party.  Now 
there  is  scarcely  an  error  of  which  we  accuse  the  Papal  Church  but  of  which 
we  may  accuse  one  section  of  the  Anglican.  It  has  been  for  years  a  very 
unenviable  ecclesiastical  home.  For  the  Evangelical  it  is  too  Papal  ;  and  for 
the  Ritualistic  it  is  too  Protestant.  To  restrain  her  evident  tendency  towards 
Rome,  in  her  gorgeous  vestments  and  erroneous  doctrines,  laws  have  been 
recently  enacted,  but  a  number  of  the  clergy  have  refused  to  obey  them  ; 
and  when  they  have  been  admonished  or  inhibited,  have  bitterly  complained 
about  the  curtailment  of  their  liberty,  whereas  the  legal  restraints  to  which 
they  have  been  subjected  grew  logically  out  of  the  position  which  they  had 
voluntarily  accepted.  The  Lord  Chancellor  very  recently  put  the  case 
accurately  when  he  remarked  that,  "  No  clergyman  had  a  right  to  enjoy  the 
temporalities  of  the  Church,  and  disregard  the  conditions  upon  which  they 
were  granted." 

The  success  of  the  Sacerdotalists  is  somewhat  remarkable.  There  is  now 
scarcely  a  city,  town,  or  village  where,  more  or  less,  their  influence  is  not  felt. 
To  the  peril  arising  therefrom,  the  country,  as  a  whole,  is  exposed.  From 
that  source  there  is  certainly  some  peril  to  Methodism — peril  coming  from  a 
variety  of  sources.  From  the  subtle  and  really  able  way  in  which  some  of 
the  apologists  and  defenders  state  their  principles.  From  the  varied  channels 
through  which  they  have  chosen  to  communicate  them — the  unpretending 
tractate,  the  fascinating  work  of  fiction,  and  the  elaborate  and  well-reasoned 
volume.  From  the  high  character,  severe  culture,  and  thorough  consecra- 
tion of  some  of  the  propagandists.  Keble  is  a  name  around  which,  to  both 
Protestant  and  Papist,  there  gather  the  most  honourable  and  saintly  associa- 
tions. From  her  poetry,  containing  rich  and  healthy  sentiments — living 
bread,  but  with  a  subtle  infusion  of  Papal  poison.  From  her  enamouring 
music,  her  full  service,  and  from  her  historic,  symbolic,  and,  in  many 
instances,  her  gorgeous  architecture. 

The  danger,  however,  from  Sacerdotalism  is  not  bo  great  in  relation  to  the 
elder  members  of  the  Methodist  Churches  as  to  the  younger.    The  latter 


254  POSSIBLE   PERILS   OF   METHODISM. 

are  more  influenced  by  objects  which  appeal  to  the  senses  than  are  the 
former.  In  the  main  they  are  better  educated,  and  have,  as  the  result, 
choicer  aesthetic  tastes  ;  a  keener  perception  of  the  antique,  of  the  beautiful 
in  art,  music,  poetry,  and  painting.  Many  of  them,  however,  are  un- 
doubtedly inferior  to  their  fathers  in  serviceable  sagacity,  in  consecrated 
common  sense,  in  spiritual  aspirations,  and,  in  relation  to  the  activities  of  the 
Church,  in  hallowed  hard  work.  They  can  also  go  much  nearer  to  the 
world — its  spirit,  literature,  maxims,  and  amusements  than  their  fathers 
ever  thought  it  prudent  to  do.  As  there  is  a  deficiency  of  enjoyment  from 
the  upper  springs,  they  avail  themselves  rather  largely  of  the  nether  ones. 
With  some  of  them  even  the  theatre  has  gone  up  in  affectionate  recognition 
and  earnest  defence  at  about  the  same  rate  as  the  class-meetings  and  love- 
feasts  have  gone  down.  Ihey  can,  moreover,  pass  rather  light-heartedly 
over  paths  of  thought  which,  by  their  honoured  sires,  were  trodden  with 
extreme  and  commendable  caution  — with,  indeed,  unutterable  reverence. 
Profound  truths,  too  wide  to  span  and  too  deep  to  fathom,  they  handle  with 
comparative  critical  heedlessness.  For  this  class,  that  which  is  typical  in 
architecture,  gorgeous  in  co.«tume,  and  imposing  in  ceremony,  has  greater 
attraction  than  it  would  have  had  for  their  less  sprightly  but  more  devout 
predecessors.  Now  to  meet  to  some  extent  the  danger  arising  from  this 
source,  let  us  place  on  our  tables,  let  us  put  on  our  shelves,  som.e  appropriate, 
well-written,  and  trustworthy  works,  such  as  Wylie's  History  of  Pro- 
testautism,  D'Aubigne's  History  of  the  Reforiii(itio)i,  Dr.  Rijjg's  Modern 
Anglican  Theolofjy,  Dr.  Mellor's  Congregational  Lecture  on  The  Priesthood, 
and  last,  though  not  least,  the  Rev.  William  Arthur's  work,  entitled  The 
Pope,  the  King,  and  the  People. 

We  should  also  clearly  state,  we  should,  indeed,  emphasise  the  points  upon 
which  we,  as  Protestants,  differ  from  Papists  and  Sacerdotalists.  We  should 
show  that  in  our  churches  we  have  teachers  and  pastors,  but  not  priests  ;  that 
in  the  New  Testament  the  word  priest  never  occurs  ;  that  there  is  no  allusion 
whatever  either  to  the  office  or  its  functions  ;  that  Paul  invariably  speaks 
of  himself  as  Paul,  the  apostle,  but  never  as  Paul,  the  priest.  And  as  it 
was  then,  so  is  it  now.  The  public  teacher  in  the  pulpit  is  only  a  priest  in 
the  same  sense  as  is  the  private  Christian  in  the  pew.  There  are  other  points 
also  upon  which  we  differ,  and  to  which,  in  order  to  lessen  the  peril,  we  must 
give  emphat  ic  expression.  Do  they  seek  to  invalidate  the  exclusive  supremacy 
of  the  sacred  Scriptures  by  regarding  the  writings  of  the  Fathers  as  possess- 
ing equal,  if  not  superior,  authority  ?  Do  they  do  this,  though  the  Fathers 
themselves  never  claim  for  their  writings  any  such  authority  ;  this  being 
evident  from  the  explicit  statement  made  by  Augustine  to  Jerome  ?  Then 
let  us  reverently  but  sharply  separate  the  Inspired  Volume  from  every  other, 
in  whatever  language  or  age  it  may  have  been  written.  While  the  Sacerdotes 
urge  "  Hear  the  Church,"  let  us  urge  "  Search  the  Scriptures."  The  Bible, 
and  the  Bible  alone,  is  the  religion  of  Protestants.  It  is  the  compass  by 
which  we  steer,  it  is  the  rock  upon  which  our  hope  rests  ;  our  anchor  ;  its 
counsel  is  clear,  its  sound  is  certain,  and  its  decision  is  final. 


REV.   J.   GUTTRIDGE'S  ADDRESS.  255 

Do  they  deny  to  man  the  liberty  to  think  for  himself,  engaging  to  do  for 
him,  upon  certain  monetary  considerations,  all  the  thought-work  necessary, 
not  only  for  the  present,  but  for  the  future  ?  Then  let  us  assert  the  freedom 
of  the  human  will,  the  right  of  private  judgment.  That  this  right  has 
been  abused  ;  that  from  the  commeuccmcut  of  the  Lutheran  Reformation 
to  this  hour  there  have  been  those  who  on  sacred  subjects  have  misdirected 
their  intelligence — have  used  their  reason  very  unreasonably — is  admitted. 
But  the  abuse  of  ability  is  no  valid  argument  against  its  legitimate  use. 
"We  do  not  cease  eating  because  it  may  lead  to  gluttony  ;  nor  do  we  cease 
working  because  it  may  lead  to  exhaustion. 

Do  they  insist  upon  a  form  of  government  which  is  hierarchical — a  govern- 
ment by  priests,  who  are  obedient  to  and  receive  all  their  orders  from  the 
head  of  the  Church — the  Sovereign  Pontiff  at  Rome  ?  Then  let  us  show 
how  our  Divine  Master  forbade  all  aspirings  towards  infallible  individualism 
— all  personal  dictation  ;  how  the  Church  in  her  aggregate  order,  pastor  and 
people,  should  determine  the  lines  upon  which  they  should  travel,  and 
the  discipline  by  which  truth  and  purity  should  be  carefully  but  firmly 
maintained  ;  that  on  all  grave  questions  there  should  be  heard,  not  the 
voice  of  the  haughty  and  usurping  one,  but  of  the  Divinely-appointed  and 
privileged  many  ;  that  Christ,  by  enfranchising  the  whole  of  the  members 
of  the  Christian  Church,  left  in  the  government  of  that  Church  no  place 
for  a  Pope. 

As,  inoreover,  the  principles  of  Rome  tend  not  so  much  to  humble  as 
to  unduly  elevate  man,  let  us  keep  wide  of  Rome  altogether ;  let  us  have 
about  us  no  special  personal  assumptions  ;  nothing  of  the  •  priest  either 
within  or  without.  He  has  sadly  failed  in  self-analysis  who  does  not  know 
that  human  nature  is  rather  Papal  than  Protestant.  It  so  suits  us  to  have 
our  own  way.  We  are  so  pleased,  not  so  much  to  discuss  with  our  compeers 
as  to  indicate  our  intellectual  superiority  by  deciding  for  them.  We  are 
so  eager  to  attain  ;  and,  having  attained,  exercise  authority.  We  accredit 
ourselves  so  much,  and  others  so  little.  We  shadow  rather  than  heighten 
a  brother's  renown.  The  main  canon  by  which  some  determine  the  mental 
ability  and  moral  worth  of  others  is  their  own  vanity,  and  they  think  so 
well  of  themselves  that  they  can  hardly  afford  to  think  well  of  any  one  else. 
Indeed,  they  can  scarcely  hide  their  conceit  from  even  their  current 
courtesies  ;  they  will  give  you,  however  shrewd  you  may  be  in  detecting 
it,  the  insolence  of  condescension  ;  they  will,  as  if  they  had  been  to  the 
manner  born,  patronise  instead  of  fraternise.  They  never  speak  in  public, 
be  the  occasion  ever  so  ordinary,  but  they  say  that  which,  in  their  view, 
deserves  to  be  rendered  durable,  and  should  therefore  be  printed.  The 
breach  between  themselves  and  the  occupant  of  the  chair  of  St.  Peter  at 
Rome  is  irreparable  ;  indeed,  though  they  are  Protestants,  and  occasionally 
lecture  upon,  and  rather  critically  chastise  the  Papacy ;  yet,  after  all,  there 
is  only  one  Pope  in  whose  infallibility  they  firmly  believe,  and  where  they 
are,  he  is. 

As  Rome,  too,  is  so  devoted  to  that  which  is  outward,  to  arrestive  forms, 


256  POSSIBLE   PERILS   OF   METHODISM. 

to  the  mere  dead  letter;  as  in  too  many  instances  there  is  upon  her  cheek 
no  crimson,  and  upon  her  lip  no  breath  ;  let  us,  as  Protestants,  honour  more 
than  we  have  ever  done  the  Living  Spirit !  High  over  all  the  imposing 
ceremonies,  decorated  altars,  and  costly  temples,  we  hear  the  voice  of  the 
Divine  Teacher  coming  over  to  us  from  the  far-off  ages,  and  from  even 
Jacob's  well,  affirming  "God  is  a  Spirit,  and  they  that  worship  Him  must 
worship  Him  in  spirit  and  in  truth  ;  for  the  Father  seeketh  such  to  worship 
Him."  (John  iv.  24.)  Whether  by  the  beautiful  in  architecture,  stained 
panes,  written  commandments,  or  reredos,  the  outer  eye  be  gratified  or  not ; 
to  the  higher  claims  of  the  spiritual  vision,  the  inner  eye,  there  should  be,  in 
every  service,  a  response.  We  should  perceive  the  Divine  loveliness,  the 
preternatural  attraction,  the  beauty  of  holiness.  We  should  be  awed  by 
that  which  is  hidden.  We  should  make  discoveries  impossible  to  the 
coarser  vision.  We  should  bask  in  the  light  which  streams  from  the  throne 
— the  great  white  throne  ;  we  should  see  God  !  He  may  be  exceedingly 
near,  where  there  is  neither  cedar  roof  nor  marble  pavement,  enamouring 
music  nor  erudite  exposition. 

*'  Speak  to  Him,  then,  for  He  hears  ; 
And  Spirit  with  spirit  may  meet ; 
Closer  is  He  than  breathing. 
And  nearer  than  hands  and  feet." — TENNYSON. 

But  the  favour  of  His  presence,  the  reception  of  His  Spirit  is  promised 
upon  conditions  which  we  are  bound  to  observe.  The  first  messengers  of  the 
Churches,  after  the  reappearance  of  their  Master,  fresh  from  the  sepulchre 
into  which  the  authorities  had  put  Him,  were  prepared  for  anything — were 
ready  to  go  anywhere. 

But  the  charge  which  they  received  was  to  remain  in  the  city  where 
His  miracles  had  been  wrought  and  His  blood  shed,  and  near  to  which  was 
His  vacant  tomb,  upon  which  the  eye  of  the  world  will  trustfully  and  lovingly 
rest  as  the  ages  roll  on — they  were  to  tarry  at  Jerusalem  until  endued 
with  power  from  on  high.  And  the  charge  to  tarry  is  as  direct  and  im- 
perative now  as  it  was  then.  And  he  who  refuses  to  obey  will  not  fail  to 
break  the  secret  of  his  disobedience  to  his  audience,  from  Sabbath  to 
Sabbath,  by  his  spiritual  inertia,  his  deficient  anointing ;  the  holy  oil  will 
not  be  poured  so  plentifully  upon  his  head  as  to  run  to  the  skirts  of  his 
garment — to  extend  to  every  aspect,  utterance,  and  action — he  will  lack 
unction. 

Nothing  can  serve  as  a  substitute  for  the  promised  baptism  of  the  Spirit. 
A  man  may  be  opulent  in  the  philosophies  of  all  the  schools;  he  may  have 
the  culture  of  the  choicest  college,  but  if  he  be  unendued,  if  his  spiritual 
aspirations  be  languid,  and  his  petitions  scanty,  then  he  will  give  to  the  church 
in  which  he  ministers  the  rigid  precision,  the  severe  taste,  the  dead  dignity, 
the  cold  correctness — the  elaborate  lip  of  ice.  Whereas  he  should  and  might 
give  to  it  the  burning  eloquence — the  tongue  of  fire  !  It  was  the  united  and 
supplicatory  service  held  in  the  upper  room,  which  was  succeeded  by  the 


REV,    E.    B.    EYCK man's   ADDRESS.  257 

ever-memorable  bestowment — tbe  <:;ift  of  the  Holy  Ghost  ?  And  the  Church 
of  the  nineteenth  century  can  no  more  do  without  its  upper  room  than 
the  Church  of  the  first.  And  yet  how  many  there  are  who  are  delighted  with 
the  mornnig  service,  especially  with  the  Te  Drum,  when  well  rendered,  who 
are  seldom  or  never  found  at  the  weekly  prayer-meeting.  That  is  the 
unstately  service,  which  the  plainer  people  may  attend.  The  value,  the 
infinite  value  of  prayer,  is  not  realised  by  the  Church  as  it  should  be,  and  as, 
if  the  victories  of  Chriftianity  are  to  cover  the  country,  it  muse  be.  To 
its  efficacy  it  would  be  difficult  to  prescribe  a  limit. 

*'  Prayer  ardent  opens  heaven." 

("  Oh  1  wondrous  power  of  faithful  prayer.") 

If  we  would,  therefore,  honour  those  names  and  preserve  those  Protestant 
traditions  which  are  our  rich  heritage,  then  we  must  live  in  communion  with 
God,  as  those  lived  whose  names  are  historically  associated  with  the  prisons 
in  which  they  were  incarcerated,  and  the  flames  in  which  they  perished. 
And  so  living  we  shall  the  more  vigorously  and  certainly  hasten  the  day  when 
our  world,  as  it  is  already  a  redeemed,  shall  become  a  regenerated  and  a 
happy  one  ;  when  the  despised  One  of  the  land  of  Judsea  shall  become  the 
recognised  and  adored  One  of  all  lands  ;  wh«i  the  isles,  having  eagerly 
waited  for  Him,  shall  have  heartily  welcomed  Him ;  when  the  whole  earth 
shall  be  vocal  with  His  worship  and  fragrant  with  His  praise. 

Eev.  E.  B.  Ryckman,  D.D.  (Methodist  Church  of  Canarla),  in  deliver- 
ing the  invited  address,  said  :  Romanism  may  threaten  Methodism, 
in  common  with  all  Protestantism,  with  some  dangers,  but  not  by  tlie 
priestiam  of  the  Papacy,  but  by  other  means,  as  perhaps  I  shall  show. 
Methodism  and  Sacerdotalism  are  antipodal  to  each  other.  I  speak  of  the 
Methodism  of  Canada  especially,  and  of  that  of  the  United  States  so  far  as  I 
know  it.  It  is  said  that  Formalism  and  Ritualism  are  natural  and  easy  to 
the  unrenewed  mind  and  heart,  and  very  seductive  to  the  Christian,  where 
spiritual  life  is  feeble.  It  may  be  so.  It  may  be  easy  and  natural  to  place  the 
value  and  efficacy  of  an  ordinance  in  the  external  form  of  it,  or  in  the  hands 
that  administer  it,  rather  than  in  the  spirit  in  which  it  is  observed  ;  and, 
should  the  day  come  when  Methodism  shall  step  down  from  a  high  spiritual 
ground,  when  her  grand  theology  shall  be  travestied  by  an  efteminate  puljjit, 
when  her  orthodoxy  shall  become  merely  prefunctory,  and  the  spirituality 
of  ministers  and  people  lost  or  enfeebled,  then  we  may  not  expect  her  to  stand 
in  the  presence  of  other  Churches  which  maintain  an  attractiveness  of  ritual 
which  she  cannot  emulate,  and  assume  and  assert  an  authority  to  which  she 
lays  no  claim.  But  for  the  present  we  seem  to  be  secure  from  peril  on  that 
side.  The  Methodists  utterly  reject  the  figment  of  apostolical  succession  ; 
have  no  faith  in  baptismal  regeneration  ;  regard  the  value  of  baptism  as  not 
residing  in  any  degree  in  the  mode  of  administration  ;  and  the  beuefit  of 
communion  at  the  Lord's  Table  as  not  depending  at  all  on  the  decent  and 
orderly  form  of  consecration.    The  officiating  minister  is  not  regarded  as  a 

S 


258  POSSIBLE  PERILS  OF  METHODISM. 

priest  in  any  sense  in  which  the  communicant  himself  is  not  a  priest,  *'to 
offer  up  spiritual  sacrifices,"  and  if  the  local  preacher  is  not  listened  to  with 
as  much  respect  as  the  travelling  preacher,  it  is  not  merely,  I  think,  because 
ordaining  hands  have  not  been  laid  upon  his  head.  The  paraphernalia  of 
sacerdotalism  and  ritualism,  crosses,  decorated  altars,  burning  candles  and 
pictures— those  representations  that  make  such  a  masquerade  of  the  suffer- 
ings of  Christ  in  His  earthly  state— are,  as  yet,  utterly  distasteful  to  the 
Methodist  people.  You  will  find  across  the  Atlantic  no  single  chapel  with  a 
surpliced  or  uniformed  choir,  no  intoning  or  semi-intoning  of  the  Psalms  and 
Scripture  lessons,  and  not  a  Methodist  who  cannot  say  "Amen"  without 
pitching  it  to  a  tune.  Nor  does  there  seem  to  be,  so  far  as  I  have  discerned, 
a  tendency  in  that  direction.  Methodism  has  but  little  to  fear  from 
Romanism,  whatever  Rome  may  have  occasion  to  fear  from  Methodism.  I 
could  count  on  the  fingers  of  one  hand  all  the  names  that  I  have  known  to  go 
directly  from  Methodism  to  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  but  it  would  be 
impossible  for  me  to  number  those  whom  I  have  seen  brought  in  various 
ways  from  it  to  us.  The  arm  of  Methodism,  by  the  grace  of  God,  is  long 
enough  to  reach  thousands  of  that  prodigious  tide  of  emigration  that  rolls 
upon  the  American  sliore.  Thousands  of  those  Roman  Catholic  immigrants 
from  different  lands,  mixing  with  the  Protestant  population,  become 
enlightened,  and  are  taken  up  by  other  Churches,  and  by  none  so  readily  as 
by  our  own.  But  the  arm  of  Rome  is  too  short  to  reach  immediately  the 
members  of  our  communion  or  of  our  families.  There  is  another  Church 
which  stands  nearer  to  us,  to  which  we  have  a  kind  of  relationship,  and 
which  in  almost  every  instance-  acts  as  a  go-between.  Some  of  our  young 
people  do  go  to  that  other  Church,  not  through  any  consideration  of  religion, 
true  or  false,  but  because  the  whole  sweep  of  social  sympathy  and  influence 
is  sometimes,  not  always,  in  that  direction.  Let  me  say,  Mr.  President,  that 
I  never  knew  a  pei-son  leave  the  Methodist  Church  to  join  any  other  for  the 
sake  of  more  religion,  for  a  higher  spirituality,  for  more  of  help  in  personal 
service  to  God,  or  more  of  opportunity  for  usefulness  to  others.  For  the 
sake  of  position,  for  advantages  in  secular  life,  for  what  they  call  society, 
some  of  the  sons  and  daughters  of  Methodism  have  left  the  Church  of  their 
parents  and  entered  that  other  Church  ;  and  in  a  little  while  we  have  found 
them — the  daughters  High  Ritualists,  and  the  sons  infidels.  The  sons  are 
generally  lost  to  Methodism  not  only,  but  to  Christianity  also.  The 
daughters,  some  of  them,  find  a  stopping  place  in  Rome. 

But  from  facts  of  another  character  altogether  there  arises  more  or  less 
of  peril  to  Methodism  from  the  Papacy. 

I.  There  is  danger  in  the  needless  sectarianism  of  Protestantism.  There  is 
a  present  necessity,  and  perhaps  advantage,  in  the  divisions  of  the  Protestant 
world,  but  there  is  no  necessity  for  a  spirit  of  hostility  one  to  another  among 
the  various  branches.  In  the  interest  of  the  Church  the  differing  factions 
of  Rome  are  a  unit  in  the  hour  of  need  or  danger  ;  and  Romanism  is 
especially  jealous  of  the  unity  and  connexional  strength  of  the  Metliodist 
Church.       She  dreads,  with  good  reason,   more   than    anything    else,  the 


EEV.    E.    B.    RYCKMAN'S   ADDRESS.  259 

advancirg  power  of  Metliodism  ;  and  this  Conference,  in  brinointr  nearer 
to  each  other  the  various  families  of  Methodism,  and  the  influence  of 
Methodism  in  promoting  unity  among  the  families  of  Protestantism,  are 
important  and  mighty  defences  against  these  perils. 

II.  There  is  peril  in  the  convent  schools  established  by  Rome,  especially 
for  young  ladies.  The  glitter  thrown  around  certain  superficial  accomplish- 
ments, and  the  marvellously  low  price  of  tuition,  induce  some  Methodist 
parents  to  send  their  d;iughters  to  these  schools.  These  schools  are 
carried  on  Avith  a  view  to  proselytising  the  pupils.  The  teachers  are 
skilled  in  blandishments  ;  lessons  are  not  made  a  hardship  ;  discipline  is 
notoriously  partial  to  Protestant  pupils  ;  there  are  no  very  strict  require- 
ments, except  to  attend  Roman  Catholic  worship;  prize-i  and  rewards  are 
artfully  distributed  to  all ;  and  just  at  the  proper  time  objections  ar 
insinuated  against  Protestantism,  and  arguments  adduced  in  favour  of 
Catholicism.  What  womler  that  some  of  these  susceptible  young  persons 
should  be  ensnared  and  perverted  !  How  great  the  wonder  that  Methodist 
parents  should  ever  imperil  the  present  and  eternal  interests  of  their 
children  by  sending  them  to  such  schools  !  To  provide  ourselves  proper 
schools  for  our  young  people,  and  to  show  our  friends  their  valu';,  is  our 
defence  against  this  source  of  danger. 

III.  Rome's  extraordinary  vigilmice  and  persistency  in  politics  is  another 
source  of  peril.  While  the  Jesuits  are  feared  and  hated  because  of  their 
intermeddling  in  politics,  and  are  even  expelled  from  one  land  after  another 
on  this  account,  the  whole  of  Romanism  is  but  one  great  society  of  Gesii. 
In  all  Protestant  countries  the  Roman  Catholic  vote  is  a  unit.  However  the 
suffrages  of  others  may  be  divided  by  political  considerations,  the  Roman 
Catholic  vote  is  a  solid  vote.  The  Romanist  has  been  taught  that  his  Church 
is  his  politics,  and  that  he  refuses  at  the  peril  of  his  soul  to  give  his  Church 
the  benefit  of  his  vote,  voice,  and  politicid  influence.  As  a  consequence, 
ofttimes  when  in  a  minority,  Catholics  control  legislation  by  selling  them- 
selves to  whichever  party  w-ill  legislate  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  Church  ; 
and  thus  enormous  grants  of  land  and  money  are  secured  for  professedlv 
charitable,  but  really  and  purely  religious  institutions;  the  Bible  is  excluded 
from  the  schools ;  the  education  of  children  is  relegated  to  the  hands  of 
ecclesiastics — these  and  many  other  things,  at  the  behest  of  Romish  priests, 
to  the  injury  of  other  people  and  to  the  prejudice  of  good  government.  It  is 
not  too  much  to  say  that  in  the  province  of  Quebec,  where  exists  a  section  of 
Romanism  as  compact  and  powerful  as  can  be  found  under  the  sun,  persecu- 
tions are  openly  carried  on  and  wrongs  boldly  inflicted  under  the  eye  of 
the  law,  and  in  spite  of  it — nay,  sometimes  by  wielding  in  its  own  interest 
the  arm  of  the  law.  Many  a  convert  from  Romanism,  many  a  Methodist, 
has  been  ruined  in  his  business  without  redress  through  the  altar  denuncia- 
tions of  the  priest — boycotted,  for  that  thing  was  rife  in  Canada  long  before 
that  name  for  it  was  invented  in  Ireland.  And  we  in  Canada  greatly 
rejoiced  when,  a  short  time  ago,  a  French  Canadian  convert  in  the  State 
of  Connecticut,  having  been  injured  in  his  business  as  an  undertaker  by 

S2 


260  POSSIBLE   PERILS   OF   METHODISM. 

the  priest's  refusal  to  attend  a  funeral  where  he  furnished  the  coffin,  brought 
"his  reverence"  into  a  civil  court,  and  made  him  pay  damages  to  the 
amount  of  2,000  dols. — an  exemplary  redress,  which  could  not  have  been 
obtained  even  in  the  most  aggravated  instance  in  the  province  of  Quebec. 
The  case  of  the  poor  Oka  Indians  has  become  notorious.  They  had  lived  on 
their  reserve  from  the  time  of  the  British  conquest  and  before — more  than 
one  hundred  years,  and  had  believed  it  their  own,  and  enjoyed  it  as  such. 
Growing  in  intelligence,  they  became  aware  of  the  errors  of  Popery,  and 
100  of  them  in  a  body  embraced  the  Protestant  faith.  Then  immediately 
the  Church  asserted  its  ownership  of  the  Indians'  reserve,  and  began  a  system 
of  persecution  and  oppression  which  is  a  disgrace  to  civilisation,  and  which  is 
continued  at  the  present  time  without  redress  ;  for  such  is  the  political 
power  of  the  Church,  that  it  seems  impossible  to  obtain  even  an  investiga- 
tion of  the  Church's  pretended  title  to  the  territory.  The  missionary 
activities  of  Romanism  at  the  present  day  seem  to  aim  at  pecuniary 
advantage  or  political  power.  As  an  illustrative  instance,  when  the  coloured 
man  of  the  Southern  States  of  the  American  Union  was  a  slave,  Rome  cared 
very  little  for  him  ;  but  now  that  he  has  obtained  the  franchise,  her  agents 
are  found  in  aU  the  towns,  and  she  is  seeking  to  ingratiate  herself  with  the 
people. 

IV.  Another  source  of  peril  lies  in  the  great  nealth  and  grasping  disposition 
of  the  Church.  The  largest  landowner  beyond  all  comparison  in  the  province 
of  Quebec  is  the  Roman  Catholic  Church.  The  greater  part  of  the  island 
of  Montreal  is  the  property  of  the  Church.  The  seminary  of  St.  Sulpice,  in 
Montreal,  a  single  fraternity  of  priests,  is  enormously  wealthy.  This  wealth 
is  an  additional  engine  of  influence  and  power  for  the  aggrandisement  of 
Romanism.  The  Church  oppresses  her  own  children,  and  extorts  from 
them  large  sums  for  ecclesiastical  purposes.  Public  men  see  and  feel  and 
fear  the  power  of  this  wealth,  begin  to  find  the  yoke  galling,  but  cannot 
break  it.  The  treasures  of  the  Church  are  rapidly  increasing.  She  has 
ability  to  possess  herself  of  any  property  she  covets.  What  the  result  will 
be  cannot  be  foretold.  The  land  question  is  a  burning  question  just  now  for 
Ireland.  Who  shall  own  the  soil  1  Many  desiderate  a  peasant  proprietary. 
If  a  fair  value  could  be  realised,  doubtless  many  landlords  would  be  delighted, 
imder  the  circumstances,  to  sell.  But  the  peasants  cannot  purchase  their 
holdings.  Now  there  is  danger,  should  the  estates  in  Ireland  change  owners, 
of  their  falling  into  the  hands  of  the  priests.  And  if  such  a  state  of  affairs 
should  come  to  pass,  then  double  woe  to  poor  Ireland.  Bad  would  become 
worse.  The  Church's  little  finger  would  be  thicker  than  the  landlord's 
loins.  These  are  some  of  the  perils  with  which  Rome  threatens  us.  Others 
might  be  mentioned,  especially  in  the  domain  of  temporal  affairs,  but  space 
fails. 

Rev.  R.  Aberorombie,  M.A.  (United  Methodist  Free  Churches)  :  It  haa 
been  said  by  a  great  Roman  Catholic  bishop  that  every  error  is  an  abuse  of 
a  truth,  and  I  think  one  of  the  best  ways  of  counteracting  sacerdotal  and 
Romish  errors  is  to  teach  the  truth  which  lies  at  the  root  of  those  errors. 


GENERAL    REMARKS.  261 

The  great  principle  of  the  Romish  Church  is  the  authority  of  the  Church 
itself.  Now  we  all  must  recognise  that  there  is  a  great  deal  of  truth  in 
the  principle  of  authority.  We  recognise  it  in  the  family  ;  we  recognise 
it  in  the  church  ;  we  recognise  it  in  scientific  training.  There  are  com- 
paratively few  truths  that  any  of  us  believe  because  we  have  thoroughly 
tested  them  for  ourselves  ;  there  are  far  more  that  we  take  on  tlie 
authority  of  others  ;  but  at  the  same  time  the  intention  of  the  prin- 
ciple of  authority  is  not  to  check  the  exercise  of  the  intellect,  not  to 
cramp  the  intellect,  but  rather  to  guide  us  and  lead  us  during  the  early 
stages  of  our  progress,  till  at  last  we  grow  up  to  the  standard  of  the 
stature  of  the  perfect  man  in  Christ  Jesus.  The  use  of  autliority  is  in  the 
period  of  pupilage,  but  its  intent  is  not  to  keep  us  in  that  state  of  pupilage 
for  ever.  That  is  the  error  mingling  with  the  truth  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  doctrine.  So,  again,  the  exaltation  of  the  priesthood  is  a  perver- 
sion of  the  truth  that  the  ministerial  calling  is  the  highest  and  noblest  of 
all  callings  ;  but  the  nobleness  of  the  ministerial  calling  is  to  be  shown 
f ortli,  not  by  separating  ourselves  from  others,  either  in  dress  or  speech  or 
manner,  but  it  is  to  be  shown  forth  rather  by  imitating  our  Divine  Master, 
who  showed  forth  that  which  was  Divine  in  all  the  details  of  daily  life. 
Then,  again,  the  doctrine  of  baptismal  regeneration  may  be  said  to  be  the 
outgrowth  of  that  principle  which  was  advocated  by  our  friend  Dr.  Pope 
the  other  day — namely,  that  there  is  a  Divine  Spirit,  who  speaks  to  every 
child  of  man,  and  of  which  baptism  is  only  the  sign.  Now  I  was  very 
glad  to  hear  our  friend  Mr.  Guttridge  lay  so  much  stress  on  the  principle 
that  there  is  a  living  spirit  in  the  Church  of  Christ.  Let  us  remember 
that  the  Roman  Catholics  and  Ritualists  are  constantly  telling  us  that  God 
did  not  speak  to  men  merely  in  the  Bible  long  ago,  but  that  He  speaks  in 
the  Church  every  day.  We,  as  Methodists,  I  do  maintain,  can  better  deal 
with  this  than  most  others,  because  from  the  beginning  we  have  aflirmed 
that  great  and  true  principle,  that  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God  does  teach  in  the 
Church  of  to-day,  and  in  tlie  Chm'ch  of  every  succeeding  generation. 
Then,  again,  we  ought  to  be  able  to  counteract  the  doctrine  of  auricular 
confession,  inasmuch  as  we  ourselves  have  always  maintained  the  principle 
of  confession,  though  not  to  the  priest.  It  seems  to  me,  too,  that  we  can 
do  a  great  deal  to  preserve  our  young  people  by  giving  them  early  in  life 
the  stories  of  the  martyrs  to  read  and  study. 

Rev.  Dr.  Newman  :  ]\Ir.  President — In  an  open  field,  and  in  a  fair  fight, 
Methodism  has  nothing  to  fear  from  Rome.  Rome  shuns  such  a  field,  and 
hates  such  a  fight.  Rome  strikes  in  the  dark  :  her  mailed  hand  is  gloved. 
There  are  two  dangers  to  Methodism  in  our  country — one  educational  and 
the  other  political.  The  educational  grows  out  of  the  fact  that  while  our 
Government  is  not  irreligious,  it  is  non-religious  ;  and  therefore  we  cannot 
introduce  into  our  public  schools  that  essentially  religious  element  neces- 
sary to  control  the  intellect,  for  the  intellect  must  be  controlled  by  an 
enlightened  conscience.  Then  as  an  adjunct  to  that  is  the  tendency  of 
Protestants  to  send  their  sons  and  daughters  to  Roman  Catholic  schools.  I 
say  that  that  is  a  crime  against  Protestant  childhood.  The  other  danger  is 
political.  It  grows  out  of  the  fact  that  Rome  is  essentially  political,  that 
Rome  is  nothing  without  a  political  power.  Break  that  power  and  you 
break  Rome  like  a  potter's  vossel  into  a  thousand  pieces.  The  aspiration, 
therefore,  of  Rome  in  our  municpalities,  in  our  States,  in  our  nation,  is  to 
get  control,  and  this  is  largely  aided  by  a  European  element.  When  the 
great  cathedral  in  the  Fifth-avenue,  New  York  City,  was  dedicated,  then 
was  brought  to  light — that  is,  unusual  prominence  was  given  to  the  fact— 
that  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic  had 
organised  a  colonisation  society,  with  the  solemn  intention  of  colonising 
certain  of  our  territories  not  yet  admitted  into  the  Union  •  and  it  may  be 


262  POSSIBLE   PERILS   OF  METHODISM. 

true,  Eng-Hshmen,  and  you  may  find  it  out,  that  much  of  the  present  Irish 
agitation  has  its  inspiration  in  Rome  in  moving  Ireland  over  to  America. 
We  are  not  without  danger  ;  for  I  appeal  to  these  reverend  men  here  to- 
day, more  scholarly  than  I,  more  faithful  students  of  history — I  appeal  to 
them  touching  this  grand  fact,  that  wherever  Rome  has  sought  to  plant 
herself,  there  she  has  triumphed.  Under  Francis  Xavier  she  gained  the 
conlrol  of  the  Japanese  Empire  ;  and  in  China,  where  half  the  human  race 
resides,  a  well-known  consummate  Jesuit  once  became  Prime  Minister,  and 
a  brother  Jesuit  Minister  of  War.  Take  the  history  of  the  Romish 
Church,  and  that  fact  cannot  be  contradicted.  We  look  on  with  apprehen- 
sion. The  struggle  is  transferred  from  Europe  to  America.  What  will  be 
the  issue,  God  only  knows  ;  but  there  is  one  thing  that  history  also  assures 
us  of,  that  while  Romanism  has  succeeded  wherever  Romanism  has  planted 
its  banner,  yet,  by  the  depravity  of  Rome,  she  has  gone  down,  in  the  long- 
run. 

Rev.  S.  Hulme  (Methodist  New  Connexion)  :  Archbishop  Whately  was 
of  opinion  that  Popery  has  its  origin  in  human  nature,  and  as  there  is  a 
deal  of  human  nature  among  Methodists,  the  danger  of  sliding  into 
Popery  must,  therefore,  be  very  imminent.  Popery  is  ceremonial, 
Methodism  is  spiritual — a  spiritual  principle  implanted  in  the  heart  by  the 
Holy  Spirit,  ruling  the  whole  man  in  all  his  faculties,  dispositions,  and 
acts.  If  Methodism  is  to  do  the  work  assigned  it  this  spiritual  power 
must  be  guarded  against  everything  that  would  destroy  or  even  weaken  it. 
Is  there  not  danger  here  ?  The  committee  must  have  thought  so,  or  they 
would  not  have  chosen  this  thesis  for  discussion  this  morning.  I  believe 
there  is  danger.  Let  us  be  candid,  but  at  the  same  time  I  hope  not 
offensive.  I  ask.  Is  there  not  amongst  us 'a  growing  favourable  feeling 
towards  the  notion  tliat  in  the  administration  of  the  ordinance  of  baptism 
to  infants  saving  grace  is  given  ?  I  fear  that  there  is  ;  but  the  question 
with  me  is  how  it  comes,  and  how  it  operates.  Regeneration  or  a  moral 
change  implies  a  moral  agent,  and  I  cannot  form  any  conception  of  an 
infant  being  the  subject  of  i-egenerating  grace  ;  and  yet,  sir,  for  what 
other  purpose  can  the  Holy  Spirit  be  given  in  the  administration  of  the 
ordinance  of  baptism  to  an  infant  except  to  regenerate  it  ?  There  cannot 
possibly  be  any  necessary  connection  based  upon  the  nature  of  the  case 
between  the  application  of  water  to  the  body  and  the  change  of  moral 
disposition  in  the  heart.  If  there  be  no  necessary  connection  in  the  case, 
then  has  such  a  connection  been  established  by  God's  sovereign  will  in  the 
system  of  grace  ?  I  do  not  see  any  proof  of  it  in  the  commission  given 
to  the  apostles  to  baptise,  nor  in  the  teachings  of  Christ,  nor  ia  the 
analogous  institution  of  circumcision. 


TJie  essay  upon  the  Possible  Perils  of  Methodism  from  Modern 
Scfipiicisvi,  written  by  the  Rev.  Daniel  Curry,  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  was  read  in  the  absence  of  the  author  by  the  Rev. 
Homer  Eaton,  D.  D. 

The  Head  of  the  Church,  in  His  wonderful  parting  charge  to  His 
disciples,  delivered  the  night  before  He  suffered,  defined  with  remark- 
able precision  and  graphic  power  the  relations  of  His  Church  to  the 
world.  Its  place  is  in  the  world,  that  is,  among  men,  and  in  contact 
with  human  societj',  but  not  of  the  world,  neither  in  spirit,  nor  in 
character,  nor  in  ultimate  design.      And  as  these   are   distinct   and 


REV.    DANIEL   CURRY'S   ADDRESS.  26ii 

diverse,  so  in  their  several  activities  they  necessarily  become  antago- 
nistic and  belligerent,  and  these  oppositions  are  not  without  their 
resultant  perils  for  the  Church,  yet  not  such  but  that  the  final  triumph 
of  Christ's  kingdom  is  assured.  Its  safety,  however,  is  conditioned  on 
tlie  abiding  presence  and  perpetual  protection  of  its  risen  and  glorified 
Head,  made  effective  at  all  times  by  the  fidelity  of  His  people,  and 
their  continuance  under  His  guidance  and  leadership. 

Methodism,  as  a  form  of  vital  Christianity,  and  an  integral  portion 
of  the  one  and  indivisible  Church  of  the  living  God,  is  subject  to  all  the 
general  conditions  of  that  of  which  it  is  a  part.  As  a  variety  of  Evan- 
gelical Protestantism  it  is  specifically  distinguished  and  differentiated 
by  its  vitality  and  essential  spirituality  as  developed  in  personal 
experience.  This  peculiar  manifestation  of  the  Christian  life — itself 
simply  "  Christianity  in  earnest,"  and  now  a  recognised  fact  of  not  in- 
significant j)roportions  in  the  religious  forces  of  the  age — was  originally 
neither  specifically  doctrinal,  nor  formally  ecclesiastical,  but  simply  a 
phase  of  religious  experience  with  its  resultant  privileges  and  obli- 
gations. As  a  spirit  of  unworldlinsss,  intensely  active  because  of  its 
vitality,  it  is  perpetually  exposed  to  collisions  and  conflicts  with  the 
ever  active  and  aggressive  spirit  of  the  world.  As  a  part  of  the  militant 
Church,  Methodism  must  need  subsist  in  a  state  of  incessant  warfare, 
and  this  entails  not  only  incessant  labours  and  endurance,  but  also 
possible  perils.  And  as  its  beginning  and  continuance,  or  its  right  to 
be,  can  be  justified  only  as  it  presents  itself  as  eminently  personal  and 
experimental,  so  its  perils  will  be  found  to  lie  among  matters  pertaining 
chiefly  to  the  religious  life  of  the  individual.  But  this  religious  life 
must  necessarily  embody  itself  in  certain  intellectual  convictions  and 
definite  moral  sentiments;  for  even  the  most  thoroughly  spiritual  forms 
of  religion  can  subsist  and  perpetuate  themselves  only  by  becoming 
enshrined  in  a  theological  creed  and  an  ecclesiastical  organism.  And 
as  these  must  be  guarded  from  harm,  since  they  are  always  liable  to 
hostile  assaults,  even  here,  at  the  very  outposts,  dan^rs  may  be 
incurred.  Both  faith  and  discipline  are  very  closely  related  to  the 
Christian  life ;  and  therefore  they  should  be  clearly  defined  to  the 
intellectual  consciousness,  and  firmly  held  by  a  steady  spiritual  faith, 
so  as  to  dominate  the  whole  soul. 

Our  holy  rehgion — the  common  heritage  of  all  believers,  and  pre- 
eminently the  very  soul  of  Methodism — though  primaiilyand  supremely 
spirit  and  life,  is  also  embodied  in  certain  great  historical  and  doctrinal 
truths,  which  are  to  be  understandingly  believed  and  devoutly  cherished. 
For  these  we  are  taught  to  contend  earnestly,  for  men  are  saved  by  the 
truth  received  and  made  effective  by  faith;  and,  on  the  other  liand, 
the  lack  of  fixed  religious  convictions  endangers  the  whole  Christiau 
structure,  whether  in  the  individual  or  in  society.  A  prevalent  and 
popular  unbelief  is,  no  doubt,  a  very  great  evil ;  but  it  can  subsist  and 
■work  its  harjm  only  as  it  is  built  upon  and  fortified  by  the  natural  un- 


2(j4!  POSSIBLE  PERILS   OF   METHODISM. 

belief  of  all  tlie  unregenerate.  As  a  system  of  Iristorical  trutbs,  and  a 
most  potent  social  force,  Christianity  stands  self-approved,  and  for  tlie 
safe  keeping  of  these  outposts  its  external  evidences  may  be  trusted. 
Its  perils  from  attacks  from  that  side  have,  in  fact,  been  reduced  to 
very  insignificant  proportions. 

The  scepticism  which  is  a  perpetual  source  of  peril  to  vital  re- 
ligion, eminently  to  Methodism,  originates  in  the  unbelief  of  the  un- 
renewed heart,  which,  while  it  remains,  also  dominates  the  whole  soul, 
darkening  the  understanding,  and  perverting  the  will.  Till  "  born 
again,"  therefore,  men  are  without  any  proper  knowledge  of  God  and  of 
spiritual  things,  simply  and  certainly,  because  they  are  without  the 
subjective  powers  by  which  these  things  may  be  apprehended.  The 
death  in  sin  so  largely  set  forth  by  St.  Paul  is  much  more  than  a  state 
of  judicial  condemnation ;  it  is  also,  and  eminently,  a  spiritual  atrophy, 
by  reason  of  which  "  the  natural  man  receiveth  not  the  things  of  the 
Spirit  of  God."  Such  an  one,  though  surrounded  on  every  side  by  a 
world  of  Divine  beauty  and  order,  knows  nothing  of  them  ;  and  though 
the  Divine  truth  shines  upon  them,  yet  he  fails  to  detect  their  presence ; 
and  if,  as  often  happens,  the  Divine  Spirit  begins  to  force  His  life-giving 
light  into  the  soul,  the  ej'es  of  the  mind  are  wilfully  shut  against  the 
truth  ;  for  "  this  is  the  condemnation,  that  light  is  come  into  the  world, 
and  men  loved  darkness  rather  than  light,  because  their  deeds  were 
evil."  And  thus  it  is,  that  through  the  perverse  unbelief  of  the  soul 
the  light  of  Divine  truth  is  changed  into  darkness,  and  then,  "  how 
great  is  the  darkness  !  " 

Scepticism,  the  popular  euphemism  for  this  Scriptural  unbelief, 
though  always  substantially  the  same,  is  Proteaa  in  its  forms  and 
chameleon-like  in  colours.  Its  latest  guise  is  that  of  an  earnest  and 
acute  research  among  natural  phenomena  with  a  steady  disregard  of  all 
that  lies  beyond  the  range  of  physical  law.  It  also  sets  up  its  own  laws 
of  belief  and  canons  of  criticism,  making  very  little  account  of  the 
records  of  the  past,  and  giving  full  credence  only  to  the  evidence  of  the 
senses.  But  a  method  so  unnatural  and  essentially  repugnant  to  the 
laws  of  mind  is  sure  to  defeat  its  own  purposes.  To  believe  something 
is  a  necessity,  and  the  fallacy  of  a  system  of  philosophical  nescience 
will  be  unmistakably  detected  and  its  conclusions  rejected,  even  by 
those  who  fail  to  trace  the  processes  of  the  sophistry.  Some  may, 
indeed,  through  dread  of  the  future,  welcome  any  scheme  of  unbelief  by 
which  all  spiritual  truth  may  be  hidden ;  but  a  blank  scepticism  which 
ignores  rational  evidence  cannot  long  satisfy  minds  which  instinctively 
demand  something  to  believe.  For  a  little  while  such  fancies  may  have 
their  day  of  falsehood  and  spiritual  disasters,  but  only  for  a  day  ;  and 
though  they  do  much  harm,  yet  they  destroy  themselves !  This 
scientific  Materialism,  which  is,  in  fact,  merely  a  godless  naturaUsm, 
is  now  the  favourite  form  of  modern  scepticism.  It  makes  large 
pretensions  to  learning,  but  all  its  facts  are  drawn  from  the  material 


EEV.    DANIEL   CUKRY'S   ADDRESS.  265 

■world,  and  tlie  five  aenses  are  its  only  resources  for  the  mind'g 
furniture  ;  and  from  the  scanty  materials  so  gained  is  wrought  out  a 
theory  of  all  possihle  knowledge.  Dismissing  the  Creator  and  Up- 
holder of  all  things  from  His  own  works,  as  no  longer  needed,  a 
something  which  they  call  Nature  is  substituted,  wbich  its  worshippers 
endow  with  the  "  potency  and  promise  "  of  all  phenomenal  being  ;  and 
beyond  this,  it  is  not  lawful  to  inquire.  But  the  authority  by  which 
certain  sources  of  knowledge  are  rejected  and  others  accepted,  and  a 
theory  of  being  is  promulgated  which  emjiloys  only  a  part,  and  that 
the  least  considerablj  of  the  phenomena  of  life,  may  jjroperly  be  called 
in  question.  And  to  do  that  is  to  effectually  dispose  of  all  of  this 
pretentious  sj^stem,  for  its  first  truths  have  no  substantial  basis,  being 
neither  axioms  nor  intuitions;  and  because  it  is  not  built  ujjou  any 
well-attested  principles,  but  is  derived  from  uncertain  postulates, 
unproved  and  incapable  of  proof,  and  simply  assumed  to  be  that  for 
which  they  are  employed,  to  disallow  their  authority  is  fatal  to  their 
pretensions. 

Even  as  a  system  of  philosophy  this  materialistic  naturalism  is 
manifestly  and  fatally  defective.  Of  the  sujjersensuous  reason,  and 
the  original  intuitions  by  which  we  apprehend  truth,  and  beauty,  and 
moral  worth,  and  especially  for  the  universally  recognised  impulse  to 
worship,  no  account  is  made ;  and  while  the  material  world  is  searched 
out  to  its  latest  details,  and  tortured  to  compel  it  to  give  up  its 
deepest  secrets,  the  higher  attributes  of  man's  nature  are  disregarded. 
In  this  cabinet  of  curiosities  man  finds  himself,  in  respect  to  the 
higher  attributes  of  his  being,  only  an  idle  spectator,  with  no  other 
use  for  all  these  things  than  as  he  may  compel  them  to  minister  to  his 
sensuous  pleasures  ;  and  yet,  because  he  feels  the  movements  of  a 
higher  nature  within  him,  for  which  he  seems  to  have  no  use,  he  can 
do  but  httle  more  than  ask,  despondently,  whether  such  a  life  is  worth 
living.  Built  upon  such  a  foundation,  morality  is  at  best  a  mere  con- 
ventionaUsm  ;  virtue  a  poetic  fancy ;  heroism  the  effervescence  of 
enthusiasm ;  and  religion  a  ghostly  and  ghastly  superstition.  A 
system  so  thoroughly  tiunatural  and  so  absurd,  though  it  may  for  a 
little  while  dazzle  by  its  false  brilliancy,  and  allure  the  unspiritual  by 
its  pretentiousness,  cannot  continuously  maintain  its  hold  upon  rational 
minds,  nor  entirely  hide  from  them  those  spiritual  truths  for  which 
men's  hearts  instinctively  yearn. 

The  perils  to  which  our  Christian  life  is  exposed  are  therefore  to  be 
anticipated  not  as  coming  cluefly  from  without,  but  rather  as  arising 
from  the  strong  and  persistent  tendencies  of  "  the  evil  beart  of  unbelief 
and  departing  from  the  living  God."  It  is  much  less  by  their  con- 
sciously determined  purposes  to  evU,  or  by  the  necessities  of  their 
convictions,  than  by  the  stealthy  glidings  of  the  darkened  understand- 
ing and  the  depraved  heart  into  evil  ways,  that  men  are  led  away  from 
the  truth,  and  are  brought  at  length  to  "  change  the  truth  of  God  into 


266  POSSIBLE   PERILS   OF  METHODISM. 

a  lie,  and  to  worship  and  serve  the  creature  more  than  the  Creator." 
Every  man  is  naturally,  as  to  spiritual  and  heavenly  things,  an  un- 
believer, and  yet  always  ill  at  ease  in  unbelief ;  and  even  converted 
men,  so  long  as  they  are  in  this  body,  beset  with  its  infirmities  and 
subject  to  its  prochvities  to  evil,  find  themselves  at  times  tending  again 
to  spiritual  darkness,  and  to  a  ruinous  spirit  of  questioning  and  un- 
belief. As  the  tamed  partridge  is  readily  allured  again  to  its  thickets, 
and  the  chUd  of  the  savage,  even  among  the  amenities  of  civilisation, 
finds  at  times  his  heart  turning  again  to  the  home  of  his  forefathers,  so 
the  hearts  of  men,  though  renewed  by  grace  and  taught  of  God,  still 
find  themselves  assailed  by  temptations  to  doubtings  and  philosophical 
scepticism ;  and  when  this  spirit  becomes  dominant  the  external  evi- 
dences of  Christianity  are- unavailing.  In  the  absence  of  the  power  of 
vision  the  light  of  day  fails  to  make  manifest,  and  to  minds  subjectively 
incapable  of  receiving  the  truth  the  most  cogent  reasons  will  fail  to 
bring  conviction.  Faith  is  much  more  than  an  intellectual  acceptance 
of  the  truth  adequately  proved ;  it  is  both  a  susceptibility  and  a  faculty 
of  the  soul,  which  receives  the  knowledge  of  spiritual  things  and  takes 
hold  of  what  is  so  seen.  God's  word  and  Si^irit  come  into  the  soul  to 
declare  the  truth  and  to  give  the  power  of  spiritual  vision ;  and  the 
soul,  quickened  by  the  incoming  Sjjirit,  sees,  believes,  and  assimilates 
that  truth,  and  is  transformed  into  its  own  character.  This  is  the  life 
of  faith,  which,  to  all  who  continue  in  it,  is  as  the  shining  light  which 
shines  mors  and  more  to  the  perfect  day.  If,  however,  at  any  time, 
the  lower  and  grosser  elements  of  the  spirit,  which  will  ever  and  anon 
assert  themselves  even  in  the  regenerate  and  sanctified,  shall  become 
dominant,  the  spirit's  Hght  will  be  darkened,  and  unbelief  will  gather 
upon  the  soul,  as  the  shades  of  evening  come  on  at  the  setting  of  the 
sun.  Then,  too,  the  carnal  mind  wiU  again  assert  its  power,  and  all 
unperceived  the  work  of  backsliding  is  begun ;  and  whenever  this 
occurs,  doubts  and  misgivings  in  respect  to  spiritual  things,  and  unpur- 
posed glidings  into  sceptical  modes  of  thought  and  reasoning,  are 
inevitable  results.  The  coming  on  of  this  spiritual  occultation  in  the 
Churches  and  in  social  communities,  with  the  inseparable  decline 
of  the  Christian  life,  individual  and  among  peo]ples,  is  the  certain 
precursor  of  a  prevalent  rationalistic  negativism  in  all  matters  of 
faith. 

The  words  of  Divine  wisdom,  which  declare  that  •'  As  a  man  thinketh 
in  his  heart,  so  is  he,"  apply  alike  to  believers  and  unbeHevers.  The 
saving  offices  of  faith  are  not  simply  arbitrary  appointments  of  the 
Divine  will,  but  are  wrought  out  normally,  and  according  to  a  deep 
Divine  philosophy,  and  through  appropriate  secondary  causes.  Faith, 
which  is  never  individual  entity,  but  always  an  attribute  and  condition 
of  the  rational  soul,  when  exercised  upon  the  great  spirit-realities 
revealed  in  the  Divine  Word,  becomes  itself  a  mode  of  perception  and  a 
realising  demonstration  of  the  things  upon  which  it  is  exercised.     It  is 


REV.    DANIEL   CURRY'S  ADDRESS.  267 

tiie  "  single  eye  "  by  -n'liicli  the  whole  intellectual  and  spiritual  person  is 
illuniidjated — the  soul's  enlarged  receptivity,  which  receives  and  appro- 
priates all  sjjiritual  good.  On  the  other  hand,  unbelief  is  at  once 
the  cause  and  the  result  of  spiritual  darkness,  revealing  itself  as  the 
paralysis  of  the  soul. 

Even  in  the  unregenerate  there  are  the  beginnings  of  the  Divine 
life  and  the  dawnings  of  spiritual  enlightenment,  which  will  either  rise 
into  the  clear  vision  of  faith,  or  may  be  extinguished,  through  per- 
verse unbelief,  in  utter  darkness.  And  with  this  eclipse  of  faith  comes, 
also,  the  loss  of  spiritual  susceptibility — the  benumbing  of  the  con- 
science, and  the  dominance  of  the  lower  elements  in  man.  It  is  among 
such  conditions,  and  because  of  their  pernicious  influences,  that  the 
"  evil-minded  and  the  impostors  (self-deceived  ones)  wax  worse  and 
worse,  deceiving  and  being  deceived."  Scepticism  is  not  merely  a  con- 
dition of  intellectual  uncertainty — it  is  an  enslavement  of  the  reason, 
rendering  the  heart  and  mind  incapable  of  receiving  and  apj)lying  the 
evidences  of  spiritual  truth,  while  both  the  will  and  t^he  power  to 
believe  are  essential  prerequisites  to  the  knowledge  of  these  things, 
and  to  becoming  rooted  and  grounded  in  them. 

And  since  this  unbelief  of  the  soul  is  so  universally  and  potentially 
present  among  men — so  difficult  to  be  withstood,  and  so  fearfully 
ruinous  in  its  consequences — how  it  may  be  resisted  and  overcome 
becomes  an  inquiry  fraught  with  the  highest  possible  interest.  And 
as  unbelief  has  its  source  and  hiding-place  in  the  heart,  it  must  be 
assa'led  in  that  its  stronghold.  The  conflict  must  begin  with  indi- 
vidual souls,  and  then  work  its  way  outward  through  society.  And 
here,  too,  we  may  adopt  without  any  qualification,  and  apply  in  their 
fullest  measure  of  meaning,  the  words  of  St.  John,  "that  the  victory 
that  overcometh  the  world  is  by  faith."  The  want  of  success  in  the 
Church  in  its  conflict  with  the  spirit  of  unbelief,  so  often  confessed  and 
lamented,  and  of  which  our  theme  is,  by  implication,  a  confession,  is 
the  result  of  the  want  of  faith  ;  its  better  success,  in  times  to  come, 
most  be  gained  by  the  acquisition  of  deeper,  broader,  and  more  firmly 
settled  religious  convictions,  and  these  must  themselves  be  the  fruits 
of  richer  spiritual  experiences.  The  living  truths  of  the  Gospel  formu- 
lated into  intellectual  propositions  are  the  needed  outwork  of  the 
citadel  of  faith  in  the  heart — the  body  in  which  it  abides,  and  through 
which  it  performs  its  saving  work,  and  without  which  it  is  shapeless, 
and  shadowy,  and  evanescent.  In  order  that  a  man  may  stand  fast 
in  his  attachment  to  the  truths  of  religion,  and  so  hold  them  that  he 
shall  be  saved  by  them,  he  must  know  what  they  are,  and  be  familiar 
with  their  forms  and  substance,  and  also  know  their  metes  and  bounds. 
And  the  Church,  in  its  aggregate  unity — the  associated  comiDany  of 
believers — itself  "  the  pillar  and  ground  of  the  truth,"  and  Christ's 
everlasting  witness  in  the  world,  must  not  only  accept  these  truths, 
but  also  openly  confess  them,  and  definitely  declare  them  among  men. 


268  POSSIBLE   PERILS   OF  METHODISM. 

There  is  great  potency  in  a  form  of  sound  words,  and  nevei-  more  so 
than  when  they  clearly  and  forcibly  embody  the  living  trutns  of  the 
Gospel.  By  these,  Christian  truths  become  living  sentimen'.s  in  men's 
minds  and  hearts,  are  incorporated  intx)  the  ordinary  thinkings  of 
whole  communities,  fashioning  their  religious  opinions,  and  silently, 
and  yet  effectively,  shaping  their  characters.  Even  a  merely  specula- 
tive belief  in  Christianity  is  of  great  value.  "  The  faitli  onoe  delivered 
to  the  saints,"  which  is  possessed  by  the  Church  in  the  form  of  well- 
preserved  and  duly-attested  documents — those  "  Scriptures  "  which 
testify  of  Christ,  and  in  which  all  that  receive  them  "  have  eternal  life  " 
— is  even  a  self-attesting  reality.  The  Holy  Scriptures  are  at  once  a 
faithful  embodiment  and  record  of  the  trutli  as  it  is  in  Jesus,  and  the 
medium  through  which  the  spirit's  life  is  brougl^t  into  men's  souls. 
They  thus  attest  their  own  Divinity,  and  establish  the  hearts  of  all 
who  receive  them  in  their  doctrine  and  spirit.  Unlike  all  other  systems 
of  right  and  duty,  which  come  to  us  only  as  didactic  precepts,  God's 
Word  speaks  with  a  sacred  authority,  teaching  the  most  exalted  ideal 
righteousness,  together  with  its  realisation  and  its  exemplar  in  a  real 
and  historical  person.  The  life-story  and  the  delineated  character  of 
Jesus — the  Christ,  the  incomparable  man  whose  words  and  works 
stand  a  perpetual  demonstration  of  His  essential  Godhead — are  them- 
selves the  best  possible  evidences  of  those  living  truths  of  which  He 
Himself  is  at  once  the  author  and  the  subject ;  and  their  power  to 
redeem  and  transform  the  wrecks  of  our  humanity,  as  seen  through  all 
the  annals  of  the  Church,  constitutes  the  highest  form  of  Christian 
evidences.  When  the  Baptitit,  from  his  prison,  asked  for  assurances  of 
the  Messiahship  of  the  Prophet  of  Nazareth,  he  was  pointed  to  the 
wonders  wrought  by  Him,  and  chiefly  to  the  fact  that  by  Him  "  to  the 
poor  the  Gosiiel  is  preached."  And  through  all  later  times  the  same 
proofs  have  attested  the  Divinity  of  Christianity ;  its  brightest  jewels 
are  souls  renewed  by  grace,  its  monuments  are  built  of  living  stones, 
and  the  Church,  emerging  from  the  flames  of  persecution,  defying  the 
wasting  tooth  of  time,  and  perpetually  renewing  its  youth,  is  its  own 
ever-living  proof  that  it  is  of  God,  and  is  destined  to  endure  for  ever. 
As  He  was  seen  at  Patmos,  walking  among  the  golden  candlesticks, 
and  holding  the  stars  in  His  right  hand,  so  is  Jesus  evermore  the  chief 
and  central  figure  of  the  great  historical  picture  of  the  Church  of  the 
Ages.  The  Holy  Scriptures,  as  interpreted  by  the  history  of  the 
Church,  and  the  Church  itself,  as  a  perpetual  spiritual  power,  as 
illuminated  by  the  words  and  spirit  of  Holy  Scripture,  are  the  concur- 
rent witnesses  of  the  truth.  And  in  proportion  as  the  minds  and  hearts 
of  believers,  and  the  whole  Church,  in  its  doctrines  and  ordinances,  its 
institutions  and  its  life,  shall  become  suffused  and  saturated  with  the 
soul  and  substance  of  the  Bible,  will  all  danger  from  the  spirit  of  un- 
belief fade  away  and  disappear. 

But  stUl,  for  their  ultimate  effectiveness  in  averting  the  perils  of 


EEV.    DANIEL   CUERY'S   ADDRESS.  269 

unbelief,  all  forms  and  kinds  of  the  Christian  evidences  are  con- 
ditioued  on  the  soul's  own  present  and  abiding  experience  in  spiritual 
things.  Other  things  may  suffice  to  induce  intellectual  assent,  but 
only  with  the  heart  men  beheve  unto  righteousness.  "  The  natural 
man  receiveth  not  the  things  of  the  Sph-it  of  God,  for  they  are  foolish- 
ness to  him  ;  neither  can  he  know  them,  because  they  are  spiritually 
discerned."  The  truly  spiritual  believer,  though  inexpert  in  polemical 
discussions,  and  quite  unable  to  answer  to  the  objections  propounded 
by  a  perverse  but  ingenious  scepticism,  finds  evidences  in  his  own 
heart,  his  spiritual  consciousness,  of  the  things  that  he  has  believed, 
which  effectually  silence  all  doubts.  Even  our  intellectual  conceptions 
of  spiritual  tilings  are  largely  dependent  on  our  spiritual  intuitions, 
without  which,  indeed,  men's  best  convictions  will  be  only  uncertain 
balances  of  doubts  and  probabilities  ;  while  the  humblest  of  believers, 
taught  by  the  Divine  Word  and  Spirit,  rests  in  the  full  assurance  of 
faith,  for  he  knows  "  whom  he  hath  believed." 

But  to  us  Methodists,  in  view  of  a  specific  article  of  belief  held  in 
common  by  us,  a  peculiar  interest  attaches  to  this  subject.  In  our 
universally  accepted  concord  of  doctrine  is  included  tliat  of  the  fearful 
possibility  that  "  those  who  were  once  enlightened,  and  have  tasted  of 
the  heavenly  gift,  and  were  made  partakers  of  the  Holy  Ghost,"  may 
"fall  away,"  so  that  it  shall  be  impossible  to  "  renew  them  again  unto 
repentance."  It  therefore  becomes  us,  beyond  all  others,  to  guard 
against  the  occurrence  of  that  dreadful  possibility,  and  with  all  dili- 
gence to  watch  and  pray  lest  we  fall  away  by  this  form  of  unbelief. 
And  this  we  can  do  only  as  we  guard  the  sacred  fire  on  the  soul's  altar  ; 
nor  will  it  do  to  accept  the  smouldering  cinders  of  a  merely  remembered 
rehgious  experience  as  proofs  that  the  fire  of  grace  is  still  burning. 
Only  by  walking  in  the  light  can  the  believer  be  warranted  against 
the  insidious  approaches  of  unbelief. 

The  zeal  and  learning  of  the  Church  have  been  long  and  earnestly 
devoted  to  the  defence  of  the  outworks  of  the  faith,  to  the  establish- 
ment of  Christianity  as  a  form  of  intellectual  belief  ;  and  in  this  a 
noble  and  valuable  work  has  been  achieved.  But  in  these  "  Apologies," 
and  "Analogies,"  and  "  Theodicies,"  only  negative  arguments  are 
attemj)ted.  They  are,  indeed,  powerful  to  demolish  and  destroy  dis- 
belief, but  they  can  go  no  further  ;  for  the  unbelief  of  the  heart  they 
offer  no  remedy.  Against  the  destructive  criticism,  the  learned  mate- 
rialism, and  the  godless  philosophy  which  spring  spontaneously  out  of 
the  e^dl  heart  of  unbelief,  and  replace  the  faith  once  delivered  by  a 
soulless  negativism,  they  have  nothing  to  oppose.  The  thing  here 
required  is  a  living,  self -attesting,  and  soul-transforming  Christian 
experience.  This  is  our  only  and  all-sufficient  strong  tower  and  rock 
of  defence.     In  hoc  signo  vinres. 

The  history  of  the  rise  and  progress  of  "  the  Religious  Movement  of 
the  Eighteenth   Century  called  Metliodisni"  is  especially  suggestive 


270  POSSIBLE  PERILS   OF   METHODISM. 

and  full  of  instruction  respecting  these  things.  Though  eminently  the 
age  of  apologetics,  the  eighteenth  century  is  recognised  by  the  most 
eminent  historical  and  religious  authorities  as  an  epoch  of  marked 
decadence  in  both  doctrinal  faith  and  religious  power  throughout 
Enjglish-speaking  Protestantism.  The  ablest  defenders  of  the  faith  of 
that  age  spoke  and  wrote  in  tones  and  terms  of  almost  absolute  despair, 
while  their  adversaries  were  already  chaunting  their  p^ans  of  victory, 
and  superciliously  referring  to  Christianity  as  a  thing  of  the  past.  A 
faithful  few  still  trimmed  their  lamps  in  the  apparent  twilight,  and 
hoped  in  God  even  against  hope ;  but  none  could  say  from  what  source 
the  needed  help  would  come.  The  schools  of  learning  were  already 
in  the  hands  of  the  enemy,  or  they  were  at  best  powerless  to  resist  the 
constantly  rising  tide  of  unbelief ;  the  pulpits  of  both  the  Established 
Church  and  the  Dissenters  had  lost  their  hold  upon  the  public  con- 
science ;  the  press,  as  that  force  is  now  felt  and  recognised,  scarcely 
existed ;  and  almost  everywhere  the  forms  of  religion  were  falling  into 
discredit  and  disuse.  How,  under  God,  this  dreadful  spell  was  broken, 
need  not  be  pointed  out  in  this  presence ;  to  state  it  in  order  would 
only  be  to  rehearse  the  opening  chapter  of  our  denominational  history. 
The  abortive  feelings  after  God,  by  the  little  original  "Methodist" 
club  at  Oxford,  disclosed  a  want  but  failed  to  find  its  remedy.  After- 
wards the  Wesley  brothers,  with  untold  pains  and  yearnings  of  spirit, 
continued  to  ask  what  they  must  do  to  be  saved,  and  found  none  to 
answer.  At  length  a  simple-minded  German  spoke  to  them,  in  terms 
but  faintly  apprehended  by  them,  of  the  w-ay  of  salvation  by  faith  ;  and 
they,  finding  in  their  own  hearts  that  which,  seemed  to  respond  to  the 
words  of  the  strange  teacher,  received  his  message  as  from  God, 
believed,  and  were  saved.  And  now,  with  their  hearts  "strangely 
warmed,"  and  with  lijDs  touched  with  live  coals  from  God's  own  altar, 
they  told  to  others  what  they  had  heard  and  seen,  and  what  was  their 
own  hearts'  experience ;  and  those  to  whom  they  spake  also  belieyed 
and  were  saved.  The  fearful  spell  that  had  held  the  apparently  mori- 
bund Church,  as  in  the  grasp  of  death,  was  broken,  a  living  Gospel  was 
again  heard  in  these  kingdoms  and  beyond  the  seas,  and  Methodism 
became  a  fact  in  English-speaking  Christendom.  And  although,  as  in 
the  Primitive  times,  "not  many  wise,  after  the  flesh,  not  many  mighty, 
not  many  noble,"  were  called,  yet  now  also  "  God  chose  the  foolish 
things  of  the  world  that  He  might  put  to  shame  them  that  are  strong, 
and  base  things  to  bring  to  nought  the  excellent." 

Such  were  the  beginnings  of  that  wonderful  religious  quickening 
whose  fruitage,  after  the  growth  of  nearly  a  century  and  a  half,  we 
now  rejoice  to  contemplate,  and  of  which  this  Convocation,  though  but 
the  least  part,  is  the  accredited  representative.  If  to-day  some  pilgrim 
from  the  distant  Orient,  or  the  remote  islands  of  the  Southern  Seas, 
shall  ask  for  the  monument  of  him  who,  under  God,  was  the  founder 
of  Methodism,  we  will  not  bring  him  to  the  cemetery  of  City  Road,  nor 


REV.    W.    L.    WATKINSON'S   ADDKESS.  271 

point  him  to  the  memorial  tablet  at  Westminster,  but,  borrowing  the 
words  of  the  scroll  that  commemorates  the  architect  of  St.  Paul's,  we 
will  say,  as  we  look  out  on  this  assembly,  viewing  them  as  the  repre- 
sentatives of  Methodist  converts  from  every  nation  under  heaven, 
persjjicite. 

"  Temples  Divine  of  living  stones, 
Inscribed  with  Jesus'  name." 

No  doubt  the  set  time  for  God  to  visit  His  peojile  had  come ;  for, 
wonderful  and  widespread  as  was  the  work  effected  by  the  Wesleys 
and  their  associates,  it  was  only  a  part  of  the  remarkable  awakening 
which  about  that  time  overspread  the  land  and  introduced  a  new  era 
of  spiritual  life  and  power. 

And  now,  while  we  rejoice  and  glory  in  these  things,  and  give  thanks 
to  God  for  what  He  has  wrought,  we  may  also  learn  from  them  a  lesson 
especially  pertinent  to  our  theme.  Having  been  saved  by  faith,  we 
must  continue  in  the  same,  "  kept  by  the  power  of  grace  through  faith 
unto  eternal  life,"  and  when  the  enemy  shall  come  in  like  a  flood  this 
is  the  standard  which  "the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  shall  lift  up  against 
him  " — "  And  this  is  the  victory  that  overcometh  the  world,  even  our 
faith."  The  giant  of  unbelief,  which  now  defies  the  host  of  the  living 
God,  shall  be  slain,  but  not  by  man's  weapons.  The  sling  and  stone  of 
the  Shepherd  of  Bethlehem,  hurled  and  hastened  by  the  Holy  Spirit, 
shall  suffice  where  other  and  more  pretentious  means  must  fail.  Safety 
against  the  perils  of  modern  scepticism,  whether  of  the  head  or  the 
heart,  must  be  sought  for  in  a  deeper  and  clearer  and  more  fruitful 
religious  experience.  Nothing  else  can  so  effectively  stay  and  turn 
back  the  floods  of  infidelity  as  the  baptism  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  given  in 
Pentecostal  measures  in  the  hearts  of  the  people  and  in  all  the  Churches. 
By  this  Methodism  was  called  into  being  in  the  hour  of  the  power  of 
darkness,  and  by  it  shall  ever  abide  in  safety,  despite  the  powers  of 
darkness. 

The  invited  address  upon  this  subject  was  given  by  the  Eev.  W.  L. 
Watkinson  (British  Wesleyau  Methodist  Church).  He  said:  I  shall 
speak  of  the  More  Probable  and  Immediate  Perils  of  Methodism  from 
Modern  Scepticism.     And, 

I.  Methodism  is  being  constantly  criticised  as  a  Church  with  a 
stereotj'ped  and  unprogressive  creed,  and  there  is  danger  lest  we  should 
be  provoked  by  these  criticisms  to  assume  a  more  liberal  theological 
character.  We  are  candidly  told  that  Wesleyauism  has  failed  to  keep 
abreast  of  the  thought  of  earnest  men;  that  its  narrow  orthodoxy 
lowers  it  in  the  opinion  of  all  liberal  thinkers,  and  prevents  such  from 
joining  its  communion ;  and  that  if  it  is  to  prosper  it  must  keej}  pace 
with  the  largening  knowledge  and  civilisation  and  wisdom  of  mankind. 
With  this  order  of  criticism  we  are  very  familiar ;  and  there  is,  per- 


272  POSSIBLE   PERILS   OF   METHODISM. 

haps,  some  little  danger  lest,  moved  by  these  remonstrances,  we  should 
affect  a  more  liberal  theological  tone.  But,  really,  the  present  Council, 
gathered  from  the  four  winds,  and  representing  a  Church  powerful  and 
flourishing  everywhere,  can  well  afford  to  smile  at  these  animadver- 
sions. So  long  as  we  have  a  broad  and  broadening  Church,  "we  can 
bear  the  reproach  of  a  narrow  creed ;  and  if  everything  else  is  pro- 
gressive— our  societies,  congregations,  missions, — we  can  bear  with 
se^fenity  the  taunt  of  unprogressive  orthodoxy.  We  hold  first  that  our 
creed  is  a  Scriptural  creed,  and  secondly,  tlmt  it  is  a  grand  working 
creed ;  and  we  have  no  intellectual  pride  to  gratify  by  sacrificing  either 
our  consistency  or  our  success.  If,  provoked  by  hostile  criticism,  we 
should  attempt  to  revise  our  theology  in  the  interest  of  latitudi- 
narianism,  it  would  not  be  long  before  we  were  taunted  again — and 
this  time  by  a  taunt  far  harder  to  bear ;  for,  descending  into  the  limbo  of 
extinct  Churches,  the  wasted,  gibing  shapes  of  Arianism,  Unitarianism, 
Deism  would  rise  uj)  to  greet  us :  "  Art  thou  also  become  weak  as  we  ? 
Art  thou  become  like  unto  us  ?  " 

II.  Another  peril  is,  lest  there  should  be  anything  like  an  attempt 
to  recast  our  theology  with  the  view  of  bringing  it  more  into  har- 
mony with  modern  thought.  Mr.  R.  W.  Dale,  of  Birmingham,  whose 
name  can  be  mentioned  in  this  assembly  only  with  respect,  tells  us 
that  "  the  movement  of  theological  Speculation  which  began  in  the 
early  part  of  the  sixteenth  century,  and  which  has  assumed  a  per- 
manent form  in  the  confessions  and  creeds  of  the  great  Protestant 
Churches,  is  coming  to  an  end.  This  is  a  fact  of  immeasurable  im- 
portance to  Evangelical  Christians.  If  we  refuse  to  recognise  it,  we 
shall  soon  be  unable  to  render  any  great  service  to  our  own  generation ; 
we  shall  be  unable  to  render  any  service  at  all  to  the  next."  He  thinks 
that  the  intellectual  revolution  which  has  been  going  on  in  Christendom 
during  the  last  three  hundred  years  is  approaching  its  term,  and  "  the 
process  of  reconstructing  our  theological  systems  wiU  soon  have  to  be 
gone  through  again."  And  he  concludes :  "  As  yet  the  Evangelical 
movement  has  produed  no  original  theologians  of  the  first  or  even  the 
second  rank.  It  has  been  more  eager  to  seek  and  to  save  the  lost  than 
to  investigate  the  foundations  of  Christian  doctrine ;  it  has  displayed 
heroic  vigour  and  zeal  in  evangelising  the  world  ;  but  it  has  shown  less 
courage  in  confronting  those  great  questions  of  Christian  philosophy 
which  in  all  the  most  energetic  ages  of  Christendom  have  tasked  the 
noblest  intellectual  powers  of  the  Church.  The  work  of  theological 
reconstruction  must  be  done."  To  this  we  reply :  John  Wesley  be- 
longed far  more  to  the  nineteenth  century  than  he  did  to  the  sixteenth, 
and  those  sermons  of  his  which  furnish  our  standard  of  doctrine  might 
be  preached  in  London  or  Oxford  to-day,  without  their  grating  on  the 
ears  of  those  Christians  who  least  sympathise  with  obsolete  phraseology. 
The  creed  of  Methodism  needs  no  recasting,  for  Wesley  did  little  theoris- 
ing, and  his  Scrii^tural  statement  of  doctrine  is  good  for  our  time,  if  not 


REV.    \V.    L.    WATKINSON'S    ADDRESS.  27"i 

for  all  time.  The  Evangelical  movement  may  not  have  produced 
original  theologians,  but  it  is  always  producing  able  men  who  can 
give  a  sufficiently  satisfactory  intellectual  account  to  their  generation 
of  the  great  facts  and  truths  of  Christianity ;  and  then  all  ISIethodists 
are  not  in  Methodism ;  and  whilst  men  like  the  Bishop  of  Durham, 
Canon  Liddon,  Professor  Wace,  and  Mr.  Dale  himself,  can  sjjeak  to  our 
age  in  its  own  tongue  with  such  skill  and  eloquence, 'we  rejoice  in  their 
achievements,  give  ourselves  afresh  to  evangelising,  and  let  our  theology 
alone. 

III.  Another  peril  may  be  found  in  the  ministry  lacking  adequate 
knowledge  of  the  various  forms  of  existing  error.  It  is  most  important 
that  the  pulpit  should  possess  such  a  knowledge,  for  how  otherwise 
can  it  supply  the  necessary  antidote  ?  One  of  the  ancients  said,  "He 
is  the  best  general  who  knows  the  most  of  the  affairs  of  the  enemy." 
Other  things  being  equal,  he  is  certainly  the  most  eifective  preacher 
who  haH  the  best  acquaintance  with  current  errors.  Not  that  our 
preaching  should  be  polemical,  for  the  next  best  thing  to  an  accurate 
knowledge  of  sceptical  developments  is  that  we  should  say  little  about 
them  formally  and  technically  ;  but  if  we  ap|)rehend  the  an ti- Christian 
errors  of  the  day,  our  congi'egations  are  quick  to  detect  the  fact,  and 
exercise  in  us  a  quiet  confidence  which  counts  for  much,  and  we  are 
also  able  to  suggest  the  great  answers  to  the  doubting  souls  in  our 
audiences.  Many  divines,  we  are  afraid,  are  far  more  conversant  with 
historical  heresies— Gnostic,  Ariau,  Pelagian,  &c. — than,  they  are  with 
contemjporaneous  heresies,  and  the  best  way  of  meeting  them.  This  is 
greatly  to  be  regretted,  for  it  is  only  as  we  are  thoroughly  acquainted 
with  the  latest  devices  of  the  wolf  that  we  can  prove  effectual  shep- 
herds. Some  may  think  if  we  are  to  XJrove  thorough-going  evangelists, 
we  shall  have  little  time  for  studies  in  science  and  philosophy  ;  but 
the  fact  is,  sanctified  industry  goes  all  the  way.  In  our  theological 
institutions  the  true  method  of  such  studies  ought  to  be  taught,  and 
in  active  service  zealous  men  will  find  no  difficulty  in  mastering  the 
manifestations  of  error  special  to  the  times.  We  were  reminded  in  this 
Council  the  other  day  that  naany  of  our  brethren  became  divines  and 
scholars  whilst  pursuing  their  rough  missionary  work  in  the  wilds  of 
the  "West,  and  there  is  no  knowledge  or  gift  now  necessary  to  the 
triumphant  accomplishment  of  our  ministry,  but  it  is  accessible  to 
diligence  and  determination.  The  preacher,  like  the  physician,  must 
understand  the  exact  malady  of  his  patient  if  he  is  to  become  a  minister 
of  health  and  life. 

IV.  Another  peril  may  arise  from  the  defective  Scriptural  knowledge 
of  our  people.  The  more  thoroughly  our  people  are  grounded  in  the 
positive  truths  of  revelation,  the  less  have  we  to  fear  from  the  all- 
encompassing  presence  of  error.  Bishop  Simpson  reminded  us  that 
Methodism  arose  in  the  close  and  prayerful  study  of  the  Scriptures ; 
and  Methodism  will  find  its  perj)etuity  where  it  found  its  genesis.     We 

T 


274  POSSIBLE   PERILS   OF   METHODISM. 

are  sometimes  afraid  tliat  a  thorough  Scriptural  knowledge  is  not  so 
much  a  cliaracteristic  of  our  people  as  it  might  be.  The  itinerant 
system,  which,  to  a  certain  extent,  prevents  consecutiveness  and 
thoroughness  of  teaching,  may  be  more  or  less  chargeable  with  this 
fragmentary  and  superficial  knowledge ;  but,  whatever  may  be  the 
cause,  we  are  afraid  that  Methodists  generally  have  not  such  a  pro- 
found knowledge  of  God's  Word  as  is  their  duty  and  privilege.  A 
settled  pastorate  gives  best  opportunity  for  systematic  exposition  ;  but 
by  common  carefulness  we  may  reduce  this  disadvantage  of  itinerancy 
to  a  minimum.  And  then  in  our  schools  the  utmost  attention  should 
be  given  to  secure  to  our  youth  a  thorough  Biblical  knowledge.  If  any- 
thing will  make  a  sceptic,  a  smattering  of  science  and  a  smattering  of 
divinity  will  do  it ;  and  as  most  people  nowadays  get  the  smattering 
of  science,  we  must  be  specially  anxious  that  they  shall  be  fully 
informed  in  those  Scriptures  by  which  men  are  made  wise  unto 
salvation.  There  is  no  armour  against  scepticism  like  the  armour  of 
light,  and  if  our  Church  is  arrayed  in  full  burnished  panoply,  we 
have  little  to  fear  from  the  hosts  encamped  against  us. 

V.  Another  peril  would  be  found  in  the  decline  of  our  spirituality. 
Any  increase  of  worldliness  is  a  distinct  menace  to  our  orthodoxy ;  as 
the  Church  loses  its  love  and  zeal,  all  truth  is  seen  less  clearly,  held 
less  firmly.  And  then  any  substitution  of  intellectualism  for  sphituality 
is  also  a  serious  error  and  peril.  The  literature  of  imagination,  and 
secular  literature  generally,  in  some  of  our  cu'cles  is  pushing  out  the 
literature  of  the  soul,  and  this  prepares  the  way  for  a  feeble  faith  and 
loose  notions.  In  some  of  our  societies  also  the  old  gatherings  for 
prayer  and  fellowship  have  given  place  to  debating  societies,  where 
the  theories  of  the  day  are  discussed.  Our  Young  Men's  Mutual  Im- 
provement Societies  have  often  drifted  in  a  false  direction,  the  devo- 
tional element  being  almost  forgotten.  We  read  that  Ahaz,  in  spoiling 
the  temple,  "took  down  the  sea  from  off  the  brazen  oxen  that  were 
under  it,  and  put  it  upon  a  pavement  of  stones."  And  some  nowa- 
days would,  undesignedly  but  fatally,  spoil  the  Church  of  God  by 
taking  away  the  spiritual  basis  and  resting  the  fortunes  of  the  Church 
on  a  secular  basis — political,  educational,  or  ruoral.  Our  safety  is  in 
our  spirituality.  Positive  truth,  personal  character,  spiritual  life, 
these  are  our  strong  points,  and  it  would  be  suicidal  to  adopt  any  other 
programme  or  principle.  If  we  lose  our  spirituality  we  shall  fall  an 
easy  prey  to  unbelief,  but,  maintaining  our  spiritual  life  and  fellowship, 
infidelity  cannot  harm  us ;  for,  like  Milton's  angels,  we  can 

"  No  mortal  wound 
Receive,  no  more  than  can  the  fluid  air." 

VI.  The  final  peril  I  w^ould  suggest  wiU  arise  when,  from  any  cause 
whatever,  we  abate  our  evangelical  action.  We  were  reminded  by 
Bishop  Simpson  that  "  Methodism  never  divided  on  doctrine."     And 


GENERAL   REMARKS.  275 

there  is  a  wonderful  unanimity  amongst  us  on  doctrinal  points  to-day. 
Wliilst  almost  all  other  Churches  are  powerfully  affected  by  modern  un- 
belief, we  enjoy  a  singular  and  delightful  immunity.  How  is  this? 
We  have  been  fully  occupied  with  evangelical  work,  and  it  has  saved 
ns  from  a  thousand  snares.  Mr.  Dale  says:  "  The  evangelical  move- 
ment has  been  more  eager  to  seek  and  to  save  the  lost  than  to  inves- 
tigate the  foundations  of  Christian  doctrine."  It  will  be  better  to  con- 
tinue on  the  same  lines ;  and  so  long  as  we  have  great  evangelists, 
original  theologians  will  arise  quite  as  often  as  they  are  desirable. 
Goethe's  advice,  "  Be  true  to  the  dream  of  thy  youth,"  is  good  for  a 
Church  as  for  an  individual ;  and  as  the  glorious  dream  of  young 
^Methodism  was  to  evangelise  the  world,  old  Methodism  had  better  be 
true  to  that  dream,  and,  with  both  hands  full  for  God,  we  shall  be 
saved  from  that  unbelief  which  so  frequently  weaves  the  shrouds  of 
Churches. 

Rev.  Dr.  G.  R.  Crooks  (^lethodist  Episcopal  Church)  :  I  think,  sir, 
it  is  of  great  importance  for  us  to  bear  in  mind  that  the  root  of  scepticism 
lies  in  the  human  heart ;  it  is  the  spiritual  principle  of  manlcind  that 
exposes  it  to  unbelief.  Rationalism  is  the  product  of  a  cold  unbelief 
applied  to  the  great  truths  of  the  Gospel  ;  and  whenever  the  intellect  is 
warmed  through  the  fires  of  the  heart,  trusting  in  Jesus  Christ,  rationalism, 
however  sti'ong  its  arguments  may  have  been,  disappears.  We  need  never 
be  afraid  of  rationalism  ;  for  I  think  it  is  true,  as  the  second  essayist  has 
said,  tliat  the  broader  the  creed  the  narrower  the  Church,  the  larger  the 
liberality  the  fewer  there  are  who  are  disposed  to  accept  what  is  con- 
veniently and  lightly  termed,  "  a  very  liberal  religion."  The  next  point  to 
which  I  desire  to  call  the  attention  of  the  brethren  is  this,  that  in  point  of 
fact  we  are  in  the  ascendant  line.  Scepticism  is  declining,  not  increasing  ; 
and,  much  as  men  may  say  of  the  scientific  and  public  universities  of 
England,  the  fact  remains  that  the  great  universities  of  Germany  have 
been  redeemed  from  the  rationalism  of  the  past  fifty  years,  and  are 
becoming  more  and  more  evangelical.  Rationalistic  Heidelberg  has 
scarcely  any  students  in  theolog}',  and  we  know  very  well  that  evangelical 
Halle,  evangelical  Leipsic,  and  evangelical  Berlin  are  crowded  wi^i 
theological  students.  Where  at  Tiibingen  there  was  a  school  of  unbelief, 
there  is  no  longer  a  school  of  theology  at  all.  We  have  won  a  great 
victory,  and  v/e  have  won  that  great  victory  while  the  arguments  of 
rationalism  have  been  pressed  with  unavailing  perseverance.  It  has  been 
won  by  the  recalling  of  the  attention  of  the  Christian  world  to  the  fact 
that  it  is  the  heart  of  man  that  is  deeply  concerned  with  Christianity,  and 
that  it  is  with  the  "  heart "  that  we  "  believe  unto  righteousness,"  and  that 
when  the  soul  comes  into  proper  adjustment  of  its  relations  to  Jesus 
Christ  the  Redeemer,  the  rising  sun  dispels  the  mist  of  unbelief. 
Christianity  is  its  own  best  evidence  after  all  ;  it  needs  not  our  farthing 
candles  to  illuminate  it ;  it  shines  with  light  in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ,  its 
Founder.  It  is  beautiful  with  His  beauty,  and  glorious  with  His  glory, 
and,  like  Him,  will  endure  for  evermore.  We  need  have  no  fear  for  the 
future  of  evangelical  religion.  If  the  evangelicals  of  the  Church  of 
England  have  declined,  blessed  be  God,  evangelicals  out  of  the  Church  of 
England  are  not  to-day  in  a  declining  condition.  I  must  call  the  attention 
of  brethren  to  a  third  point,  which  is  this  :  that  in  dealing  with  cultured 
unbelief,  it  is  perfectly  practicable  for  us,  in  lookicg  over  the  whole  line 

T  2 


27Q  POSSIBLE   PERILS   OF   METHODISM. 

of  tlie  argument,  to  fix  our  thoughts  npon  a  weak  point  Avhich,  when 
touched,  the  whole  system  dissolves.  I  have  seen  in  my  time  the  rise  and 
fall  of  the  mythical  theory  of  the  origin  of  the  Gospels  of  Jesus  Christ. 
When  I  was  a  young  man  it  was  the  fashion — it  was  accepted  as  the  last 
word  with  regard  to  the  truth  of  Christianity.  I  have  seen  that  mythical 
theory  disappear  ;  one  sentence  of  Thomas  Arnold  punctured  it  and  let  all 
the  gas  out  of  it.  It  was  inconceivable,  he  said,  that  the  mythical  theory 
of  the  person  of  Christ,  and  of  the  origin  of  His  religion,  should  have 
originated  in  an  age  filled  with  the  glories  of  literature,  where  men 
treasured  up  their  thoughts  in  writing,  and  where  they  were  under  the 
influence,  not  of  an  uncultivated  imagination,  but  of  reason  and  of  logic. 
The  more  strictly  and  firmly  you  apply  that  simple  thought  to  the  whole 
mythical  theory,  the  more  evidently  it  passes  out  of  sight.  Mr.  Buckle 
has  declared  to  us,  as  one  of  his  fundamental  principles,  that  the  average 
of  human  conduct  as  contained  in  statistics  proves  that  human  conduct 
is  subject  to  a  law  of  causation.  That  seems  to  be  a  formidable  prin- 
ciple, and  men  stand  aghast,  as  if  free  will  had  been  utterly  annihilated, 
and  man  was  no  longer  responsible  for  his  conduct.  But  here  is  the 
simple  fact  that  this  Government  and  all  Governments  require  statistics 
to  be  taken,  not  in  order  to  find  the  law  of  causation  which  has  compelled 
certain  statistical  results,  but  in  order  to  amend  the  statistics  them- 
selves. We  collect  statistics  in  order  to  alter  our  conduct  by  a  course 
of  free  will.  We  collect  the  statistics  on  intemperance ;  we  collect 
statistics  on  licentiousness  ;  we  collect  all  the  statistics  imaginable,  not 
in  order  to  submit  ourselves  to  any  law  of  causation,  but  in  order,  by 
the  power  of  free  will  which  we  possess  as  men  and  as  societies,  to  alter 
the  statistics. 

Rev.  Hugh  Gilmore  (  in  ive  Methodist)  :  I  desire  to  call  the  attention 
of  the  Conference  to  oi._  .c  two  perils  of  Methodism  that  we  have  not 
heard  mentioned  either  by  the  essayists  or  by  the  speakers,  and  which  I 
think  of  importance,  arising  from  tne  scepticism  of  the  age.  The  first  is 
the  amazing  self-complacency  with  which  we  regard  our  orthodoxy  and 
the  fulness  of  our  creed.  N(yW  I  do  not  assume:  that  we  have  "  the  truth, 
the  whole  truth,  and  nothing  but  the  truth,"  embodied  in  our  particular 
formularies,  and  I  am  inclined  to  think  that  the  position  which  we  assume 
should  not  be  g-o  very  self-complacent.  I  think  we  ought  to  be  prepared 
to  recognise  the  fact  tJaat  tlie  advancing  intelligence  and  guidance  of  the 
Church  of  Christ  may  lead  us  at  any  rate  to  some  modification  in  the  ex- 
pression of  our  belief,  and  it  struck  me  in  the  address  that  was  read  that 
the  spirit  prevailing  was  that  of  a  self-complacency  that  was  not  of  a  very 
healthful  character.  There  are  one  or  two  other  points  I  must  mention.  One 
is  the  uncharitablenees  that  we  K>metimes  manifest  toward  those  who  are  in 
a  sceptical  condition  of  mind.  There  is  faith  and  faith,  and  there  is  unbelief 
and  unbelief  ;  and  I  recognise  <Iie  possibility^  in  this  age,  of  young  men  of 
education  havmg  intellectual  d  fficulty  in  relation  to  matters  of  belief,  who 
are  largely  determined  by  the  true  faith  of  Christ,  and  largely  possess  this 
spirit.  What  I  claim  from  th.s  audience  iis  a  large  spirit  of  charity  toward 
those  who  may  not  be  able  to  accept  the  whole  statement  of  our  belief  as 
we  put  it  forward.  Let  us  p.ive  them  credit  for  honesty.  Let  us  be  ready 
to  treat  them  as  honest  seek.irs  after  truth,  and  to  entertain  the  views  that 
they  may  state,  and  not  put  them  down  by  harsh  and  unkindly  words.  I 
have  been  for  twenty  yea-.s  intimately  connected  with  a  large  section  of 
working  people  in  the  No.ih  of  England,  and  I  can  say  that  the  uncharitable 
temper  manifested  by  ^jhristian  people,  in  relation  to  the  intellectual 
difficulties  of  these  men  (,a  religious  questions,  has  tended  to  un-Christianise 
them.  We  can  afford  to  manifest  a  spirit  of  charity  and  to  recognise  the 
Christiauness  of  men  vho  believe  what  they  can  believe,  and  stand  in 


GENERAL   REMARKS.  277 

doubt  of  what  they  cannot  believe.  I  think  also  that  we  do  a  very  great 
deal  of  injury  to  ourselves  by  the  alarm  that  we  manifest  when  there  is 
any  sceptical  opinion  expressed.  I  hold  that  it  is  the  unbelief  of  the 
Church  that  has  done  the  great  injury,  and  not  the  scepticism  of  the 
schools.  If  there  is  a  sceptical  opinion  expressed,  and  it  is  uttered^  by 
some  person  occupying  a  high  scientilic  or  social  position,  we  all  get  into 
the  greate;  t  alarm,  as  if  we  feared  that  this  statement  would  imperil  the 
Church  of  Christ.     I  think  that  should  not  be. 

Rev.  Dr.  Todd  (Methodist    Episcopal   Church)  :  If  the   Church  is  to 
triumph  now,  as  in  the  past,  she  must  supply  herself  with  modern  arms. 
The  conflict  is  now  no  longer  waged  upon  the  field  of  textual  and  historical 
criticism,  as  in  the  days  of  Voltaire  and  Paine.     The  attack  of  Strauss  and 
Renan  upon  the  person  of   Christ  is  being  abandoned.     Infidelity  now 
undertakes  to  undermine  the  whole  structui-e  both  of  natural  and  revealed 
religion,  and  blow  it  all  up  at  once.     Tlie  point  of  assault  is  through  the 
physical  sciences.     Sceptical  science  does  not  now  stop  to  dispute  with  us 
the  Divinity  of  Christ  or  the  inspiration  of  the  Scriptures,  but  denies  the 
existence  of  God,  and  hence  denies  the  possibility  of  inspiration  or  of 
incarnation.     There  is  no  creation.     All  is  evolution.     Somewliere  in  the 
bygone  eternity,  nobody  knows  just  where,  the  process  of  unfolding  began 
without  a  cause,  and  has  been  carried  on  ever  since  without  any  superin- 
tending intelligence.     Matter  is  eternal,   and   in   matter  slumbered  from 
eternity  the  latent  germs  of  all  that  has  been,  is,  or  shall  be.     Sceptical 
science  is  badly  and  boldly  atheistic,  and  it  is  this  that  the  Church  must 
confront  and  overcome.     How  can  this  be  done  ?     First.  By  a  readjustment 
of  ministerial  studies.     Ministers  cannot  attend  to  the  duties  of  their  calling 
and  at  the  same  time  become  profound  scientists,  but  they  can  and  must 
familiarise  themselves  with  current  scientific  teaching  if  they  would  meet 
the  demands  of  the  times.     They  must  not  preach  science  instead  of  the 
Gospel,   but  they   must  show  in  their  preaching  of  the  Gospel  that  they 
know  what  the  teachings  of  science  are,  if  they  would  win  or  retain  the 
confidence  of  the  rising  generation.     For  this  purpose  the  course  of  study 
for  candidates  for  the  ministry  might  be  arranged  so  as  to  leave  out  a  little 
Church  history  and  rhetoric,  and  substitute  for  them  a  course  in  physical 
science.     Again,  in  preaching  we  ought  to  treat  scientific  truth  neither  with 
contempt  nor  as  if  we  were  afraid  of  it,  but  squarely  admit  it  and  adjust  our 
phraseology  to  the  new  order  of  things.     The  Church  is  not  responsible  for 
the   scientific  views   of   her   members   concerning  the  physical   universe. 
She  did  not  institute  the  Ptolemaic  theory,  and  should  not  have  opposed 
the  Copernican.     If  science  in  the  past  taught  us  falsely,  we  should  not 
hesitate  to  change  our  view  when  she  admits  her  blunder  and  seeks  to 
correct  it.     The  Bible  does  not  teach  science.     God  would  not  inspire  men 
to  teach  what  in  due  time  they  could  find  out  for  themselves.     If  the  Bible 
is  the  word  of  God,  no  fact  or  truth  in  Nature  will  contradict  it,  and  we 
ought  therefore  to  welcome  every  clearly  discovered  truth  in  science,  and 
use  it  as  a  commentary  on  revelation.     In  saying  this,  however,  I  am  far 
from  admitting  that  the  nebular  hypotliesis  and  the  evolution  hypothesis 
are  entitled  to  be  classed  as  established  scientific  systems.     They  are  only 
hypotheses  at  best,  and  we  arc  not  bound  to  accept  them  until   scientific 
men  agree   among   themselves  in   regard  to  them.     St.  George  Mivart,  a 
scarcely  less  brilliant  name  in  science  than  that  of  Darwin,  squarely  denies 
the  Darwinian  theory;  and  Virchow,  than  whom  Germany  has  no  more  pro- 
found scientific  scholar,  opposes  with  his  might  the  teaching  of  evolution 
in  the   German   schools  as   scientific   truth,   declaring  that   it  is  only  an 
hypothesis  which  is  yet  far  from  being  an  established  truth.     For  the 
present,   therefoie,    wc   may   hold   such   teaching  in  abeyance,  and  rest 
confident  that  when  the  dispute  is  settled  and  the  truth  of  Nature  is  clearly 


278  POSSIBLE   PERILS   OF   METHODISM. 

ascertained,  the   God   of  Nature  will  prove  to  be  the  God  of  the  Bible 
also. 

After  some  announcements  by  the  Secretary,  the  Session   was 
brought  to  a  close. 


In  the  Afternoon  the  Conference  reassembled.  After  the  usual 
Devotional  Service,  the  Eev.  J.  W.  M'Kay,  D.D.  (Irish  Methodist 
Church),  read  an  essay  on  Possible  Perils  of  Methodism  from  Formality, 
Worldliness,  and  Improper  Amusements  among  our  oivn  Members. 

Our  estimate  of  dangers  to  Methodism  is  likely  to  be  in  accordance 
with  the  views  we  take  of  Methodism  itself. 

Methodism,  as  we  speak  of  it  to-day,  is  a  recognised  system,  world- 
wide in  its  spread  and  varied  in  its  organisations  ;  but,  recurring  to  its 
origin  and  history,  and  having  respect  to  its  principles,  its  spirit,  and 
the  design  of  its  existence,  we  adopt  the  words  of  John  Wesley — 
Methodism,  so  called,  is  the  old  religion,  the  religion  of  the  Bible,  the 
religion  of  the  primitive  Church.  This  old  religion  is  no  other  than 
Love,  the  love  of  God  and  of  all  mankind. 

In  so  doing  we  have  no  misgivings.  True  religion  is  not  subject  to 
uncertain  variations,  but,  like  its  Divine  Author,  is  "the  same  yes- 
terday, and  to-day,  and  for  ever."  It  rests  on  a  sure  basis  of  doctrinal 
truth,  "  as  the  truth  is  in  Jesus."  The  teachings  of  Methodism,  thank 
God,  have  not  hitherto  given  an  uncertain  sound  as  to  the  Person  and 
mission  of  the  Son  of  God,  or  as  to  the  Person  and  mission  of  the 
Spirit  of  God,  and  the  extent  and  continuance  of  purity  of  doctrine 
have  been  mainly  owing  to  the  prominence  given  to  those  truths  which 
the  Holy  Spirit  more  immediately  employs  in  the  salvation  of  men,  as 
He  convicts  of  sin,  manifests  the  things  of  Christ,  witnesses  with  the 
blood,  sheds  the  love  of  God  abroad  in  the  heart,  and  dwells  with  and 
in  beUevers.  The  word  of  the  truth  of  the  Gospel,  believingly  re- 
ceived, gives  rise  to  and  is  confirmed  by  individual  experience;  and 
this  experience— testing  and  attesting,  proving  and  approving,  the 
truth — is  in  every  place  and  age  the  same. 

The  love  of  God  is  the  great  principle  of  the  life  of  God.  When 
it  is  shed  abroad  in  the  heart  it  is  as  life  from  the  dead.  There  is  a 
change  of  nature  ;  not  of  the  constituent  parts  of  humanity — body, 
soul,  and  spirit — or  of  any  of  their  natural  attributes,  but  a  moral 
change:  the  carnal  becomes  spiritual;  the  earthly,  heavenly;  the 
love  of  the  world  is  displaced  by  the  love  of  the  Father.  Self,  that 
was  sought,  and  indulged,  and  exalted,  is  denied,  and  renounced,  and 
crucified.  Christ  lives  within.  There  are  new  motives,  pleasures, 
hoXies,  and  joys.     Love  goes  up  to  God,  expressing  d^^pendence,  ad- 


REV.  J.  w.  m'kay's  address.  279 

miration  and  gratitude,  in  prayer  and  praiso ;  it  goes  ont  to  men, 
expressing  yearning  pity  for  mankind  and  burning  charity,  in  acts  of 
kindness  and  beneficence,  and  in  efforts  for  their  salvation ;  and  in 
accordance  with  that  new  commandment  which  Jesus  gave  to  His 
disciples,  and  which  links  together,  as  it  were,  the  two  great  com- 
mandments of  the  law,  it  expresses  the  fellowship  of  kindred  affection 
and  iutei'course  in  the  communion  of  saints. 

It  is  the  possession  and  maintenance  of  this  life  of  God  that  has 
made  Methodism  a  power  for  good  in  spreading  Scriptural  holiness 
throughout  the  land,  and  throughout  the  world  ;  and  whatever  tends 
to  weaken  or  endanger  this  is  a  source  of  peril.  The  perils  to  which 
Methodism  is  now  exposed  are  not  those  incident  to  slander  and  re- 
viling, and  persecution  for  righteousness'  sake.  In  our  Lord's  Sermon 
on  the  Mount,  there  seems  a  not  inapt  connection  between  the  last  of 
the  Beatitudes  and  the  words  that  describe  Christians  as  the  light 
of  the  world  and  the  salt  of  the  earth.  It  is  under  other  circum- 
stances that  the  lamp  is  in  danger  of  being  hidden,  and  the  salt  of 
losing  its  savour.  Our  dangers  are  those  incident  to  external  pros- 
perity, material  wealth,  advanced  social  position  and  influence,  and 
the  respectability  that  attaches  to  these  things  in  our  own  eyes  and 
in  the  eyes  of  the  world  around  us.  Our  warnings  are  in  the  epistles 
addressed  by  the  risen  Son  of  God,  through  John,  to  the  Churches 
in  Ephesus,  Sardis,  and  Laodicea. 

There  is  danger  from  fonmdit)/.  Let  us  not  confound  form  with 
formality.  Where  there  is  life  there  will  be  form.  Form  is  to  us  the 
expression  and  development  of  life.  Nor  is  there  any  reason  why  its 
surroundings  in  the  sanctuary  and  services  of  Divine  worship  should 
be  devoid  of  convenience,  comfort,  symmetry,  or  beauty.  But  if,  on 
the  one  hand,  form  assumes  a  rigid  stiffness,  so  as  to  cramp  or  hinder 
the  operation  of  life,  and  there  is  no  room  left  for  the  free  response 
of  an  Amen  or  an  Hallelujah;  or  if,  on  the  other,  vital  energy  declines 
and  pulsation  becomes  feeble,  if  first  love  be  forsaken,  and  lukewarm- 
ness  enervates  the  spirit,  if  work  for  God  be  irksome,  and  the  hardship 
of  self-denial  and  of  taking  up  the  cross  is  no  longer  endured,  then  form 
degenerates  into  formality,  there  is  death  with  a  name  to  live.  There 
may  be  no  taint  of  pharisaic  hj'pocrisy  in  cushioned  pews,  or  in  subdued 
and  tinted  lights,  or  in  strains  of  choral  music ;  but  the  life  of  sense 
without  the  life  of  God  in  worship  is  only  sj)iritual  death  in  another 
form,— not  dead  men's  bones  in  whited  sepulchres,  but  embalmed 
mummies,  swathed  in  perfumed  cerements  and  preserved  in  pyramids. 
Is  there  no  possible  peril  to  Methodism  here? 

Perils  from  Worldlinesx. — The  design  of  Jesus  Christ  as  to  HisChurcli 
and  people  was  not  that  they  should  be  taken  out  of  the  world,  or  that 
they  should  go  out  of  the  world,  but  that  they  should  be  in  it,  yet  not 
of  it, — "  kept  from  the  evil."  Separateness  is  an  essential  idea  in  all 
that  is  taught  and  enjoined  as  to  holiness  in  the  Word  of  God.     This 

r 


2S0  POSSIBLE   PERILS    OF   METHODISIL 

had  its  typical  illustration  in  the  history  of  the  great  patriarchal 
family  and  of  the  Israelite  nation;  and  the  New  Testament,  in  the 
most  decisive  manner,  warns  against  being  fashioned  after  this  world, 
and  declares  the  "  friendship  of  the  world  "  to  be  "  enmity  against  God." 
Mr.  Wesley  saw  that  danger  was  to  be  apprehended  from  this ;  he  saw 
that  religion  had  a  tendency  to  counteract  itself  ;  that  in  making  men 
industrious  and  frugal  it  opened  the  way  to  worldly  prosperity  and 
riches ;  that  as  these  increased  the  desire  for  them  increased :  then 
came  trust  in  them,  and  then  seeking  happiness  in  those  things  that 
money  can  procure.  His  several  sermons  on  "Riches,"  "The  Use  of 
Money,"  and  "  Friendship  with  the  World,"  show  how  he  thought  and 
felt,  and  never  were  they  more  needed  than  they  are  to-day.  We 
would  not  undervalue  riches.  Money  holds  a  remarkable  place  in  the 
providence  of  God ;  it  is  strangely  woven  into  the  texture  of  human 
society  with  its  network  of  relations  and  dependencies  ;  it  is  a  notable 
touchstone  of  character,  a  test  of  fidelity  to  God,  a  testimony  of  love 
toman.  Jesus  Christ  could  without  it  work  His  miracles  of  mercy; 
but  without  it  we  cannot  follow  His  example  of  going  about  doing  good. 
What  He  calls  to  He  provides  for.  His  Church  is  not  without  resources, 
and  if  they  are  not  used  for  blessing  they  will  become  a  curse.  Are 
funds  exhausted  ?  missions  crippled  ?  institutions  burdened  with  debt  ? 
There  is  canker  somewhere.  Hoarding  is  not  so  much  a  characteristic 
of  our  times  as  making  haste  to  be  rich.  With  the  increase  of  the 
banking  system  have  come  facilities  for  bill-broking,  and  in  the  com- 
mercial world  usury  and  bankruptcy  are  not  regarded  in  the  same 
light  as  they  once  were.  Are  we  not  in  danger  here  ?  Are  there  no 
ventures  on  the  Stock  Exchange?  No  speculations  in  companies  of 
limited  liability  and  unlimited  assurance,  whose  basis  is  often  little 
better  than  the  invention  of  a  name  ?  Have  not  these  scandals  come 
to  be  too  delicately  dealt  with  in  the  discipline  of  the  Church  ? 

Is  there  not  danger  from  conforming  to  the  fashion  of  the  world  in 
another  way  ?  We  do  not  plead  for  eccentric  singularity.  We  do  not 
say  that  the  ruler  should  never  make  a  great  supper,  or  that  wedding 
garments  should  not  be  worn  at  wedding  feasts,  or  that  soft  raiment 
should  have  no  place  in  kings'  houses,  or  that  the  fruits  of  the  earth 
should  not  be  enjoyed  in  due  season.  But  what  of  rivalry  in  costly 
entertainments  ?  of  gratifying  and  increasing  the  variety  of  artificial 
tastes  ?  of  pandering  to  genteel  sensuality  ?  of  aiming  at  display  of 
finery  in  dress,  and  furniture,  and  equipage?  Of  ministering  to  the 
"desire  of  the  flesh  and  the  desire  of  the  eyes,  and  the  vainglory  of 
life"?  Is  there  no  danger  of  our  forgetting  that  these  are  "  not  of  the 
Father,  but  of  the  world  "  ? — of  our  ceasiug  practically  to  declare  that 
we  are  strangers  on  the  earth,  and  that  we  seek  a  better  country,  even 
a  heavenly  ? 

Improper  Amusements. — Labour,  whether  bodily  or  mental,  calls  for 
refreshment — for  recreation ;  and  in  the  appointment  of  alternate  day 


EEV.  J.  w.  m'kay's  address.  281 

and  night  respect  is  had  to  man's  individual  need.  Man's  nature, 
ho%vever,  is  essentially  social.  The  Divine  ideal  of  human  society  is 
in  the  family  institution  ;  and  the  Divine  provision  for  recreation, 
refreshment,  rest,  is  in  the  institution  of  the  Sabbath.  I  must  be 
abrupt  here ;  time  will  not  admit  of  enlarging :  I  must  only  say,  if  in 
the  pursuit  of  amusements  night  be  turned  into  day  and  day  into  night; 
if  the  design  of  the  family  be  overlooked  in  Church  associations  or  in 
association  with  the  world ;  if  moral  and  religious  obligations  be  treated 
as  mere  secondary  things  in  the  holiday  use  of  the  Lord's  Day,  then 
it  is  perversion  of  language  to  talk  of  recreation;  dissipation  is  the 
descriptive  word.  The  matter  of  amusements  bears  more  particularly 
on  the  j)art  of  our  nature — that  nerve  region — on  which  rests  mystery 
that  neither  the  materialist  nor  the  spiritualist  can  solve,  which  is  still 
dark  to  both  philosopher  and  physician,  where  mind  and  matter  seem 
interlaced,  where  sense  is  most  sensitive,  and  imagination  revels,  and 
passions  play — that  part  of  our  nature  to  which  belongs  the  apfjetite 
for  excitement,  and  in  which  especially  Christianity  requires  the 
exercise  of  soberness  and  temperance  and  self-control.  .There  is  no 
need  here  to  refer  to  the  brutal  sports  which  were  common  in  a  former 
age ;  but  we  cannot  avoid  reference  to  theatrical  amusements.  These 
have  latterly  been  coming  more  into  prominence,  and  claim  more  than 
a  passing  notice.  No  one  can  successfully  maintain  that  the  associa- 
tions of  the  theatre  are  otherwise  than  hostile  to  spiritual  religion. 
Many  a  Methodist  family  has  had  to  mourn  over  hopes  and  prospects 
wrecked  among  those  shoals  and  quicksands  of  this  and  other  great 
cities ;  and  in  the  whole  range  and  variety  of  our  biograjihy  there  will 
not  be  found  a  single  witness  that  the  theatre  ever  ministered  to  holy 
living,  or  to  a  peaceful  death. 

I  shall  use  no  strong  language  as  to  those  who  directly  or  indirectly 
depend  on  the  drama  for  their  bread ;  but  I  cannot  express  too  strongly 
my  apprehension  of  peril  to  Methodism  from  attempts — it  may  be 
under  the  plea  of  avoiding  the  evil  associations  of  the  theatre — to 
introduce  semi-theatrical  amusements  into  the  drawing-room,  the 
school-room,  the  lecture-room,  or  the  church.  There  is  in  man  some- 
thing adapted  to  the  general  constitution  and  course  of  nature,  which 
finds  pleasure  in  tracing  analogies,  and  in  using  similitudes  in  various 
forms.  This  is  abundantly  recognised  in  the  written  revelation  of  God ; 
and  in  proportion  as  it  has  lively  and  intelligent  exercise  in  seeking  to 
apprehend  through  the  things  that  are  seen  things  that  are  not  seen, 
will  its  pleasures  be  elevating  and  refined.  There  is,  no  doubt,  some- 
thing kindred  to  this  in  the  pleasure  derived  from  mimicry,  but  its 
aspect  is  more  toward  the  animal  than  the  intellectual  and  spiritual  in 
our  nature ;  and  we  do  not  hesitate  to  say  that  the  moral  tendency  of 
spectacular  and  histrionic  scenes  is  the  opposite  of  beneficial ;  and  the 
same  may  be  said,  though  in  a  lower  degree,  of  all  striving  after  the 
sensational,  whether  in  the  pulpit,  on  the  platform,  or  through  the 


282  POSSIBLE   PERILS    OF   METHODISM. 

press.  Stage  representations  of  the  criminal  and  the  vicious  do  not 
aatnrally  tend  to  discountenance  vice  and  crime.  The  sentimental 
bears  of  the  playgoer  are  not  the  expression  of  sympathy  with  real 
sufferers,  and  those  who  shed  them  most,  and  find  pleasure  in  shedding 
them,  are  not  those  who  most  engage  in  the  relief  of  real  want  and 
real  woe.  The  true  reputation  of  Shakespeare  is  that  of  an  author, 
not  of  an  actor ;  his  worth  belongs  to  the  study,  rather  than  to  the 
stage. 

If  there  be  one  thing  that  concerns  us  above  another,  next  to  the 
maintenance  of  a  holy,  living  Church,  it  is  the  relation  that  our 
children  and  young  people  may  in  the  future  sustain  to  that  Church. 
It  has  been  matter  of  notice,  in  these  countries  at  least,  what 
numbers  pass  away  from  the  Sunday-schools  who  never  after  appear 
in  our  registers,  but  seem  to  go  out  and  to  be  lost  in  the  world.  But 
what  wonder,  if  they  are  taught  to  regard  with  interest  entertainments  in 
which  recitations,  dialogues,  songs,  and  dramatic  representations,  more 
or  less  sensuous  and  trifling  in  their  nature,  form  a  principal  part !  In 
Bands  of  Hgpe  we  rightly  seek  to  preserve  the  children  from  intoxi- 
cants, the  efil  effects  of  which  surround  them,  but  for  which  they 
have  no  natural  desire :  shall  we  then  minister  stimulants  to  vanity 
and  jealousy,  of  the  influence  of  which  they  are  more  immediately 
susceptible  ?  I  have  not  myself  witnessed  excesses  such  as  I  have 
seen  described ;  but  I  have  felt  sick  at  heart  in  seeing  children 
exhibited  on  a  platform,  and  in  observing  how  one  was  elated  by 
plaudits,  while  another,  less  clever,  was  cast  down  because  they  were 
witliheld,  the  acting,  simply,  and  not  any  virtue  or  goodness,  being 
the  occasion  of  the  praise.  The  moral  effect  of  months  of  teaching 
may  thus  be  counteracted  in  a  night.  The  history  of  our  Mutual 
Improvement  Associations  I  cannot  now  enter  into ;  but  it  does  not, 
in  this  respect,  so  far  as  I  know,  point  to  an  ascending  scale.  In  the 
same  way,  the  religion  of  family  life  has  been,  and  is,  in  many  an 
instance,  marred  and  frustrated  by  games  of  chance,  charades,  and 
other  modes  of  stimulating  the  desire  for  stronger  excitements,  or  of 
whiling  away  time. 

I  must  conclude.  If  the  love  and  life  of  God  were  supreme,  and  aU 
our  associations  regulated  and  governed  by  their  influence,  we  should 
have  no  occasion  to  complain  or  fear.  If  education,  with  its  acqui- 
sitions in  language,  in  science,  in  the  fine  arts,  were  sanctified  and 
applied  to  the  banishing  of  mere  society  gossip,  and  to  brightening 
and  cheering  the  daily  intercourse  of  family  life ;  if  the  family  itself 
were  more  satisfactorily  incorporated  with  the  Churcli  in  right  recog- 
nition of  the  signs  and  seals  of  covenant  relation ;  if  in  the  spirit  of 
an  unselfish  and  self-denying  charity  we  were  engaged  in  exploring 
the  haunts  of  misery,  in  counteracting  vice,  in  seeking  to  rescue  the 
wretched,  to  raise  the  fallen,  to  comfort  the  distressed,  we  should  need 
no  simulated  scenes  to  excite  our  sympathy  or  our  joy,  no  sensational 


REV.    C.   M.    GIFFIN'S   ADDRESS.  283 

fiction  to  relieve  the  dull  monotony  of  tedious  hours.     The  ?3ong  of  the 
poet  of  Methodism  should  be  the  utterance  of  every  Methodist : — 

"  With  me  no  melancholy  void, 
Ko  moment  lingers  unemployed 

Or  unimproved  below  : 
My  weariness  of  life  is  gone, 
Who  live  to  serve  my  God  alone, 
And  only  Jesus  know." 

Rev.  C.  M.  Giffin,  A.M.  (Independent  Methodist  Chnrch  of  the 
United  States),  said  :  What  is  this  Methodism  whose  perils  we  are 
studying  ?  It  is  an  altar  with  a  fire  on  it ;  it  is  a  body  with  a  sound 
heart  in  it ;  it  is  machinery  suggested  and  employed  by  the  Holy 
Ghost.  In  proportion  as  it  coases  to  be  that,  it  comes  within  the 
grasp  of  the  foes  enumerated  in  our  topic.  The  best  have  degenerated 
into  the  bad,  and  that  doctrine  of  possible  decline  from  grace  which 
we  use  to  warn  the  people  against  personal  backsliding,  may  be  appUed 
to  the  whole  movement  here  represented.  The  equator  may  never 
move  up  to  the  poles  ;  but  icebergs  and  cold  seas  may  flow  down  to 
it,  until  the  warmth  of  the  girdle  of  the  earth  is  gone.  It  may  be 
still  in  geogi'aphy  called  the  equator,  but  it  is  no  longer  the  torrid 
zone.  So  Methodism  may  retain  its  title  and  place  among  the  sects 
after  it  has  lost  its  original  quality.  ApostoHc  Churches  rotted  in 
unsoundness,  and  were  buried  as  decaying  corpses,  and  a  later  apostle 
may  have  started  a  movement  whose  monument  will  record  its  death. 
To  prevent  that  possible  result,  great  care  must  be  used  to  keep  up 
the  spiritual  tone.  Against  malaria  the  best  resistance  is  highest 
vitality.  Against  worldliness  we  need  more  than  legislation — there 
must  be  inspiration.  If  enough  of  the  air  from  Beulah-land  blows 
through  our  Zion  it  will  dissipate  the  miasma  and  invigorate  the 
disciples.  Otherwise  we  may  have  express  laws  forbidding  certain 
indulgences  with  many  of  our  followers  ojpenly  breaking  these  regu- 
lations, and  no  power  to  enforce  the  discipline.  The  law  remedy  is 
not  so  good  as  the  life  remedy.  Get  the  power  of  hfe  in  the  souls  on 
our  hsts,  and  the  power  of  death  has  no  place.  Instead  of  merely 
making  fences  to  keep  out  the  cold,  we  should  also  build  larger  fires. 
It  is  not  easy  to  i)recisely  locate  and  define  worldliness,  any  more  than 
the  physician  can  the  invisible  seeds  of  ailments,  while  its  effects  are 
well  known.  It  is  a  malaria  constantly  attacking  an  earnest  Chris- 
tianity, to  find  or  make  a  spot  of  weakness  where  it  can  deposit  itself 
and  work  destruction.  Good  as  Methodism  may  be  as  a  home  for  the 
soul,  it  furnishes  no  paradise  so  fair  that  the  foulness  and  fascination 
of  the  serpent  are  not  there.  Our  members  and  ministers  are  tempted, 
and  sometimes  fall.  These  sad  specimens  suggest  that  all  are  in 
jeopardy  every  hour.  Worldliness  waits  to  pour  into  the  Church,  like 
the  muddy  Missouri  river  into  the  clear  Mississippi,  increasing  the 


284!  POSSIBLE   PERILS   OF    METHODISM. 

volume  wliile  ending  its  clearness.  Let  the  world  be  taken  into  the 
Church  as  the  world,  and  the  partnership  will  make  us  a  vast  com- 
bination, but  we  shall  have  the  colour  of  earthliness.  Worldliness, 
however,  does  not  wait  to  seize  the  whole  Church  or  the  whole  man 
at  once.  It  mixes  our  motives,  and  often  combines  ritualistic  regu- 
larity with  actual  carnality.  There  are  professors  of  religion  who 
sparkle  like  an  off-colour  diamond ;  the  taint  is  there  with  all  the 
brilliance ;  they  have  lost  the  perfection  of  purity,  and  are  not  gems 
of  the  first  water.  I  am  not  able  at  this  time  to  exhibit  the  easy 
approaches  by  which  worldhness  gains  its  victories,  nor  how  forms 
become  formalism,  and  recreation  passes  into  sinful  amusement. 
Allow  me  to  say  that  I  consider  worldliness  to  be  the  spirit  of 
which  formality  is  the  religious  sham,  and  improper  amusements  the 
coarse  carnal  expression.  Ay,  sirs,  formalism  might  be  classed  as  an 
improper  amusement,  in  which  the  soul  toys  with  eternal  things  to 
divert  itself,  often  sadly  succeeding.  Worldliness  is  the  main  stock 
well  put  in  the  middle  of  the  topic,  and  the  others  the  right  and  left 
branches.  Methodism  began  as  a  living  protest  against  the  very  evils 
we  now  contemplate.  Shall  the  vigorous  protest  of  the  fathers  become 
a  tame  objection  in  their  descendants  ?  Will  we  move  along  that 
cycle  by  which  even  religious  movements  proceed,  until  our  intensity 
will  die  into  quiet  subjection  to  sin  ?  We  are  a  quickened  Church 
with  true  Hfe.  The  Reformation  gave  us  back  the  heavenly  truth ; 
the  Wesleyau  revival  kindled  anew  the  holy  fii'e.  The  work  under 
Luther  left  some  of  the  rags  of  Ritualism  ;  the  Methodist  awakening 
was  to  put  those  rags  where  they  belonged — in  the  waste-basket. 
Pity  if  we  are  to  go  there  to  get  improvements  and  decorations  for 
our  services.  There  is  a  request  for  us  so  to  do.  Our  services  are 
said  to  be  so  bare.  We  are  losing  adherents  because  our  performances 
are  not  so  attractive  as  some  rival  churchly  show.  We  must  go  into 
the  ornamental  art  and  embellish  our  worship.  Behold  Methodism, 
a  factory  for  tinsel,  and  her  ministers  up  to  the  latest  fashions  in 
Church  millinery  ?  Fine  art  may  have  its  place,  but  it  touches  another 
side  of  our  nature  than  that  out  of  which  spiritual  adoration  springs. 
It  is  a  question  whether  in  aping  the  splendour  of  structure  and 
service  of  other  Churches  we  are  not  only  inviting  spiritual  decay, 
but  already  exhibiting  it.  When  the  pulpit  does  not  supply  enough 
of  royal  truth,  so  royal  as  to  rule  the  soul,  there  must  be  called  in 
a  host  of  supplementary  frivolities  to  give  a  show  of  greatness  to  the 
services.  Give  the  congregation  rhetorical  puffs,  although  you  call 
them  sermons,  and  they  will  want,  as  a  fitting  accompaniment,  the 
chaff'  of  ceremonies.  I  have  wearied  of  this  talk,  that  Methodism,  to 
saA'e  its  children,  must  employ  more  winsome  signs  and  sounds.  If 
we  only  hold  them  to  us  by  such  influences  as  the  elegant  routine  of 
the  sanctuary,  it  will  not  matter  much  to  genuine  Methodism  if  they 
go  away.     Such  disciples  in  name  are  the  dead-weight  of  our  organi- 


REV.    C.    M.    GIFFIN'S   ADDRESS.  28o 

sations.  It  must  be  admitted  there  is  a  formalism  without  enacted 
forms.  Formalism  is  not  a  book ;  it  is  a  state  of  the  heart.  The 
stereotyi)ed  sentences  of  the  ritual  can  never  be  more  stagnant  and 
stenchful  than  some  so-called  extemporaneous  expressions.  There 
may  be  a  formalism  that  knows  just  how  to  excite  its  emotions  so  as 
to  produce  effervescence,  and  a  shout  may  be  as  mechanical  as  the 
dreary  droning  of  a  sing-song  liturgist.  We  watch  the  gates  from 
Rome  as  if  all  peril  must  come  that  way,  whereas  we  may  lose  that 
faith  and  fervour  through  which  alone  our  service  can  be  acceptable. 
Any  religious  service  that  does  not  carry  spiritual  help  to  those  within 
its  hmits  is  a  specimen  of  formalism,  so  that  this  peril  may  occur 
at  any  time  when  the  faith  needful  to  bring  the  quickening  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  is  absent.  Without  crucifix  or  candles  there  may  be 
coldness ;  without  choirs,  no  melody  of  the  spirit ;  without  robes, 
clerical  acting.  Formalism  is  the  skeleton  of  religion,  and  whenever 
the  life  of  the  Holy  Ghost  is  not  present,  the  service  is  always  that 
skeleton.  Concerning  the  last  danger,  our  Churches  need  to  be  warned 
against  a  compromise  they  are  inclined  to  make.  Admitting  the  need 
of  amusements,  the  Church  is  beginning  in  places  to  allow  its  duty  is 
to  provide  diversions  for  its  members.  Once  grant  that  entertainments 
are  the  legitimate  business  of  Zion,  and  our  churches  become  unequal 
rivals  to  the  theatre  and  circus.  Having  started  an  appetite,  are  we  not 
to  blame  if,  in  their  desire  to  see  the  best,  the  people  go  to  the  tragedy 
and  comedy  ? — make  our  churches  places  of  diversion,  and  give  the 
people  a  taste  of  the  skim  milk  we  serve  ;  and  we  should  be  silent,  save 
to  ask  God's  mercy  for  ourselves,  when  they  go  where  they  can  get  the 
cream.  A  piece  of  an  opera  lamely  performed  by  a  chou-  may  send 
some  of  the  congregation  the  next  night  to  where  it  wiU  be  better  sung. 
The  mass  music  used  in  the  cathedral  of  Methodism  may  be  improving 
to  the  ears  of  the  listeners,  but  we  had  supposed  the  mission  of  the 
Church  was  with  their  hearts.  There  is  a  peril  that  in  our  reaction 
from  asceticism  we  shall  get  over  to  indulgence,  and  our  members 
ceasing  to  be  Puritans  will  become  Parisians.  Then  our  gates  will  be 
wide  as  the  world,  and  our  courts  crowded  with  unconverted  retainers 
wishing  to  share  in  the  profit  of  our  popularity.  In  our  haste  to  be 
great,  we  have  allowed  too  many  to  be  enrolled  whose  only  fitness  is 
their  ability  to  pay  their,  dues  and  increase  the  respectabilities  of  the 
organisation.  For  churches,  like  London  tradesmen,  like  to  announce 
that  they  are  patronised  by  the  Court  and  nobility.  The  question  of 
increase  should  be  most  of  all  a  question  of  quality.  If  we  add  ten 
thousand  to  our  census,  ten  thousand  what  ?  If  ten  thousand  half- 
hearted, world-loving  members,  it  is  a  misfortune  tliat  we  thus  multiply. 
Better  one  David  in  the  name  of  the  Lord,  than  many  Goliaths,  great 
only  in  the  flesh.  Is  there  not  a  possibility  that  we  shall  so  improve 
the  size  of  our  edifices  and  agencies,  in  a  carnal  competition  with  other 
sects,  that  we  must  bid  for  wealth  at  its  own  terms  and  accept  money 


286  POSSIBLE   PERILS   OF  METHODISM. 

made  by  intense  selfishness,  flattering  its  owner's  vanity,  and  allow 
worldliness  to  rule  in  Zion  ?  Farewell,  then,  said  Wesley,  to  doctrine 
and  discipline.  In  fact  there  is  a  chance,  against  which  we  do  well  to 
take  heed,  that  hardy,  heroic  Methodism  may  become  so  flabby  and 
pulseless  in  its  effeminate  sons,  that  they  will  hold  an  ideal  in  which 
goodness  is  merely  a  dainty  wish,  and  to  be  in  the  Church  only  to 
confess  the  sentiments  of  a  kid-gloved  perfumed  dilettantism.  Already 
as  a  sign  of  progress,  it  is  said,  Methodists  have  abandoned  their 
oddities  until  you  cannot  tell  them.  It  is  to  be  feared  some  of  them 
cannot  tell  themselves.  When  that  is  true,  and  we  have  dropped  to 
the  level  of  an  infirm  religion,  we  should  leave  off  this  name,  for  if 
Methodism  means  anything,  it  is  to  be  unspotted  from  the  world,  the 
Lord's  peculiar  people.  Keep  out  worldliness  by  keeping  in  the  life  of 
the  Spirit,  and  then  we  shall  have  none  of  the  pretence  of  mere  cere 
moniahsm,  or  craving  for  the  nonsense  of  clownishness. 

Mr.  H.  J.  Atkinson  (Wesleyan  Methodist)  said  :  If  all  religious  people 
would  be  so  little  worldly  as  to  give  upon  system  to  the  work  of  God  we 
should  have  no  difficulty  about  retrenchment  or  in  any  other  way  ;  but  our 
committees  would  meet  together  for  the  purpose  of  allocating  the  money 
instead  of  for  devising  means  of  begging.  And  why  is  it  that  it  is  not  so  ? 
It  is  not  so  because  of  one  word  in  this  resolution,  namely,  the  perils 
of  worldliness.  What  is  worldliness  ?  Worldliness  is  liking  the  world. 
I  am  a  Yorkshireman,  and  am  entitled  to  use  the  word  in  the  sense  the 
Yorkshiremen  use  it.  What  I  have  to  say  is  this,  that  it  is  the  love 
of  money  that  makes  the  people  love  the  world  too  well.  Why  do  they 
grasp  the  money  and  keep  it  too  tight  ?  Because  they  think  of  increasing 
their  expenditure  as  their  income  rises,  so  that  they  may  get  a  better  social 
position  and  work  upwards,  and  have  more  pleasure  and  comfort.  Many 
years  ago  I  read  Gold  and  the  Gospel,  which  many  of  you  have  read,  and  I 
conceive  that  the  cure  for  all  this  is  that  every  one  of  us  should,  in  the 
sight  of  God,  arrange  our  true  position,  and  settle  what  our  systematic 
giving  is.  Then  our  ministers  would  not  have  to  beg  as  they  have  now  to 
do,  and  our  superintendents  would  not  have  to  go  round  to  collect  subscrip- 
tions, saying,  "  We  shall  lose  the  guineas  if  we  do  not  put  in  our  personal 
appearance."  I  do  not  wish  to  dictate  to  any  one  that  they  should  give  ten 
per  cent.,  or  any  other  amount,  but  they  should  look  to  their  incomes,  and 
realise  how  much  they  owe  to  God.  I  knew  a  case  where  a  man  devoted 
ten  per  cent,  to  God.  He  had  £500  a  year ;  £50  for  God,  and  £450  for 
himself.  Then  his  income  got  up  to  £5,000 ;  £4,500  for  himself,  and  £500 
for  God  ;  but  he  said,  "  I  cannot  afiiord  £500  ;  it  is  too  much."  He  ought 
to  have  said,  "  There  was  £450  left  to  me  :  now  there  is  £4,500  left  to  me  : 
it  is  too  much  left  to  me,  and  I  must  increase  the  percentage  to  God." 
There  is  a  great  mistake  in  not  having  good  book-keeping.  People  do  not 
put  down  what  they  give  and  what  they  ought  to  give.  Some  persons  say-, 
"  Oh,  I  give  plenty  away."  I  say  to  them,  "  Put  it  down  for  one  year 
carefully,  and  you  will  see  it  is  rather  less  than  you  expected  it  to  be  ; 
therefore,  it  is  your  duty  to  give  more."  Many  of  us  are  continually 
taking  chairs  at  missionary  meetings,  and  other  places.  Every  time  I  take 
a  chair  I  take  up  part  of  my  time  in  appealing  to  them  to  give  systemati- 
cally, because  I  feel  that  if  I  can  convert  one  young  fellow  when  I  take 
that  chair,  when  I  rest  from  my  labours  my  good  works  will  follow  me  in 
the  way  in  which  he  perpetuates  the  example.     Now  I  hope  we  shall  make 


GENERAL   REMARKS.  287 

up  onr  minds  that  it  is  n,2,iit  to  look  at  this  thing  conscientiously,  and  that 
we  may  feel  it  is  not  going  too  much  into  the  Jewish  system,  as  some  say, 
but  that  we  may  feel  we  owe  much  more,  and  when  the  time  comes  for  our 
epitaph  to  be  written,  those  who  do  it  for  us  may  be  able  to  say,  "  That  I 
have  I  lost  ;  that  I  gave  I  have,"  that  when  we  die  we  may  be  received 
into  everlasting  habitations.  Personally  I  feel  there  is  far  too  little 
made  of  the  giving  and  the  appeals  and  begging.  Our  ministers  are  far  too 
little  in  the  habit  of  appealing  to  us,  and  seem  to  be  afraid  of  putting  these 
claims  before  us  ;  but  I  hope  that  we  laymen  may  recognise  our  responsi- 
bility, and  be  determined  to  do  all  we  can  to  get  ourselves  up  to  the  proper 
standard,  so  that  we  may  have  the  joy  of  giving  part  to  God.  God  gives  ua 
power  to  get  the  wealth  :  let  us  give  back  a  proportion  to  Him. 

Rev.  Dr.  Buckley  (Methodist  Episcopal  Churcli)  :  I  propose  to  speak 
on  tlie  subject  of  improper  amusements.  I  consider  that  to  be  as  important 
a  topic  as  any  that  has  been  presented,  practically  considered.  I  hold  that 
the  Church  ought  not  to  frown  on  innocent  amusements.  I  hold  that 
essays  and  sermons  that  have  an  ascetic  sound  will  not  save  the  young.  We 
ought  to  frown  upon  improper  amusements,  but  when  we  do  it  we  should 
make  it  clear  that  we  are  not  opposed  to  innocent  amusements.  Amusement 
is  natural  and  necessaiy.  "  A  merry  heart,"  says  the  Word  of  God,  "  doeth 
good  like  a  medicine,"  and  such  a  heart  must  find  expression.  Methodism 
is  no  longer  isolated.  Its  young  people  may  be  in  the  general  society  of 
the  places  where  they  reside  according  to  their  position,  apart  from 
Methodism.  Now  then,  the  question  arises,  Shall  we  give  up  our  ancient 
opposition  to  card-playing,  dancing,  and  theatre-going?  I  hold  that  we 
should  not,  because  certain  facts  are  obvious.  That  class  of  amusements 
occupies  the  minds  of  the  young,  so  that  they  do  not  and  will  not  think  on 
the  subject  of  religion.  Take  away  those  amusements  from  them,  and  the 
natural  impulses  of  religious  thought  and  feeling  would  work  conviction  of 
sin.  Hence,  they  stand  directly  in  the  way  of  securing  the  conviction  and 
conversion  of  the  young.  Moreover,  when  a  young  man  or  a  young  woman 
is  convicted,  it  is  to  this  class  of  amusements,  one  or  all,  that  that  young- 
man  or  woman  is  apt  to  turn  in  order  to  stifle  conviction.  That  is  a  fact,  1 
think,  W'hich  will  be  attested  by  every  observer  in  this  body.  In  the  next 
place,  wdien  persons  are  soundly  and  thoroughly  converted  after  deep  and 
genuine  conviction,  whether  long  endured  or  for  but  a  brief  time,  yet 
essentially  pungent  and  deep — when  such  persons  are  converted  it  requires 
no  argument  to  induce  them  to  turn  away  from  the  theatre,  the  dance,  and 
the  card-table.  That  is  a  fact  to  which  there  are  no  exceptions,  not  only 
with  us,  but  in  other  denominations.  The  most  devout  and  pious  Roman 
Catholic  has  no  sj-mpathy  wuth  these  things  ;  the  most  devout  and  pious 
members  of  the  Church  of  England  or  the  Lutheran  Church  have  no 
sympathy  with  them.  Another  fact  is,  that  you  can  scarcely  find  one 
spiritual  worker  in  any  denomination  that  is  in  sympathy  with  them, 
You  can  find  dress-parade  workers,  men  who  speak  well  on  anniversary  days, 
men  wlio  speak  well  when  they  are  in  the  frcmt,  who  have  a  sympatliy  with 
them,  but  you  cannot  find  any  hard  win'ker  in  any  denomination  who  has  a 
sympathy  with  them.  Moreover,  when  the  liturgical  Church  wish  to  do  any 
positive  work  for  Christ,  thej- interdict  these  things;  they  have  a  protracted 
meeting  for  forty  days  in  which  they  reap  their  harvest  of  the  year,  and  in  that 
time  they  forbid  the  theatre,  dancing,  and  card-table.  Moreover,  it  is  a  fact 
with  regard  to  them  that  in  rural  districts  in  the  winter  season,  when  the 
Church  is  trying  to  do  its  very  best  work,  these  amusements  are  much  in  its 
way,  and  often  it  is  a  conflict,  the  issue  of  which  will  decide  whether 
religion  or  frivolity  will  prevail.  Yet  with  all  tliese  facts  the  subject  is  a 
difficult  one  to  handle,  because  dancing  is  not  wrong  in  itself ;  dramatic 
representations  are   not   essentially    wrong  ;   and   card-playing,  where  no 


288  POSSIBLE   PERILS   OF   METHODISM. 

money  is  involved,  is  not  essentiallj'-  wront^.  Now,  then,  if  it  be  true  that 
these  amusements  produce  these  evil  effects  and  yet  are  not  essentially 
wrong,  the  thing  is  one  of  great  delicacy  and  difficulty.  What  can  we  do  ? 
We  must  appeal  first  to  the  influence  of  these  things  and  prove  it  to  the 
people.  Secondly,  we  must  appeal  to  the  loss  of  moral  power  which  they 
will  experience  if  they  practise  them.  We  must  show  them  that  the  world 
counts  it  a  large  gain  over  the  Christian  wlien  he  dances,  or  plays  cards,  or 
is  seen  in  a  theatre  ;  and  we  must  bring  to  bear  a  moral  influence  upon  the 
young  which  will  hold  them  until  a  few  years  are  past,  for  this  is  a  question 
of  the  boy,  the  girl,  the  young  gentleman,  and  the  young  lady.  It  is  folly 
for  ministers  to  stand  up  and  simply  say,  without  showing  why,  "These 
things  are  evil."  The  time  is  past  for  looking  a  young  man  or  a  young 
woman  in  the  face  and  saying,  "  You  are  on  the  road  to  hell  if  you  dance." 
We  cannot  make  that  kind  of  argument  tell  to-day.  We  must  show  the 
reason  why  tlie  Church  opposes  these  things.  We  are  met  by  some  of  our 
wealthy  members,  who  just  as  soon  as  they  get  rich  and  their  children  go 
into  society,  find  themselves  compelled,  as  they  think,  to  allow  things  that 
they  would  not  allow  when  they  were  poor.  What  are  we  to  do  with  these 
wealthy  members,  some  of  whom  are  as  good  as  Joseph  of  Arimathea  or 
Job,  except  in  these  particulars  ?  The  only  thing  we  can  do  is  to  expostu- 
late Avith  them,  to  labour  with  them,  to  beseech  them,  to  show  them  the 
consequences ;  and  if  they  persist  in  disregarding  the  general  spirit  and 
rules  of  our  Church,  one  of  two  things  will  happen  if  we  are  faithful — 
either  they  will  get  weary  of  us  and  leave  us,  or  some  glorious  revival  will 
sweep  through  the  Church,  and  show  them  how  little  it  is  to  give  up  these 
things  for  the  glory  of  the  Church.  ]\Ieanwhile,  the  poorest  and  weakest 
thing  when  the  Church  is  dead  and  almost  plucked  up  by  the  roots,  is  for 
the  minister  to  stand  up  amidst  those  ancient  mariners  who  are  moving  it 
around  and  doing  it  without  any  life,  and  say  that  these  things  are  the 
unpardonable  sin.  It  is  better  to  go  down  beneath  to  build  up  the  work  of 
God,  and  bring  about  such  a  revival  of  the  people  that  they  will  throw 
these  things  off.  But  a  bad  case  must  be  treated  with  authority,  and  when 
a  leading  member  says,  "I  shall  dance,  and  you  cannot  help  me  ;  I  shall  go 
to  the  theatre,  and  you  cannot  ^top  me  ;  I  sball  play  cards,  and  I  will  do  so 
before  you  ;"  then  there  is  one  thing  which  must  be  considered — that  man's 
money  or  the  glory  of  Methodism. 

Rev.  E.  Chew  (Methodist  Free  Church)  :  Sir,  I  feel  that  this  is  one  of 
the  most  difficult  questions  that  can  come  before  this  Conference,  and  the 
delicacy  very  much  arise  :n  my  judgment  from  drawing  the  line— where 
do  innocent  amusements  t-nd  and  vicious  amusements  begin  ?  It  seems  to 
me  that  that  is  a  very  oelicate  and  difficult  point  to  settle,  and  we  should 
not  make  a  great  deal  <lepend  upon  exactitude  of  definition.  I  think  there 
is  an  intimate  conne/.tion  between  the  formality  referred  to  in  the  pro- 
gramme of  to-day,  t.nd  worldliness  and  dangerous  amusements.  I  believe 
that  one  way  of  settling  the  question  would  be  to  afford  in  our  religious 
exercises  and  ordiaances  a  fair  amount  of  legitimate  inward  excitement  for 
those  who  attend.  If  we  have  a  very  great  deal  of  formality  in  connec- 
tion with  our  n;ligious  observances — formality  in  the  pulpit,  formality  in 
the  pew,  formaiity  at  the  Lord's  Table,  formality  running  through  every- 
thing that  we  lio,  and  almost  everything  that  we  say,  and  this  formality 
stift'ening  itsf.lf  into  that  which  is  stereotyped,  I  can  hardly  conceive  any 
other  result  than  that  people  who  have  affections  and  sympathies  will 
seek  excitement  in  some  other  way.  It  seems  to  me  that,  if  we  look  back 
on  the  history  of  Methodism,  when  the  spiritual  excitement  was  strongest, 
and  when  it  manifested  itself  in  all  its  ordinances  and  all  its  arrangements, 
the  ten'^ency  to  unhealthy  excitement  was  correspondingly  weak  ;  and, 
just  in  proportion  as  we  can  throw  healthy  excitement  into  all  our  arrange- 


GENERAL    REMARKS.  281) 

ments,  in  that  proportion  sliall  wo  check  the  tendency  to  nnhealthy  excite- 
ment and  vicious  amusement.  I  should  like,  therefore,  as  far  as  possible, 
for  us  to  make  all  our  ordinances  and  means  to  some  extent  exciting.  I  do 
not  believe  in  unreasonable  excite  ment,  1  do  not  believe  in  any  kind  of 
mere  animal  excitement,  but  I  do  believ>-^  in  that  kind  of  freedom  and 
freshness  and  ease  in  connection  vi-ith  preaching,  and  every  other  ordinance, 
that  will  aft'ord  a  realh'  healthful  stimulus  to  the  best  feelings  of  our 
hearts  ;  and  if  we  can  only  succeed  in  doing  that,  I  believe  we  shall,  to  a 
considerable  extent,  arrest  the  tendency  to  unhealthful  excitement  and 
improper  amusement.  I  have  observed  in  the  course  of  my  experience 
that  in  proportion  as  people  attend  those  means  of  grace  that  ap})cal  to  the 
atfections  considerably,  the  less  are  they  inclined  to  go  out  into  un- 
healthy excitement.  If  we  look  at  our  praj^er-meeting,  our  love-feast,  or 
band-meeting,  and  if  in  these  meetings  a  good,  healthful  spirit  prevails,  it 
will  be  found  that  the  people  that  are  accustomed  to  attend  them  are  not 
those  that  generally  go  after  worldly  excitement.  If  we  can  bring  that 
kind  of  spiritual  influence  to  bear  upon  the  people  to  a  larger  extent  in  all 
our  ordinances  and  arrangements,  I  believe  we  shall  do  a  great  deal 
practically  (perhaps  not  theoretically)  to  determine  the  difference  l)etween 
healthful  and  unhealthful  excitement,  and  shall  do  a  good  deal  to  remove 
that  feeling  of  worldliness  in  the  heart  to  which  reference  has  been  made. 

Rev.  Dr.  Rigg  :  Let  me  say  one  word.  I  think  the  most  serious  aspect 
of  the  question  is  the  fact  that  we  have  begun  of  late  years  to  organise 
entertainments  for  our  J^oung  people  of  tender  years  which  cannot  but 
demoralise  them  ;  that  under  the  plea  of  saving  them  from  the  temptations 
of  the  public-house  and  other  things  in  the  evening,  we  prepare  for  them 
amusements  often  less  intellectual,  and  not  less  demoralising,  than  they 
might  meet  with  if  they  went  to  the  penny  theatre.  I  speak  of  what  I 
know.  For  children  to  have  a  certain  sort  of  miserable,  wretched,  inferior 
play-acting  brought  before  their  view  on  the  boards  of  our  Sunday-schools, 
and  that  under  the  sanction  of  Band  of  Hope  committees,  is  for  the 
Church  to  give  sanction  to  a  form  of  demoralisation  infinitely  worse  than 
could  attach  to  a  better-class  theatre.  I  do  not  know,  Mr.  President,  how 
it  may  be  with  you  on  the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic,  but  both  in  England 
and  in  Ireland  this  sort  of  thing  has  been  done  to  a  most  perilous  and 
alarming  extent.  I  do  hope,  with  all  my  heart,  that  every  minister  will  be 
prepared  to  bear  whatever  brunt  he  may  have  to  bear  in  putting  this  down, 
and  that  all  trustees  will  refuse  to  allow  their  places  of  worship  to  be  used 
for  the  performance  of  any  such  miserable  and  demoralising  representa- 
tions and  entertainments  as  these. 

Rev.  G.  Bowden  :  Dr.  Chalmers  said,  "  Fill  a  man's  heart  with  the  love 
of  God,  and  let  him  do  what  he  pleases."  This  position  is  true  on  amuse- 
ments. There  is  a  border  land  in  which  there  may  be  much  diflVrcncc  of 
action.  Each  man  must  be  "  fully  persuaded  in  his  own  mind."  That 
which  is  right  for  one  man  may  be  wrong  for  another,  and  that  which  is 
right  for  the  same  man  at  one  time  might  be  wrong  at  anotiier.  That 
which  may  be  a  duty  to  the  man  nervously  unstrung,  may  be  a  sin  for  the 
same  man  in  full  health.  That  which  draws  from  the  houie,  making  an 
evening  there  insipid  and  dry,  is  an  evil ;  while  the  same  thing  if  it  keep 
the  children  together,  and  m;;  cs  tlie  evening  at  home  bright  and  attractive, 
may  be  a  good.  We  should  t(>i  each  by  asking.  What  are  its  assonations? 
Is  it  associated  with  dulled  spiritual  sensibilities,  with  neglect  of  the  Bible 
and  closet,  with  people  of  low  spiritual  life  or  of  none  at  all,  be  assured  it 
leads  to  evil  results.  If  it  is  associated  with  violations  of  the  seventh  Com- 
mandment, with  gambling  or  other  forms  of  manifest  wrong,  be  assured  it 
produces,  it  fosters  these  evils.  Ask  further,  What  are  its  teiuJencies  f  To 
ascertain  these  seek  the  perfect  form  of  it.     Is  it  found  on  the  stiige  ?     Is 

U 


290  POSSIBLE   PERILS   OF   METHODISM. 

it  in  the  gambling  saloon  ?  Bo  pure  that  if  you  cherish  the  taste  in  a 
Band  of  Hope  meeting  or  by  private  theatricals  in  the  home,  you  will  iind 
the  taste  you  have  formed  will  seek  the  more  perfect  form  of  that  wdiich 
you  have  cherished.  This  I  have  found  in  my  ministry,  when  seeking  the 
conversion  of  the  children  of  our  people.  When  the  family  discipline  on 
these  questions  has  been  good,  I  have  seen  all  the  children  brought  to 
Jesus.  Whei-e  that  discipline  has  been  lax,  the  same  pastoral  care  has 
produced  only  partial  success.  If  we  let  the  world  in  among  us  we  shall 
not  gain  the  young  by  it — ''  Satan  will  not  cast  out  Satan."  The  follies  of 
the  world  will  not  bring  j^oung  people  to  a  true  conversion. 

Bishop  Peck  :  If  the  Church  join  the  world  it  is  difficult  to  tell  the 
value  of  inducing  the  world  to  join  the  Church.  The  two  things  are 
separate.  I  have  in  my  own  experience  found  out  that  the  self-denying 
people,  and  not  the  dancing  people,  made  Methodism ;  and  they  are  the 
only  people  who  can  preserve  it  and  develop  it.  We  can  in  fashionable 
enjoyments  and  amusements  make  something,  but  we  cannot  make  Metho- 
dism, and,  if  novelties  prevail,  it  is  essentially  marred  and  finally  has  lost 
its  power.  As  a  pastor  I  have  grappled  with  this  question,  and  in  one  way 
have  completely  succeeded.  I  had  some  two  hundred  or  more  young- 
people  in  one  of  the  churches  of  which  I  was  pastor.  I  was  the  com- 
panion of  the  young  people,  and  they  were  my  particular  friends  from  the 
least  to  the  largest.  One  night  in  the  w^eek  I  had  in  the  church,  under  the 
idea  of  making  the  church  the  loved  home  of  my  young  people,  class- 
meetings  that  were  very  lively  and  spiritual,  and  great  and  glorious  prayer- 
meetings,  and  the  young  peoj^le  generally  were  delighted  to  get  there  if 
they  could.  Then  I  had  on  one  night  in  the  week  a  choice  musical 
entertainment,  prepared  by  the  young  people  themselves,  all  of  whose 
talents  were  brought  out,  and  our  lecture-room  was  crowded.  Then  I  had 
one  night  in  the  week  given  up  to  the  study  of  profane  history,  under  a 
competent  teacher  ;  and  one  night  was  devoted  to  a  society  for  discussions 
and  mutual  improvement,  which  became  so  strong  that  it  included  at  least 
eleven  young  lawyers  from  the  City  who  were  not  members  of  our  church. 
Now,  to  one,  or  two,  or  three,  or  more  of  these  evening  gatherings  our 
young  people  came  ;  those  who  could  not  come  to  all  came  to  such  as  they 
could,  and  the  church  became  the  beautiful  and  joyous  home  of  young  and 
old.     That,  sir,  was  my  remedy. 

Rev.  Bishop  Joseph  P.  Thompson  (African  Methodist  Ejjis- 
copal  Zion  Church)  then  read  the  following  paper  on  Possible 
Perils  of  Methodism  from  Innovations  tqwn  Established  Methodistic 
Usages  and  Institutions. 

Dear  Fathers  and  Brethren, — In  accepting  the  position  to  write  on 
certain  phases  of  the  perils  of  Methodism,  which  has  been  assigned  to 
me,  I  would  say  that  it  would  have  been  quite  as  congenial  to  have 
spoken  ol  the  triumphs  of  Methodism,  and  of  her  wonderfully  hopeful 
future,  i .1  the  good  providence  of  God,  yet  to  be  achieved.  Still,  those 
achievements  will  not  be  realised  vrithout  the  gi'eatest  possible  evidence 
of  the  perils.  A  gallant  ship  traversing  the  ocean  should  be  manned 
by  a  hopeful,  yet  cautious,  crew,  so  that  hope  may  be  duly  chastened 
and  visely  directed  by  the  voice  of  caution.  Methodism,  it  hath  been 
said,  is  the  child  of  Providence,  and  of  that  branch  of  our  beloved 
African  Methodist  Episcopal  Zion  Church  which  I  represent  this  ia 


BISHOP  J.    P.    THOMPSON'S   ADDRESS.  291 

emphatically  true.  We  rejoice  to  have  sprung  from  so  noble  a  stock, 
and  the  names  of  tlie  Wesieys  and  J-'letchers,  of  Clarke  and  Watson, 
will  by  us  ever  be  revered. 

Innovating  perils  to  Methodist  usages  and  institutions  may  be 
classified  as  positive  and  negative ;  or,  those  which  come  from  active 
encroachments  on  the  one  hand,  and  on  the  other,  those  which  result 
from  iuatteutiou  or  indifference  tc:  her  established  usages  and  in- 
stitutions. 

Let  us  first  regard  some  of  the  encroachments  of  a  positive 
character : — 

Innovations  of  the  Appoint! iicf  Poioer. — This  "time-honoured"  and 
highly-important  institution  for  the  conservation  of  the  itinerancy  is 
greatly  imperilled.  From  the  foundation  of  Methodism  there  has 
been  a  clearly-defined  and  author ito.tive  appointing  power.  Whether 
that  appointing  power  was  lodged  in  one  person,  or  in  several, 
Methodism  has  recognised  its  authority  and  realised  its  great  utility. 
That  power  has  not  been  wielded  proudly  or  arbitrarily,  but  has 
nevertheless  bef;n  decisive. 

It  has  sought  to  be  well  informed  of  the  wants  of  the  churches,  and 
of  the  men  best  adapted  to  supply  tliose  various  wants,  and  to  have  no 
other  motive  than  an  "  eye  single  to  the  glory  of  God,"  or,  using  the 
phrase,  "  to  put  the  right  men  in  the  right  places."  It  would  have 
been  surprising  if  there  should  not  liave  been  an  occasional  "  misfit ; " 
but  these,  it  must  be  conceded,  ha^-e  been  the  rare  exceptions.  The 
wonderful  success  of  the  system  demonstrates,  bey&nd  question,  its 
wisdom,  and  that  it  has  the  Divine  sanction.  To  an  alarming  extent 
this  appointing  power  is  allowed  to  rest  but  in  a  nominal  degi-ee  with 
those  who  are  called  by  the  Church,  and  in  the  providence  of  God,  to 
its  exercise.  A  small  segment  of  an  individual  church,  and,  not  in- 
frequently, a  single  member  of  a  congregation,  names  the  preacher 
demanded  for  its  pulpit.  But  limited  opportunities  for  knowing  the 
preacher  may  be  possessed  by  those  making  this  demand.  It  may  find 
expression,  too,  through  those  in  the  iudividual  church  not  best  jsre- 
pared  to  judge  of  its  real  need. 

The  demand  reaches  the  appointin'^  power  with  such  an  emphasis  as 
to  generally  ensure  compliance.  The  a])pointing  power  is,  therefore,  so 
fettered  that  it  becomes  but  a  "  machine  "  to  record  the  expressions  of 
those  who  are  likely  not  to  be  best  informed.  If  the  request  is  not 
complied  with,  dissatisfaction  ensues,  and  alienations  are  engendered. 
Is  it  not  true  that  one  wealthy  layman  often  decides  who  the  preacher 
shall  be  ?  Though  there  may  be  many  ministers  who  could  have  ably 
filled  the  pulpits,  surrounded  by  such  exactions,  and  the  accepted 
supply  is  limited  to  so  very  narrow  a  compass,  that  it  results  in  injury 
both  to  that  church  and  the  individual  society,  and  to  the  best  interest 
of  our  common  itinerancy.  If  our  time  would  permit,  the  evils  arising 
rom  this  tendency  could  be  much  more  fully  set  forth.     But,  fathers 

U2 


292  POSSIBLE   PERILS   OF   METHODISM. 

and  brethren,  we  greatly  deplore  this  evil,  and  can  see  no  benefit  to  be 
realised  to  Methodism  from  an  innovation  of  this  character. 

Innovations  on  the  Class-room. — In  the  history  of  Protestantism  God 
has  been  pleased  to  set  His  seal  of  approval  on  a  witnessing  Church. 
The  Revelator  declares  of  those  who  were  seen  about  the  throne  that 
they  overcame  "  by  the  blood  of  the  Lamb,  and  by  the  word  of  their 
testimony."  The  diminution  of  force,  fervour,  and  members  in  the 
class-room  has  its  root  in  the  growing  disinchnation  to  speak  of 
personal  religious  experience.  On  the  other  hand,  if  the  statement  of 
the  work  of  God  in  the  soal  were  more  general,  the  revival  of  class- 
meetings  would  surely  follow.  In  the  good  olden  way,  nothing  was 
more  effectual  for  the  Gospel  than  for  the  Methodist  preacher  to  put 
the  climax  on  the  well-delivered  sermon  by  the  narration  of  religious 
experience.  We  have  no  sympathy  with  that  sentimental  modesty 
which  carefully  eliminates  from  pubUc  discourses  all  reference  to  the 
dealings  of  God  with  the  soul.  Methodism  has  made  much  of  Christian 
experience,  and  must  not  cease  so  to  do  if  she  would  realise  the  fulfil- 
ment of  her  great  mission. 

We,  therefore,  deprecate  that  form  of  innovation  upon  the  class- 
meetings,  by  legislation  or  otherwise,  which  leads  our  people  to  believe 
that  it  is  not  both  specially  important  and  obUgatory  to  attend  to  this 
form  of  service.  Attendance  thereon  was  at  first,  and  ever  should  be, 
strictly  observed  as  a  test  of  membership.  Methodism  cannot  afford 
to  tolerate  the  broad-spread  tendency  of  an  innovation  so  great  that 
it  looks  to  nothing  short  of  the  overthrow  of  the  class-meeting. 

The  Relaxation  of  DiscTpline. — Turning  now  from  the  contemplation 
of  positive  innovations  upon  our  institutions,  let  us  regard  briefly  some 
innovations  by  neglect  of  Methodist  usage.  Prominent  among  these, 
and  very  broad  in  its  operations,  is  the  neglect  of  the  requirements  of 
the  Discipline.  AU  of  us  know  full  well  how  careful  Mr.  Wesley  was 
in  the  enforcement  of  the  rules  of  discipline.  If  he  dismembered  the 
Church,  and  for  a  moment  sent  consternation  in  the  midst  of  a  neigh- 
bourhood, little  cared  he  if  the  cause  of  God  and  the  enforcement  of 
the  rules  of  the  Discipline  demanded  it.  Particular  care  was  then 
given  as  to  who  were  received  into  the  Church,  and  no  less  attention 
bestowed  upon  those  who  had  entered. 

Now,  some  preachers  of  prominence  proudly  proclaim  that  during  the 
years  of  their  administration  they  have  never  had  a  Church  trial.  There 
is  a  laxness  as  to  who  are  admitted,  and  as  to  who  remain  within  the 
fold.  Though  some  seem  to  take  pride  in  inveighing  against  our  impor- 
tant doctrines,  none  are  called  to  account — inofficial  or  official  members. 
The  Press  and  the  Pulpit  indulge  in  this  with  equal  impunity.  This 
could  not  have  been  practised  once,  and  cannot  now  be  allowed  with 
any  degree  of  safety.  If,  in  the  wisdom  of  this  godly  assembly,  anything 
could  be  done  or  devised  by  which  the  discipline  of  Methodism  might 
be  more  carefully  enforced,  most  valuable,  indeed,  would  be  the  result. 


KEV.   R,    S.  CHEESEMAN's    ADDRESS.  293 

The  Sjnrit  of  Caste. — ^You  would  scarcely  expect  me  to  conclude  these 
suggestions  without  some  allusion  to  this  important  subject ;  and  yet, 
dear  fathers  and  brethren,  understand  me  as  referring  quite  as  much 
to  a  spirit  of  caste  coming  upon  our  Methodism  among  the  whites  as 
between  the  coloured  people  and  the  whites.  We  rejoice  to  say  that 
the  old  jealousies  and  envyings  of  the  race  are  waning  with  the 
general  abolition  of  slaverj^  and  with  wise,  beneficent,  and  legal 
enactments  for  the  better  protection  and  conservation  of  the  coloured 
people.  The  amelioration  of  the  feeling  of  caste  in  this  direction  is 
steadily  progressing.  There  is,  therefore,  for  my  people,  a  brighter  day 
dawning,  for  which  we  thank  God  and  take  courage. 

But  may  we  not  speak  of  the  tendency  to  separate  the  rich  from 
the  poor  in  Methodist  churches  in  many  of  our  great  commercial 
centres  and  inland  cities  ?  What  means  this  tendency  to  build  expen- 
sive churches,  but  to  make  it  necessary,  as  Wesley  foresaw  it  would, 
that  we  should  specially  foster  rich  men,  whether  rich  in  faith  towards 
God  or  not  ?  And  the  building  of  expensive  churches,  and  the  aggre- 
gation of  wealthy  j)eople  therein,  on  the  one  hand,  means  the  building 
of  cliurches  specially  for  the  poor,  and  the  endeavour  to  collect  them 
therein.  When  the  much-revered  Dr.  W.  Morley  Punshon,  of  the 
British  Weslej'an  Conference,  was  in  America,  he  was  called  to  preach 
the  dedicatory  sermon  of  a  magnificent  Methodist  church.  Shortly 
afterward  he  alluded  to  the  large  outlay  which  had  been  expended  in 
bringing  that  beautiful  temple  to  its  completion,  and  accompanied  the 
statement  with  the  remark  that  the  brethren  of  the  locahty  had  said, 
•'  Methodism  hereabouts  deserves  a  representative  church."  Upon 
hearing  tliis  quotation,  the  late  greatly-esteemed  Dr.  Durbin  observed, 
"The  spirit  of  Methodism  is  her  best  representative."  The  spirit  of 
Methodism,  fathers  and  brethren,  is  directly  awakened  and  kept  'aUve 
by  the  blessed  Holy  Spirit ;  for  nothing  is  more  apparent  than  that 
the  genius  of  Christianity  is  wholly  antagonistic  to  the  spirit  of  caste. 
This  growing  spirit  of  caste,  to  our  minds,  sufficiently  explains  the  loss 
of  the  hold  of  Methodism  upon  the  masses  of  the  peoiale.  You  will 
see,  therefore,  my  thought  is  that  the  congregations  of  our  white 
brethren  are  quite  as  much  in  danger  of  encroachments  from  this 
insidious  spirit  of  caste,  working  between  the  rich  and  the  poor,  as  are 
the  congi'egations  among  our  own  people  of  colour,  growing  the  old  but 
enfeebled  sjjirit  of  caste  between  the  white  and  black.  It  should  ever 
be  the  glory  of  Methodism  that,  as  her  legions  of  worshippers  of  every 
clime  gather  round  her  altars,  it  may  be  truly  said,  "  The  rich  and 
the  poor  meet  together,  the  Lord  is  the  Maker  of  them  all." 

And  now,  fathers   and  brethren,  "the  blessing  of  the  Lord,  which 
naketh  rich,  and  addetli  no  sorrow,"  be  with  you  aU.    Amen. 


Rev.  E.  S.  Cheeseman  Primitive  Methodist),  in  dfrHverfno;  the  In^Tlted 


294  POSSIBLE   PEllU^S  OF   METHODISM. 

address,  «aid :  Let  me  say,  at  the  outset,  I  do  not  entertain  the 
alarmist  views  which  some  people  have  entertained  at  every  inno- 
vation, as  it  may  be  called,  upon  some  of  our  Methodist  usages  and 
institutions.  It  will  not  be  denied,  I  think,  that  many  of  our  present 
usages  were  unknown  to  our  fathers,  and  that  the  alterations  that  have 
been  made  in  some  of  our  institutions  and  usages,  so  far  from  being 
perilous,  have  produced  great  good  to  the  community.  It  was  inevitable 
that  the  original  polity  of  Methodism  should  be  modified  in  after  times. 
That  polity  was  human,  and  everything  that  is  human  has  imperfec- 
tions in  it.  In  trying  times  those  imperfections  were  discovered,  and 
had  to  be  removed.  No  denomination  can  afford  to  confine  itself  to 
the  same  institutions  and  usages  throughout  all  ages ;  at  any  rate,  if  it 
do,  in  my  humble  opinion  it  must  degenerate.  Even  the  Conference 
itself,  which  is  a  distinctive  feature  of  all  Methodist  bodies,  has  to  alter 
its  constitution  occasionally,  in  order  to  meet  the  growing  liberal 
tendency  of  the  age.  I  rejoice  in  that  innovation  in  the  Conference  of 
our  dear  brethren,  the  Wesleyan  Methodists,  which  has  given  the 
laymen  of  the  community  greater  power  in  the  conduct  of  affairs.  This 
is  a  great  modern  innovation,  but  it  is  not  an  innovation  fraught  with 
peril :  it  is  one  that  will  bring,  I  believe,  great  good  to  that  great  body. 
Indeed,  it  has  already  done  good,  as  we  have  seen  in  that  magnificent 
outburst  of  Christian  charity — the  Thanksgiving  Fund.  This  is  only 
the  first  fruits  of  the  good  that  the  Church  will  reap  from  the  innova- 
tion. So  long  as  the  authority  of  the  Conference  is  maintained,  its 
supreme  and  final  authority,  no  peril  can  arise  from  giving  to  intelligent 
and  respectable  laymen  a  voice  in  the  presiding  councils  of  the  Con- 
ference. Another  Methodistic  usage  is  the  class-meeting.  This  is 
peculiarly  a  Methodist  institution,  and,  thanks  be  to  God,  it  is  our 
glory"  and  our  pride.  It  has  been  the  means  of  spiritual  enlightenment, 
comfort,  and  strength  to  nearly  five  generations  of  Methodism.  And 
when  I  speak  about  the  benefits  of  class-meetings,  I  speak  not  the 
language  of  theory,  but  of  actual  experience.  I  became  a  member  of 
a  Methodist  class  when  I  was  a  Httle  boy,  and  I  have  been  a  member 
of  a  class  ever  since.  For  fifty  years  I  have  been  in  the  habit  of 
meeting  in  class,  and  therefore  I  can  bear  testimony  to  the  advantages 
of  class-meetings.  Yet  it  cannot  be  denied  that  there  is  a  great  repug- 
nance in  the  minds  of  our  more  cultured  members  to  meeting  in  class, 
and  we  need  not  wonder  that  men  entertain  different  views  as  to  the 
iitUity  of  such  meetings.  You  know  we  are  a  very  large  body,  and 
we  cannot  expect  a  large  body  of  members  to  think  alike.  We  must 
expect  a  variety  of  opinion  amongst  us,  and  cannot  let  one  man 
think  for  us  all.  That,  you  know,  is  the  Pope's  plan.  But  then  he 
does  not  find  it  to  succeed  very  well.  If  you  read  the  history  of  the 
Papacy,  you  will  find  that  that  Church  has  been  riven  with  dissensions 
from  the  beginning  to  this  day  ;  and  if  you  will  read  the  history  of  the 
Popes  themselves  you  will  fijid  that  they  differ  largely ;  and  if  you  look 


KEY.  R.    S.    CHEESEMAN'S     ADDRESS.  295 

at  the  different  corporations  of  friars  and  monks  within  that  Church, 
you  will  find  that  every  separate  incorporation  is  an  embodiment  of  a 
new  idea.  But  yet  I  venture  to  say  that  if  the  day  should  ever  come 
when  the  Msthodist  class-meeting  shall  be  abolished,  it  would  be  one 
of  the  greatest  perils  that  had  come  to  Methodism,  and  no  true 
Methodist  would  contemplate  such  an  event  with  feelings  other  than 
those  of  deepest  sorrow  and  pain. 

Mr.  President,  now  that  other  denominations  around  us  are  feeling 
the  want  of  the  class-meeting,  what  will  be  said  of  us  if  we,  who  origi- 
nated that  important  service,  should  give  it  up  ?  A  few  Evangelical 
clergymen  in  this  country  in  the  Congregational  ministry  are  holding 
meetings  with  their  members  for  religious  converse,  for  the  reading  of 
the  Holy  Scriptures  and  for  prayers,  and  for  the  singing  of  the  hymns  of 
Sion.  Probably  no  one  who  read  or  heard  it  w^U  forget  that  charge — for 
it  deserves  to  be  called  by  that  name— that  was  given  to'the  Wesleyan 
Methodist  Conference  at  Birmingham  by  that  foremost  of  Congregational 
ministers,  the  Rev.  R.  W.  Dale,  setting  forth  not  only  the  advantages 
of  the  class-meeting,  but  urging  the  Metliodists  to  hold  fast  to  this  old 
and  blessed  institution  ;  and  in  the  recent  lecture  delivered  by  the 
Rev.  J.  Guinness  Rogers  to  the  Congregational  Union,  we  find  a  strong 
eulogy  on  Methodist  class-meetings.  No  doubt  the  efSciency  of  the 
.class-meeting  depends  very  largely  on  the  manner  in  which  it  is  con- 
ducted. I  remember  hearing  the  late  Samuel  Coley  give  an  address  on 
the  advantages  of  the  Metliodist  class-meeting,  and  he  urged,  I  believe, 
the  reading  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  and  singing  on  a  larger  scale  than 
is  now  practised  in  the  class-meetings,  and  he  urged  that  leaders 
should  give  up  asking  how  their  members  felt,  and  rather  ask  them 
what  they  had  been  doing  during  the  past  week,  so  that  the  class- 
meeting  might  be  the  means,  not  merely  of  telling  what  a  man  felt, 
but  that  he  might  give  a  report  of  his  work  for  God  and  his  Church 
during  the  week.  I  think  that  would  be  a  great  improvement  in  the 
conducting  of  the  class-meetings.  I  care  very  little  about  the  manner  ; 
I  will  not  plead  for  any  particular  mode  or  manner  of  conducting  the 
class-meeting ;  but  I  plead  for  the  continuance  of  the  class-meeting, 
and  even  as  a  test  of  membership.  It  is  a  Scriptural  institution.  I 
will  not  try  to  i^rove  that.  I  have  not  time,  or  I  believe  I  could  if 
it  were  necessary.  It  is  not  only  Scriptural,  but  it  is  in  harmony  with 
the  social  instincts  of  our  nature.  Man  is  essentially  a  social  being, 
and  the  class-meeting,  more  than  any  means  of  grace  I  know  of  in  this 
country — I  know  very  little  about  America — ministers  to  this  social 
tendency  of  our  nature.  Sir,  religion  is  not  a  selfish  thing.  No  man  is 
regarded,  or  ought  to  regard  himself,  as  having  a  separate  interest  in 
religion.  "  Look  not  every  one  upon  his  own  things,  but  every  one 
also  on  the  things  of  others."  "  Rejoice  with  those  that  do  rejoice  and 
weep  with  those  that  weep."  "  Bear  ye  one  another's  burdens,  and  so 
fulfil  the  law  of  Christ."     "Let  every  one  please  his  neighbour  for  hia 


29G  POSSIBLE   PERILS   OF   METHODTSM, 

good  to  edification,  for  even  Christ  pleased  not  Himself."  But  where 
can  this  reciprocal  advantage  be  enjoyed  so  well  as  in  the  class-meeting, 
where  the  experience  of  one  is  the  prop(;rty  of  all,  and  where  all  are 
benefited  from  the  common  stock  ? 

I  venture  to  say,  Mr.  President,  that  if  ever  the  class-meeting  were 
done  away  with,  it  would  be  one  oi  the  greatest  perils  that  could  come 
to  the  Methodist  Church.  I  was  going  to  speak  about  many  other 
Methodist  usages,  but  the  time  is  passing  rapidly.  The  system  of 
itinerancy  has  been  the  subject  of  a  separate  paper  at  a  previous 
session  of  this  Conference,  and  it  has  been  ably  handled.  I  will  only 
say  that  I  hope,  for  the  well-being  of  the  entire  body  of  Methodists 
throughout  the  whole  world,  that  we  shall  keep  up  our  system  of 
itinerancy.  If  we  were  to  give  it  uji,  we  should  weaken  that  con- 
nexional  sympathy  that  runs  through  all  our  circuits,  and  through  all 
our  societies.  Give  up  itinerancy,  let  ministers  become  settled  pastors, 
and  what  would  be  the  result  ?  Wliy,  the  pastors  of  the  Church  would 
be  too  much  absorbed  with  tiieir  own  schemes  to  have  any  large 
amount  of  sj'mpathy  with  great  connexional  movements.  I  trust, 
however,  we  shall  hold  to  this  system.  Then  as  to  open-air  preaching 
— camp-meetings  I  think  you  call  them  in  America ;  indeed,  we  do  in 
England,  but  strictly  they  are  not  camp-meetings — you  will  not 
wonder  that  I  speak  in  favour  of  continuing  the  practice  of  open-air 
preaching  when  I  tell  you  that  the  Connexion  to  which  I  have  the 
honour  to  belong  was  born  in  the  o})en  air.  It  began  through  a  day's 
prayer  and  exhortation  on  one  oi  the  hills  of  Stafl'ordshire,  and  it  has 
been  mainly  supported  by  open-air  jireaching.  Many  of  our  honoured 
ministers  and  best  laymen  wei'o  converted  to  God  through  open-air 
preaching.  I  could  tell  j'ou,  even,  of  Roman  Catholics,  who  have  heard 
our  preachers  in  the  open  air,  have  received  the  truth  in  the  love  of  it, 
and  have  left  that  corrupt  and  idolatrous  Church.  There  are  multitudes 
around  us  who  never  come  within  our  sanctuaries ;  we  must  carry  the 
Gospel  to  their  very  doors.  Then  I  hope  we  shall  never  give  up  the 
custom  of  plain,  earnest,  pointed  evangehcal  preaching  that  has  cha- 
racterised Methodist  preachers  to  this  day.  If  we  should  ever  be  led, 
by  pride  of  learning  and  great  social  position,  to  give  up  our  jjlain 
Methodist  preaching,  it  would  be  a  great  calamity  to  the  whole 
Methodist  Church.  Our  young  ministers  esj)ecially  are  in  very  great 
danger  in  this  respect.  They  will  be  tempted  to  adapt  their  sermons 
to  the  more  cultured  of  their  hearers,  and  to  preach  pretty,  rather  than 
plain  and  pointed,  sermons.  Let  me  say  a  word  also  in  favour  of  sim- 
phcity  of  life  among  the  members  of  our  Church.  You  have  heard 
something  recently  about  the  necessity  of  continuing  our  Methodistic 
simi)licity.  Why,  when  I  was  a  young  man  Methodists  used  to  be 
known  even  by  the  manner  in  which  they  dressed,  and  some  rehgious 
denominations  were  strict  enough  m  all  conscience  in  the  rules  pre- 
scribed for  the  dress  of  their  ministers.     However,  I  will  not  plead  for 


GENERAL   REMARKS.  297 

any  particular  style  of  dressing,  either  for  ministers  or  laymen,  but  I 
will  say  this,  that  the  Church  ought  to  be  kept  distinct  from  the  world. 
•'Be  not  conformed  to  this  world"  is  a  precept  that  we  IMethodists 
cannot  afford  to  exjjuuge  fi-om  our  creed.  Our  mission  is  to  the  masses 
of  the  people ;  if  we  would  be  useful  to  the  masses,  we  must  preach  so 
that  they  can  understand  us,  in  language  that  is  plain  and  useful  for 
them,  thereby  imitating  our  Lord  aud  Master  whom  the  common  people 
«'  heard  gladly." 

Dr.  Marshall  (Methodist  Episcopal  Chui-ch,  South)  :  I  must  say  that  I 
heartily  concur  with  nearly  all  Mr.  Cheeseman  has  said,  but  there  is  one  tiling 
he  said  which  causes  me  sincere  and  profound  distrust  and  apprehension. 
He  said  that  the  denomination,  or  the  family  of  Methodism  to  which  he 
belongs,  was  born  in  the  open  air,  and  he  has  hopes  tliat  ojjen-air  teaching 
will  continue.  If  open-air  preaching  is  to  give  birth  to  new  Methodist 
families,  I  pray  God  it  may  give  birth  to  no  more.  I  confess  that  I  have 
here  learned  a  great  deal  concerning  Methodism,  though  (  have  been 
preaching  some  fifty  years.  Above  all,  I  have  learneu  to  love  these 
Methodist  brethren.  I  would  to  God  we  could  carry  home  their  manner  of 
singing,  and  introduce  it  into  our  churches.  I  would  to  God  we  could 
carry  home  their  manner  of  class-meetings,  and  many  other  things.  But 
there  is  one  thing  I  ask  myself,  and  that  is.  Were  I  to  take  up  my  abode  in 
England,  would  I  be  a  Wesleyan  ?  I  doubt  if  I  could.  Since  I  have  been 
here  I  have  heard  a  ritual  service  that  occupies  an  hour  every  morning. 
If  that  was  done  in  America  it  would  be  said  of  us,  •*  Wliy,  you  are  not 
JMethodists — you  are  really  Episcopalians.  What  is  the  use  of  your  main- 
taining a  separate  organisation  ?  You  are  virtually  Episcopaliatis."  So  I  do 
not  know  what  I  should  do.  Then  I  turn  round  and  say,  "  Brother,  to  what 
part  of  the  famil}-  of  Methodism  ([o  you  belong  ? "  and  the  reply  is,  "  I 
belong  to  the  Wesleyan  body,"  and  "I  belong  to  the  United  Free  Church." 
and  "  I  to  the  Primitives,"  and  this,  that,  and  the  other ;  and  then 
another  brother  gets  up  and  makes  a  most  admirable  speech,  and  says  his 
people  were  born  of  open-air  preaching,  and  so  it  seems  to  go  on,  and  the 
more  an  American  Methodist  comes  over  here  the  more  difficulty  he  will 
have,  and  the  only  chance  he  will  have  at  last  will  be  to  set  up  a 
denomination  of  his  own.  Now,  sir,  I  close  with  this  remark.  I  shall 
never  sit  in  such  a  Conference  again.  I  have  given  my  Yii'v,,  from  boj-hood, 
to  the  cause  of  my  Divine  Master.  I  only  grieve  that  I  have  not  a  hundred 
lives  to  give,  and  that  I  have  not  given  my  life  more  fully  to  it.  There  are 
brethren  here  that  have  witnessed  to  my  labours  for  many  years,  but,  oh ! 
that  I  had  more  years  to  give.  Bear  with  me,  then,  Christian  Wesleyan 
brethren,  if  I  say  to  j'ou  in  this  mighty  realm,  unite  and  be  one.  Give  up 
a  little  on  this  side,  give  up  a  little  on  that,  as  we  expect  to  do  some  day 
in  the  United  States.     God  grant  that  we  njay  do  so  ! 

Rev.  H.  (iiLMOKE  (Primitive  ]\Ietli<.dist)  :  I  want  to  say  a  word  or  two  on 
this  particular  question  before  the  meeting  closes.  I  was  not  particularly 
interested  to  observe  all  the  points  mentioned  by  the  essayist,  in  which 
innovations  have  taken  place  in  the  institutions  of  Methodism.  It  strikes 
me  that  Methodism  had  its  origin,  and  has  been  succc&sful,  because  it  has 
protested  against  strict  adherence  to  particular  forms  and  institutions,  and 
in  order  to  maintain  Methodism  we  ought  not  to  be  so  scrupulous  in 
relation  to  the  particular  forms  of  the  expression  of  the  religious  life,  or  our 
particular  modes  of  Church  government.  What  we  ought  to  be  concerned 
about  is,  to  maintain  the  spiritual  life  of  Methodism.  Why  should  we  not 
have  these  modificatiouti  ?     We  do  not  su^ipose  that  those  who  adopted  the 


298  POSSIBLE   PERILS   OF   METHODISM. 

present  customs  were  infallible.  We  allow  that  they  were  human,  and  we 
allow  further — at  least  I  do — that  all  the  wise  men  of  the  world  did  not 
live  L50  years  ago,  and  that  there  is  a  possibihty  of  men  being  born  in  this 
age,  who  may  be  at  any  rate  equal  to  the  men  who  were  born  150  years  ago, 
and  they  might  suggest  some  variation  in  the  methods  for  the  expression  of 
the  religious  life.  I  hold  that  we  should  never  very  seriously  consider  any 
modification,  if  the  modification  is  demanded  by  the  religious  life  of  the 
community.  If  there  is  a  quick,  spiritual  life  in  a  Christian  Church,  it  will 
adjust  itself  to  the  demands  of  its  members  under  the  circumstances 
in  which  God  has  placed  them  ;  and  what  we  ought  to  be  particularly  con- 
cerned about  is,  not  so  much  the  institutions  but  the  life  of  the  Church  ;  that 
we  ought  to  be  allowed  to  have  a  modification  of  the  itinerancy  so  as 
to  admit  of  greater  pastoral  care  thao  we  in  this  country  have  yet  attained. 
I  hold  that  we  ought  to  have  such  a  modification  of  the  class-meeting 
as  would  admit  the  attendance  of  those  that  we  now  have  to  put  on  the 
Sacramental  Roll,  and  count  as  sacramental  members  of  the  church.  I  am 
sure  of  this,  that  a  very  large  number  of  the  most  spiritual,  the  most 
influential,  and  the  most  laborious  members  of  our  churches  cannot  accept 
the  class-meeting  as  it  is  ordinarily  held  by  Methodist  people,  and  I  think 
there  ought  to  be  some  modification  in  this  matter.  What  we  ought  to  be 
concerned  about,  I  repeat,  is  not  the  particular  form  of  our  institutions,  but 
the  spiritual  life  that  is  maintained  in  our  churches  ;  and  that  spiritual  life 
is  not  tested  by  strict  adherence  to  any  forms,  but  by  the  spirit  that  i3 
manifested  by  the  members. 

Rev.  Dr.  Rigg  (Wesleyan  Methodist)  :  I  think  we  ought  to  be  very 
careful  indeed  about  innovations,  because  we  do  not  know  how  far  one 
innovation  may  extend  in  its  influence.  I  entirely  difl:er  from  those  who 
say  we  ought  easily,  or  without  the  greatest  possible  care,  to  make  any 
change  with  regard  to  the  class-meeting,  I  want  to  know  what  the  change 
is  to  be,  before  I  say  one  word  in  favour  of  it.  It  is  said  the  question  is 
one  of  life ;  the  question  is  as  to  the  'means  by  which  that  life  is  to  be 
developed  ;  and  the  means  whereby  that  life  has  been  developed  hitherto 
has  been  mainly  the  class-meeting.  Take  that  away,  and  let  there  be 
merely  a  recommendation  by  a  minister  to  a  body  of  church  officers  and 
nothing  more,  and  the  discipline  which  has  brought  spiritual  life  to  perfec- 
tion will  be  gone.  What  is  there  to  substitute  for  it  ?  Nothing  is  said, 
nothing  prepared,  as  to  this.  Then  I  think  that  we  ought  to  remember 
that  the  class-meeting  is  the  school  where  the  prayer-leader  is  trained ; 
take  that  away,  and  where  are  your  praj-er-leaders  ?  It  is  the  school  where 
the  local  preacher  first  finds  out  the  gift  that  is  in  him  ;  take  that  away, 
and  where  is  the  local  preacher  to  find  out  what  there  is  in  him,  and  to  give 
others  a  taste  of  that  gift  likewise  ?  In  fact,  take  that  away,  and  jon  are 
trenching  upon  point  after  point  of  the  golden  chain  of  your  discipline. 
And  then  what  next  ?  You  have  not  got  your  local  preachers  grown  and 
growing,  and  what  is  to  become  of  your  pastors,  your  ministers  ?  How 
are  their  gifts  to  be  ascertained  ?  I  grant  that  if  we  would  only  modify 
our  itinerancy  enough,  if  we  would  bring  everything  everywhere  to  the 
single-station  system,  there  would  be  no  need  of  local  preachers,  and  no 
need  of  class-meetings  to  train  them  up.  I  hope  that  we  may  look  at  the 
end,  and  not  at-  the  beginning,  before  we  speak  tolerantly  of  these  innova- 
tions, although  I  hope  I  am  not  a  naiTow  thinker  upon  these  matters,  and 
am  not  disposed  harshly  to  condemn  other  people,  or  to  set  up  unnecessary 
non-essentials.  But  we  know  what  is  meant  here.  I  can  understand 
modifying  Methodism  and  going  on  to  be  something  else,  but  if  I  seek  to 
be  a  Methodist  I  must  use  the  means.  Then  I  hope  that  we  shall  not  all 
become  one  Church,  and  if  I  wanted  an  evidence  of  the  desirableness  of 
not  all  becoming  one  organically,  this  Conference  would  give  me  plenty  of 


GENERAL   REMARKS.  299 

evidence  of  the  nnrlesirabloness  of  any  such  step.  I  do  not  want  to  have 
the  brute  tyranny  of  possible  majorities  with  res:ard  to  every  point  tliat 
may  be  forced  upon  me.  Give  us  varieties  enough  to  fit  different  sections 
of  tliought,  differi-'nt  classes  of  character,  and  different  classes  even  of 
politico-religious  conviction.  Do  not  attempt  to  have  them  all  brought 
together  into  one  community.  And,  furthermore,  I  rejoice  to  belong  to  a 
Church  which  not  only  has  its  himdreds  of  congregations  where  there  are 
no  liturgies,  but  has  its  scores  of  congregations  where  there  are  liturgies  ; 
and  though  I  am  not  any  prophet,  I  venture  to  say  that  just  in  proportion 
as  Churches  become  more  and  more  developed,  so  will  the  desirableness  of 
having  provision  for  liturgical  as  well  as  for  non-liturgical  services,  become 
more  and  more  felt  in  the  different  communities  of  Methodism.  That  is 
my  view  ;  if  others  say  the  contrary,  I  may  be  forgiven  for  making  that 
confession  of  faith  on  the  part  of  myself,  and,  I  know,  of  many  besides. 
I  venture  to  hope,  too,  that  we  shall  not  have  too  much  said  about  the 
ritualism  of  a  devout  liturgical  service.  I  would  rather  have  a  devout 
liturgical  service  than  I  would  have  an  ostentatious  quartette  any  day.  Let 
us  bear  these  things  in  mind,  and  let  us  hold  each  one  to  his  own  convic- 
tions, but  be  very  tender  with  regard  to  the  cherished  convictions  and 
preferences  of  others.     That  is  a  lesson  that  some  need  to  learn  here. 

Eev.  Dr.  Antliff  (Primitive  Methodist)  said  :  The  danger  to  Methodism 
from  innovation  upon  established  usages  is  the  subject  that  we  have  under 
consideration.  We  assume,  perhaps,  that  there  is  danger  to  Methodism 
from  innovations  upon  our  established  usages,  and  1  should  be  prepared  to 
maintain  that  position,  were  it  necessary.  But  then,  on  the  other  hand,  we 
must  not  forget  that  Methodism  itself  was  a  grand  innovation  upon 
previously  existing  institutions,  and  this  large  assembly,  and  millions 
besides,  rejoice  that  ever  such  an  innovation  upon  established  usages  was 
made.  And  if  innovation  in  the  past  has  been  so  serviceable,  is  it  quite 
reasonable  to  assume  that  absolute  perfection  attached  to  that  particular 
innovation  ?  Has  not  Methodism  been  a  growth  rather  than  a  creation  ? 
Has  it  not  gradually  grown  under  the  direction  of  Divine  providence  ?  It 
certainly  was  not  formed  according  to  some  preconceived  plan  or  model, 
but  has  grown  up  under  Divine  providence,  and  possibly  has  not  grown  to 
perfection  yet.  Some  improvements  may  even  yet  take  place.  No  one 
probably  would  be  more  guarded  against  innovations  than  myself  ;  but 
while  very  careful,  and  while  I  should  be  reluctant  to  relinquish  a 
good  thing,  in  order  to  accept  some  untried  experiment  or  possibly  good 
thing,  I  would  not  feel  too  assured  that  we  have  already  all  that  is  excellent. 
Let  us  be  willing  to  look  at  anything  that  may  be  proposed,  not  accept  it 
too  hastily,  but  look  at  it ;  and  if  it  should  be  found  that  it  possesses 
valuable  qualities,  and  that  it  would  be  likely  to  serve  the  Church  of  Christ, 
and  advance  the  dominion  of  the  Redeemer  over  mankind,  let  us  be  willing 
to  accept  it  and  make  the  best  we  can  of  it.  At  the  same  time  let  us  hold 
fast  that  which  is  good,  that  which  has  been  proved,  that  which  has  been 
so  serviceable  to  generation  after  generation,  and  which  has  made  Methodism 
such  a  power  in  the  world.  Do  not  let  us  relinquish  that  to  gratify  every 
theorist  who  may  propound  something  new.  Hold  fast  that  which  we 
have  proved.  Look  kindly  upon  anything  that  may  be  suggested,  and  if 
it  should  be  shown  to  be  valuable,  accept  it  without  relinquishing  the  good 
we  already  have. 

Rev.  William  Arthur  (Wesleyan  Methodist)  :  It  seems  to  me,  Mr. 
President,  that  there  are  two  very  different  views  of  the  word  "innovation." 
An  innovation  upon  Methodist  usages  seems  to  me  a  very  great  deal  more 
than  some  particular  action  in  some  circuit,  or  some  one  branch  of  the 
Methodist  family,  that  may  to  that  circuit  or  to  that  branch  of  the  family 
appear  to  be  a  little  irregularity  in    procedure  or  discipline.     Could  any 


300  POSSIBLE   PERILS   OF   METHODISM. 

man  living  since  the  Methodist  Church  has  been  established,  hold  open-air 
preaching  to  be  an  innovation  upon  Methodist  usages  ?  It  might  be  an 
innovation  on  some  particular  circuit — it  might  be  done  in  a  form  to 
interfere  with  the  authority  of  some  particular  superintendent,  but  to  call 
it  an  innovation  upon  Methodist  usage  would  have  at  any  time  been  a  total 
error.  But  suppose  that  somebody  should  propose  to  us  to  inaugurate  a 
kind  of  Methodism  that  shall  prohibit  open-air  preaching,  I  should  call  that 
an  innovation  upon  Methodist  usage.  Again,  sir,  at  any  time  in  Methodist 
history  could  anybody  say  that  a  Church,  which  was  organised  and  dis- 
tributed into  societies,  and  of  which  the  members  met  together  in  companies 
and  "talked  often  one  to  another"  under  the  guidance  of  an  experienced 
brother  and  sister  in  the  form  of  class-meetings,  was  introducing  any 
innovation  upon  Methodist  usage  ?  But  suppose  people  come  to  tell  us 
that  churches  are  to  be  organised  that  are  not  societies,  in  which  the  only 
social  action  is  confined  to  the  Lord's  Table,  then  I  say  that  is  a  decided 
innovation  upon  Methodist  usage  ;  and  so  you  might  go  on.  Things  may 
spring  up  of  the  kind  that  have  been  alluded  to  by  Dr.  Antliff,  with  the  plain 
Methodist  mark  upon  them.  But  when  we  have  eiforts  put  forth  for  a 
nearer  appi'oach  to  the  model  of  the  Early  Church,  to  the  teaching  of  the 
one  Book,  to  the  leadings  of  the  one  Spirit,  these  may  or  may  not  be  some- 
tliing  that  we  have  not  been  accustomed  to  ;  but  it  would  be  rather  hard 
to  call  them  innovations  upon  Methodist  usage.  I  believe  that  the  meaning 
of  that  title  is  a  habit  of  trj'ing  to  bring  into  Methodism  that  which  would 
make  Methodism  non-Methodism,  and  that  which  would  send  Methodists 
to  Churches  that  are  non-Methodist.  We  may  have  modified  our  forms  of 
worship  so  as  to  show  a  considerable  approach  to  the  worship  of  other 
denominations,  but  in  cases  where  that  has  been  done  does  history  show 
that  Methodism  has  grown  the  stronger  for  it?  I  believe  that  the  nearer 
we  get  to  our  own  idea,  the  firmer  becomes  our  foundation  in  the  truth, 
and  that  the  more  Methodistic  we  are,  the  more  catholic  we  shall  be  towards 
other  Churches — catholic  in  the  sense  specified  by  Dr.  Rigg,  not  catholic  in 
the  sense  of  being  indifferent  to  our  own  usage.  I  have  no  sympathy  with 
that  land  of  Catholicism  at  all ;  but  catholic  in  the  sense  of  perfectly  knowing 
what  we  ourselves  believe — perfectly  knowing  Avhat  we  ourselves  prefer, 
being  ready  to  give  a  reason  for  what  we  believe,  being  ready  to  contend 
for,  and  work  for,  our  beliefs,  and  yet  being  ready  at  the  same  time  to 
extend  the  largest  consideration  of  indulgence  to  brethren  who  take  a 
different  view  and  prefer  a  different  procedure. 

The  discussion  was  then  closed,  and  the  Conference  proceeded  to 
the  consideration  of  formal  business. 

The  further  consideration  of  the  suggestions  of  the  Publication 
Committee  was  ordered  to  stand  over  till  to-morrow. 

Two  resolutions  with  regard  to  the  opium  traflfic  were  brought 
forward,  but,  after  some  discussion  as  to  the  wording,  were  re- 
committed to  the  Business  Committee. 

A  notice  referring  to  the  evangelistic  work  in  France  was  also 
committed  to  the  Business  Committee,  and  the  Session  terminated 
with  a  hymn  and  the  Benediction, 


SEVENTH  DAY,  Wednesday,  Septeinher  Uth. 


Fresident—H^y.  Charles  Kendall,  Primitive  Methodist. 


Subject : 
"EDUCATION.'* 


rnHE  CONFERENCE  resumed  at  Ten  o'clock,  the  Devotional 
-*-  Services  being  conducted  by  the  Eev.  G.  Lamb  (Primitive 
Methodist),  who,  the  President  stated,  had  been  fifty-three  years 
in  the  ministry. 

The  minutes  of  Tuesday's  Sessions  were  read  and  confirmed, 

Eev.  D.  Morton  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South)  handed 
in  an  invitation  from  the  INIethodists  of  the  city  of  Louisville, 
Kentucky,  United  States,  requesting  that  the  next  (Ecumenical 
Conference  should  be  held  in  that  city. 

Bishop  L.  H.  Holsey  (Coloured  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  of 
America)  handed  in  a  resolution  relating  to  the  publication  of  a 
Catechism. 

The  subjects  were  referred  to  the  Business  Committee. 

Rev.  W.  Gibson  moved — "That  the  extraordinary  openings  in  France 
for  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel,  and  the  success  which  has  already  attended 
evangelistic  work  in  France,  merit  the  attention  and  sympathy  of  this 
Conference."  He  said  :  There  is  throughout  France  just  now  a  willingness 
to  listen  to  the  Gospel.  This  is  cause  of  wonder  to  all  who  have  watched 
the  course  of  affairs  in  the  religious  history  of  the  country.  It  is  the 
Lord's  doing,  and  marvellous  in  our  eyes.  Whenever  in  any  town  or 
village  of  France  an  announcement  is  made  that  a  Gospel  address  will  be 
delivered,  that  simple  announcement  is  suHicient  to  till  any  hall  or  theatre, 
no  matter  how  large.  Any  one  who  had  been  told  but  a  few  years  ago  that 
such  would  be  the  case  in  this  year  1881  would  not  have  been  credited. 
Perhaps  the  reason  may  be  partly  politieal,  uartly  mere  curiosity,  partly  the 
conjuncture  of  circumstances  which  nas  rendered  it  possible.  Tiiere  is 
throughout  France  just  now  great  opposition  to  the  priests,  and  hence  our 
work  is  made  more  easy.  France  is  less  Romanist  than  inti'del.  Romanism 
has  led  to  infidelity.     The  swing  of  the  pendulum  is  now  on  the  infidel 


302  EDUCATION. 

side.  There  is  no  city  in  the  woi  id  su  atheistic  as  Paris.  Never  were  so 
many  congregated  together  in  Ji  ay  City  of  ancient  or  modern  times  who 
say  "  There  is  no  God,"  as  ar<3  new  to  be  found  in  the  city  which  hes  on 
the  banks  of  the  Seine.  Like  the  Athenians,  the  Parisians  are  always 
desiring  to  see  or  hear  some  new  thing.  Unlike  Athens,  which  had  as 
many  gods  as  houses  in  the  city,  Paris  declares  its  disbelief  in  the  very 
existence  of  God.  Strange  to  say  this  atheistic  city  is  now  willing  to 
listen  to  the  simple  preaching  of  tlie  Gospel.  The  noble  work  of  Mr. 
McAU,  now  numbering  more  than  twenty  stations  in  Paris,  sufficiently 
proves  this.  We,  as  Methodists,  have  entered  on  this  evangelistic  work. 
In  Paris  and  its  ncdghbourhood  we  have  four  stations,  at  Rue  Reimequin 
aux  Ternes,  St.  Ouen,  Levallois,  and  St.  Denis,  and  a  Sunday  evening 
service  in  the  Boulevard  des  Ca])ucines,  in  the  very  heart  of  Paris.  The 
four  stations  of  Rue  Rennequin,  St.  Ouen,  Levallois,  and  St.  Denis  are 
specially  for  the  ouvrier  population,  the  service  in  the  Boulevard  des 
Capucines,  for  the  educated  and  refined  class  of  society.  The  mode  of 
conducting  our  Reunions  Populuires  is  usually'',  although  there  is  no  fixed 
rule,  a  short  hymn,  sung  in  a  lively  manner,  a  short  prayer,  sometimes 
only  a  few  sentences,  the  reading  oE  a  few  verses  of  Scripture — a  parable 
or  short  Gospel  history,  another  lively  hymn,  then  two  or  three  addresses 
(short  and  lively),  interspersed  with  singing,  and  a  short  prayer,  the  whole 
meeting  lasting  just  one  hour.  After  the  Reunion  Gemrale  follows  a 
Reunion  d'' Experience,  or  Fellowship- Meeting,  but  the  difficulty  is  to  reduce 
the  meeting  to  the  proper  dimensions  of  those  really  desirous  of  fleeing 
from  the  wrath  to  come.  As  long  as  there  is  anything  more  of  any  kind 
the  people  want  to  stay.  Some,  doubtless,  remain  from  curiosity,  others 
because  the'y  like  the  lively  singing,  and  wish  to  hear  more  of  it.  At  the 
four  meetings  for  the  ouvrier  population  mentioned,  we  speak  mainly  to 
the  blue  and  white  blouses  and  the  -white  caps.  At  the  Boulevard  des 
Capucines,  we  have  a  most  respectable-looking  audience,  and  excellent 
addresses  have  been  delivered  during  the  last  two  years  by  the  Protestant 
pastors  and  laymen  of  Paris  of  different  denominations.  Among  the 
laymen,  M.  Reveillaud,  a  converted  barrister,  is  one  of  the  most  distin- 
guished. In  addition  to  these  five  stations  in  Paris,  we  have  two  stations 
at  Rouen  (and  one  station  in  the  manufacturing  town  of  Elbeuf),  where 
Pastor  Le  Rougetel  is  labouring  with  much  fidelity  and  perseverance  ;  and 
two  stations  at  Havre,  where  the  Rev.  George  Whelpton  is  working  with 
great  zeal  and  usefulness.  If  the  needful  funds  were  to  be  supplied,  we 
could  extend  the  work  in  various  directions  with  every  prospect  of  success. 
We  might  pl.int  an  evangelistic  agency  in  many  large  towns  of  France, 
where  as  yet  there  is  no  such  agency  at  work.  We  might  also  occupy 
some  densely-peopled  parts  of  Paris,  in  vrhich  we  should  be  sure,  as  soon 
as  the  "  Salles  "  were  opened,  to  have  large  audiences.  Two  districts  may 
be  specially  named — those  of  the  Pantheon  and  St.  Lazare.  The  latter 
quarter  has  been  left  unoccu})ied  by  Mr.  McAll,  with  the  idea  that  sooner 
or  later  it  would  be  taken  up  by  us,  as  it  is  near,  and  could  be  conveniently 
worked  from,  our  centre  in  the  Rue  Roquepine.  This  is  emphatically 
the  opportunity  for  the  evangelisation  of  France  (and  on  this  point 
Pastors  Hocart  and  Lelievre  are  well  able  to  speak).  There  never  has  been 
anything  like  it  in  the  history  of  the  country.  The  Government  is 
favourable  to  us,  the  last  restriction  to  libert}'^  of  reunion  havnng  been 
removed  on  the  30th  June  last.  We  trust  that,  for  the  accomplishment  of 
such  a  work,  the  Christian  sympathy  and  liberality  of  Methodist  friends  in 
England,  and  Scotland,  and  America,  and  in  other  lands  will  be  stirred. 
Men  of  Israel,  help  ! 

Rev.  Dr.  J.  M.  Reid  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church)  :  I  desire  to  say  a 
word  or  two  on  this  subject.     I  am  only  afraid  that  the  impressions  made 


GENERAL   EEMAEKS.  303 

upon  my  own  mind  by  personal  oliservation  for  a  brief  period  of  this  work 
in  France  may  possibly  not  l>e  correct ;  but  because  they  were  made  on 
my  mind  I  desire  to  give  them  at  this  moment,  sajang,  however,  at  the 
very  outset,  that  I  am  most  heartily  in  favour  of  this  resolution — I  hope 
we  will  adopt  it — and  saying,  also,  that  I  iirndy  believe  there  is  a  door 
open  for  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  France,  and  that  I  hope  the 
time  will  come,  and  that  it  is  not  very  far  distant,  when  we  shall  be  able 
to  go  into  the  country  and  help  in  the  great  work  that  is  to  be  done  there. 
I  was  not  altogether  impressed  with  the  work  of  Mr.  McAll  as  I  would 
desire  to  be  impressed.  It  is  a  great  work,  and  it  is  accomplishing  very 
much,  for  which  I  magnify  his  God  and  my  God.  But,  sir,  as  I  understand 
it,  that  mission  has  no  organisation.  I  am  told  that  the  persons  who  find 
the  grace  of  Christ  there  are  simply  attached  to  the  j^laces  of  meeting  and 
to  the  informal  arrangements  that  are  there  made  ;  that  Mr.  McAll  ap- 
prehends that  he  would  not  be  supported  with  the  same  degree  of  hearti- 
ness by  the  various  Christian  denominations  that  now  support  him,  if  a 
church  should  be  organised  of  any  kind.  Now,  sir,  I  derived  the  im- 
pression, whether  correct  or  not,  that  I  feel  bound  to  express  here,  that  it 
is  a  great  mistake  not  to  give  these  persons,  born  unto  God  through  that 
work,  a  place  in  a  church  organisation.  I  would  like  to  have  Mr.  McAll 
organise  a  church  of  Jesus  Christ,  and,  so  far  as  I  am  concerned,  prayers 
and  contributions  and  hearty  fellowship  would  be  given  him  just  as 
earnestly  with  an  organisation  such  as  he  would  approve,  as  are  given  to 
him  now;  for  he  is  God's  servant  and  doing  God's  work.  But  I  apprehend 
that  very  much  of  the  great  work  that  he  is  doing  will  be  scattered  to  the 
wind,  as  the  work  of  Whitefield  went  to  the  winds.  With  that  conviction 
in  my  mind,  I  am  more  thoroughly  impressed  with  the  idea  that  the 
Wesleyan  brethren  ought  to  be  there  organising  churches,  and  I  believe 
that  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  ought  to  be  there  doing  her  peculiar 
work,  and  organising  churches  :  in  other  words,  I  believe  that  the  want  of 
organisation  in  the  present  mission  work  of  France  is  a  mistake.  And  I 
desire  to  say  one  other  thing.  So  far  as  I  was  able  to  feel  the  state  of 
things  in  France,  I  did  not  find  a  state  of  universal  revival,  of  universal 
awakening  ;  but  I  did  find  another  state  of  things.  There  is  freedom  of 
thought,  there  is  freedom  of  action,  there  is  a  wide  and  open  door,  there 
are  people  thinking  and  acting  for  themselves  as  they  never  did  before, 
and  they  want  us  there  to  tell  them  how  to  act  and  what  to  do  in  order  to 
find  their  way  to  heaven.  I  am  firmly  in  favour  of  the  resolution,  but  I 
am  not  thoroughly  convinced  of  all  the  other  points  alluded  to. 

Rev.  M.  Lelievre  (French  Metliodist),  who  addressed  the  assembly  in 
French,  which  was  interpreted  by  the  Rev.  W.  Arthur,  seconded  the 
resolution,  and  said  :  Mr.  President,  the  question  raised  this  morning  is 
really  an  (Ecumenical  question.  The  conversion  of  France  to  the  Gospel 
is  not  merely  of  French  interest,  nor  merely  of  European  interest,  but  is 
of  universal  interest.  However  much  France  may  have  gone  down  in  the 
midst  of  her  late  calamities,  and  by  her  own  fault,  she  nevertheless  remains 
a  great  moral  power  in  society  and  in  the  world,  for  good  or  evil.  I  cannot 
express  how  much  I  should  wish,  my  dear  brethren,  to  penetrate  your 
hearts  with  the  conviction  that  profoundly  occupies  rny  own,  that  there  is 
at  present  no  duty  more  incumbent  on  the  two  great  branches  of  the 
Anglo-Saxon  Methodist  family,  than  the  duty  of  labouring  for  the  lit'ting- 
up  of  that  country.  I  should  saj-  to  you,  my  brethren  from  America,  that 
there  ought  to  be  an  appeal  on  the  point  of  sentiment  to  you,  who  in  the 
last  century,  in  the  course  of  j-our  groat  national  struggle,  were  aided  by 
JF ranee,  for  I  think  that  you  cannot  regard  France  as  a  country  that  has  not 
some  claim  upon  you  m  connection  with  a  great  question  of  religious 
interest.     Even  human  morality  conmuinds   us   to  love  our  friends,  and 


804  EDUCATION. 

in  that  point  of  view  we  think  that  vre  have  some  kind  of  claim  upon  you. 
And  you,  my  dear  Eng-lish  brethren  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic,  we  have 
also  a  claim,  upon  you.  France  for  a  very  long  time  was  the  enemy 
of  England,  and  England  has  paid  hei  pretty  well  back.  Now,  Christian 
morality  commands  us  to  love  our  enemies,  and  even  if  we  still  continued 
to  be  yovn-  enemy,  we  should  have  a  claim  upon  your  affection  ;  but,  thanks 
be  to  God,  we  have  ceased  to  be  your  enemy,  and  have  become  your  allies 
and  your  friends.  And  let  me,  in  the  second  place,  notice  one  point  of 
utility  affecting  both  England  and  America  in  regard  to  the  evangelisation 
of  France.  Your  sons  and  your  daughters  are  in  the  habit  of  visiting,  and 
will  be  in  the  habit  of  visiting  France,  which  is  a  kind  of  rendezvous  for 
all  the  nations  of  the  world,  and  in  the  future  they  will  visit  it  more  and 
more ;  and  thus  perhaps  it  will  more  and  more  exercise  in  the  future 
an  influence  uj)on  your  sons  and  upon  your  daughters.  The  France  of  the 
future  will  be  for  the  entire  world  either  a  blessing  or  a  curse — either 
a  focus  of  life  or  a  focus  of  corruption.  I  shall  conclude  by  pointing  out, 
as  others  have  done,  the  great  consideration  of  the  present  opportunity.  We 
are  now  in  France  free  as  we  never  were  before  :  we  can  now  preach  the 
Gospel  anywhere — in  shops,  in  ball-rooms,  in  theatres — with  perfect  liberty. 
This  is  a  critical  moment  in  the  history  of  France.  The  France  of  to-day 
is  no  longer  Pi.pist,  and  I  am  bound  to  say  that  the  France  of  to-day  is  not 
yet  Atheist.  But  perhaps  in  ten  years  France  will  be  atheistic,  unless  the 
pernicious  influences  which  are  now  in  operation  be  arrested  by  a  powerful 
movement  for  the  evangelisation  of  the  country.  I  appeal  with  all  my 
heart  to  universal  Methodism,  to  Methodism  of  every  country  and  of  every 
branch.  1  appeal  in  favour  of  a  great  people.  I  say  there  is  at  this 
moment  before  you  a  great  people  open  to  the  Gospel,  a  great  people  which, 
to  a  large  extent,  now  holds  out  its  arms  for  the  Gospel ;  and  I  ask  you  to 
do  something  to  bring  the  Gospel  to  tliat  people. 

The  assembly  then  sang,  "  All  hail  the  power  of  Jesu's  name," 
after  which  the  resolution  was  unanimously  agreed  to. 

The  Conference  then  proceeded  to  the  consideration  of  the  subject 
of  the  day — Education. 

Mr.  T.  G.  Osborn,  M.A.  (British  Wesleyan  Church),  then  read 
the  following  essay  on  llie  Higher  Education  demanded  by  the 
Necessities  of  the  Church  in  our  Time. 

The  assumption  involved  in  this  title,  that  the  necessities  of  the 
Church  do  demand  higher  education,  is  sufficiently  grave  and.  im- 
portant to  justify  careful  consideration  at  the  outset.  The  Christian 
idea  of  education  is  simply  this — it  is  the  preparatory  process  by 
which  a  man  is  made  ready  for  the  highest  service  to  God  and 
man  for  which  his  powers  and  capacities  are  fitted.  It  is,  as  a 
German  writer  has  expressed  it,  "a  guidance  to  the  end  of  human 
perfection."  I  know  that  these  definitions  are  exposed  to  the  sneer 
bestowed  u])on  them  by  Dr.  Bain  in  his  Education  as  a  Science,  that 
they  are  but  adaptations  of  the  answer  to  the  first  question  in  the 
Westminster  Catechism,  "What  is  the  chief  end  of  man?"  but  we* 
must  accept  the  sneer,   and  cling  to  the   loftiest  ideal  of  education. 


MR.    T.    G.    OSBORN'S   ADDRESS.  305 

The  attempt  to  elevate  the   art  of  the  schoolmaster  into  a  science  of 
education,  to  the  entire  exclusion  of  ethics  and  theology,  though  not  at 
present   consistently  maintained  by    its    advocates,   is    fraught  with 
terrible  danger  to  the  future  of  our  children.     But  my  present  point  is 
this— that  the  perfect  development  of  Christian  manhood  is  a  neces- 
sity to  the  Church,  a  necessity  of  its  very  being.     It  is  involved  in  the 
idea  of   personal    consecration  to    Christ.      The  living   sacrifice   laid 
upon  His  altar  in  our  reasonable  service  should  not  merely  be  com- 
plete, but  developed  to   its  best.      I   am   not  sure   that   the  average 
Christian,  or  shall  I  say  the  average  Metliodist,  conscience,  is   suffi- 
ciently alive  on  this  point,  or  I  would  not  linger  here.     The  Master's 
claim  in  the  sphere  of  mental  endowment,  as  elsewhere,  is  for  "  mine 
own  with  usury."     The  Christian  is  bound  not  merely  to  give  himself 
to  Christ,  but  to  make  the  most  of  himself  for  Christ,  and  the  duty  is 
not  less  binding  on  him  with  respect  to  his  children  also.     To  get  and 
to  give  the  best  attainable  education  is   not  merely  a   concession  to 
respectability,  but  a  solemn  Christian  duty.     And  among  many  things 
that  make  this  an  important  subject  in  a  Methodist  assembly,  I  will 
name  but  one — the  increasing  temporal  prosperity  of    the  Methodist 
people,   which  is   bringing  to  them  higher  social  position  and   more 
abundant  leisure.     These  involve  most  serious  danger  to  the  young, 
which  may  be  diminished  by  a  deejjer  sense  of  personal  responsibility 
in  the  matter  of  mental  and  moral  culture.     The  Church  needs  liighe 
education,  too,  for  the  maintenance  of  her  position  and  the  defence  ot 
the  truth.     History  shows  us  that  the  Church  has  always  found  full 
scope  for  the  learning  and  ability  of  her  sons  in  confuting  heresy  in 
their  midst,  or  repelling  the  attacks  of  external  foes.    Now  these  attacks 
have    never   been   more  formidable   than   they  are    to-day.      All  the 
resources  of  learning,  all  the  refinements  of  philosoijliy,  and  all  the  dis- 
coveries of  science  have  been  laid  under  contribution  by  the  enemies 
■)f  the  Christian  faith,  and  the  Church  needs,  for  the  sake  of  her  own 
children,  and  for  the  sake  of  them  that  are  without,  defenders  for  every 
position,  not  merely  men  of  the  old  learning,  but  men  in  the  foremost 
ranks  of  advancing  science.     These  can  only  be  secured  by  more  earnest 
attention  to  Christian  higher  education.     Nor  can  the  future  advance 
of  the  Church  be  indcpjudent   of   higher  intellectual  culture.     It   is 
true  that  her  greatest  victories  have  been  won,  as  they  ever  will  be, 
by  the  simple  story  of  the  cross,  but  in  these  days  she  has  heard  the 
cry  of  the  baffled  intellect,  as  well  as  the  burdened  conscience,  and  is 
bound  to  carry  her  message  of  peace  and  rest  to  both.     There  are  dif- 
ficulties, too,  to  be  foreseen  in  the  internal  development  of  the  Church, 
in  her  adaptation  to  new  conditions  of  society,  in  the  coming  conflict 
with  the  hoary  superstitions  of  the  East,  as  well  as  the  philosoi)hy  of 
the  West,   that  will   make   the   largest    demands   on    the   cultivated 
ability,  as  well  as  the  pietj^  of  her  sons. 

Our  end,  then,  in  higher  education  to-day  should  be  to  meet  the 

X 


306  EDUCATION. 

# 

Church's  needs;  to  make  the  best  human  provision  for  her  sure 
defence  and  safe  advance  by  securing  the  fullest  and  highest  develop- 
ment of  the  individual  intellect,  with  all  the  safeguards  of  Christian 
purity,  the  influences  of  revealed  truth,  and  the  motive-power  of  a  loving 
personal  devotion.  I  do  not  care  simply  to  repel  the  assertion  that 
Methodist  Christianity  is  antagonistic  to  culture.  We  welcome  it  as 
an  aid ;  nay,  we  recognise  it  as  a  duty ;  but  we  insist  that  the  higher 
nature  must  have  the  highest  culture :  here,  as  elsewhere,  we  must 
"  seek  first  the  kingdom  of  God." 

I  pass  on  to  consider  briefly  some  points  in  a  scheme  of  education 
which  are  of  special  importance  in  respect  of  the  aim  I  have  already 
described.  And  here  I  would  premise  that  though  my  subject  is  Higher 
Education,  I  cannot  recDgnise  any  clearly  defined  line  that  marks  ofi'  this 
province  from  those  that  border  on  it.  I  am  convinced,  indeed,  that 
the  cause  of  higher  education  has  much  to  gain  from  increased  atten- 
tion to  the  earlier  and  elementary  stages,  while,  on  the  other  hand,  it 
is  an  injury  and  a  wrong  to  elementary  education  that  it  should  be 
entirely  severed,  even  in  thought,  from  the  higher  branches.  The  true 
idea  of  elementary  education  is  that  it  should  contain  as  a  sort  of  germ 
all  the  possibilities  of  the  highest  cultivation.  The  famihar  figure  of  a 
foundation  is  inaccurate,  if  not  misleading.  The  foundation  must  be 
equal  in  extent  to  the  building  reared  upon  it.  What  we  want  here  is 
a  germ  which  is  capable  of  growth  and  expansion  as  a  whole,  or  of 
special  development  in  any  particular  functions,  and  has  this  dis- 
tinctive characteristic  that  it  is  efficient,  and  so  far  complete,  at  what- 
ever stage  its  growth  or  development  is  arrested.  Such  a  view  gives 
precision  to  the  course  of  elementary  education,  while  it  adds  dignity 
to  the  work,  and  inspires  hopefulness  in  the  teacher.  High  education 
is  only  possible  when  the  mind  already  jjossesses  some  rudimentary 
forms  of  Language  and  Literature,  of  the  Abstract  Sciences,  of  the 
Sciences  of  Observation,  of  Art,  and  of  Ethics  and  Theology,  and  all 
these  should  be  distinctly  traceable  in  the  simplest  education  of  a  little 
child. 

It  will  not  be  necessary  to  touch  upon  the  hackneyed  dispxite  as  to 
the  respective  claims  of  these  subjects  to  a  place  in  any  scheme  of 
Higher  Education.  Our  ideal  educated  man  will  have  perfected  them 
all.  His  memory  will  be  laden  with  the  treasures  of  many  tongues 
and  "  rich  with  the  spoils  of  time."  He  will  be  fortified  by  the  varied 
experience  of  the  past,  and  humanised  by  a  quick  and  vital  sympathy 
with  the  thoughts  and  struggles  of  many  generations.  His  intellect 
will  be  sharpened  and  sobered  by  abstract  science,  and  his  mind  will 
not  merely  be  "  stored  with  a  knowledge  of  the  great  and  fundamental 
truths  of  nature  and  the  laws  of  her  operations,"  but  keenly  alive  to 
the  importance  of  spiritual  facts,  and  saturated  with  the  influence  of 
revealed  truth.  As  the  field  of  knowledge  widens,  this  ideal  becomes 
more  and  more  difficult  of  attainment,  but  it  is  not  the  less  necessary 


MR.   T,   G.    OSBORN'S  ADDRESS.  307 

to  aim  at  it ;  the  clangers,  and  especially  the  narrowing  influence,  of 
specialisation,  do  not  grow  proj)ortionately  less.  Ouesidedness  in 
higher  culture  is  what  we  have  most  of  all  to  fear.  It  is  this  which 
paves  the  way  from  science  to  scepticism,  and  accounts  for  that  revival 
of  authority  in  matters  of  science  which  is  one  of  the  most  startling 
phenomena  of  our  times.     We  must  aim  at  symmetrical  development. 

There  are  three  great  objects  of  our  thought — God,  Man,  and  Nature. 
The  three  corresponding  lines  along  which  our  thought  must  travel  are 
Religion,  Literature,  and  Science.  These  are  all  linked  together  by 
numberless  ties,  but  we  cannot  forget  that  the  connection  is  necessarily 
closed  between  the  first  two.  Revelation  has  come  to  us  enshrined  in 
a  Literature;  and  in  the  interests  not  merely  of  religion,  but  of  all  true 
culture,  we  must  protest  against  the  exclusive  claims  of  a  materiahstic 
science.  That  the  rightful  claims  of  science  have  been  unduly  neg- 
lected in  the  past,  and  must  receive  more  attention  in  the  future,  will 
be  admitted  on  all  hands.  It  is  not  so  much  (as  Professor  Owen  seemed 
to  hint  the  other  day  at  Lancaster)  that  the  faculty  of  observation  has 
not  been  cultivated  under  the  old-fashioned  systems  of  education,  as 
that  it  has  been  too  exclusively  directed  to  one  class  of  subjects  ;  and 
only  when  a  very  high  degree  of  culture  has  been  attained,  is  it  easy 
(and  by  that  time  it  is  often  distasteful)  to  apply  the  acquired  powers 
to  widely  different  subjects.  We  cannot  hope  to  secure  this  high  level 
as  an  average,  and  hence  I  would  certainly  advocate  more  careful 
training  in  accurate  scientific  observation.  But,  in  proportion  as  we 
cultivate  science  must  we  take  care  to  inculcate  religious  truth,  and 
this  should  be  done  as  distinctly  and  dogmatically  in  the  one  case  as 
in  the  other.  There  has  been  a  tendency  in  our  high  schools  in 
England  (which  can,  perhaps,  be  traced  to  the  influence  of  one  dis- 
tinguished man)  to  leave  religious  teaching  to  undefined  influences 
and  general  treatment  rather  than  making  it  distinct  and  im- 
perative. We  have  not  been  careful  enough  about  the  application  of 
scholarship  to  Christian  purposes.  The  use  of  the  Greek  Testa- 
ment might  be  more  extensive  and  more  thorough ;  the  teaching 
need  not  be  less  scholarly  for  being  earnest  and  dogmatic.  I  have 
been  told  that  forty  years  ago  two  of  the  greatest  schoolmasters  in 
this  country — Dr.  Prince  Lee,  of  Birmingham,  and  Dr.  Arnold,  of 
Rugby — were  wont  to  discuss  this  very  point :  the  one  advocating 
distinct,  dogmatic,  religious  teaching,  especially  by  means  of  the 
Greek  Testament,  the  other  preferring  to  leave  his  pupils  to  develop 
their  own  religious  ideas  under  general  Christian  influence  in  an 
atmosphere  of  free  but  reverent  thought.  How  have  the  two  systems 
worked  ?  "  By  their  Iruits  ye  shall  know  them."  The  one  school  has 
produced  some  of  the  noblest  representatives  of  Christian  scholarship 
and  orthodox  theology  in  the  Church  to-day  ;  the  other  has  given  us 
not  a  few  able  sceptics,  and  some  divines  like  the  great  man  who  has 
lately  passed  away  irom  us,  in  whom  wo  had  learned  to  admire  and 

X2 


308  EDUCATION. 

love  everything  but  his  theology.  Much  may  be  done  in  our  high 
schools  to-day  to  form  the  great  Christian  advocates  of  the  future,  and 
to  ensure  them  a  fitting  audience,  by  seeing  that  the  true  foundation 
(and  I  use  the  figure  advisedly  here)  of  all  religious  knowledge  is  laid 
in  our  children's  minds.  In  no  section  of  the  Church  could  this  point 
be  pressed  with  more  appropriateness  than  in  that  which  took  its  rise. 
as  we  were  reminded  last  week,  from  the  careful  reading  of  the  Greek 
Testament. 

Passing  by  a  natural  sequence  to  Christian  history,  we  find  the 
subject  so  little  cared  for  that  its  very  name  is  strange.  English, 
Roman,  Greek,  Ancient,  Modern  history  are  all  recognised — now  and 
then  Church  history  may  be  used  for  some  sectarian  purpose.  But 
there  is  probably  no  subject  less  known  to  the  average  educated 
Englishman  than  the  history  of  Christianity.  Is  it  not  a  fact  that 
nine  out  of  ten  of  such  men  owe  their  knowledge,  such  as  it  is,  of 
early  Christian  history  to  the  infidel  Gibbon?  The  field  seems  to 
have  been  abandoned  to  the  enemies  on  both  sides.  The  prevalent 
ignorance  on  this  subject  is  a  powerful  aid  to  the  High  Church  and 
Romanist  theories  which  are  spreading  in  England  to-day.  How  are 
we  to  account  for  the  neglect  of  this  subject  ?  Patriotism  would 
forbid  the  exclusion  of  our  proud  English  history  from  our  schools. 
Is  there  no  analogous  Christian  enthusiasm  for  the  story  of  the 
martyrs  and  heroes  of  our  faith  ?  We  have  many  histories  of  the 
kingdoms  of  the  earth  ;  shall  we  not  have  a  history  of  ilie  I^ngdom  ? 

To  mention  but  one  more  suggestion  as  to  the  subjects  in  higher 
education.  I  cannot  but  think  that  much  harm  is  done,  notably  in 
connection  with  one  of  our  own  national  Universities,  by  the  premature 
introduction  into  an  educational  course  of  such  subjects  as  Mental 
Philosophy,  Psychology,  or  Metaphysics.  No  one  would  of  course 
exclude  these  altogether.  To  those  who  have  to  mould  and  influence 
other  minds — the  minister  and  the  schoolmaster,  for  instance— an 
acquaintance  wdth  the  laws  of  mind,  and  some  knowledge  of  the 
results  of  recent  investigation,  are  almost  indispensable.  But  the 
study  of  merely  speculative  philosophy  should  come  last  of  all,  and 
after  rather  than  in  a  purely  educational  course.  No  one  has  ex- 
pressed this  more  clearly  than  Plato  himseK  in  his  scheme  of  education 
in  The  Repuhlic.  The  questions  involved  are  too  intricate  and  too 
grave  to  be  fairly  encountered  and  successfully  dealt  with  by  any  but 
highly-trained  and — if  I  may  use  the  term — seasoned  intellects.  Much 
of  the  rash  and  wild  speculation  of  the  day — mijch  of  the  sad  and 
weary  scepticism  that  is  blighting  young  lives — is  due  to  this  cause. 
Men  need  accurate  scholarship,  full  historical  knowledge,  severe 
mathematical  training,  and  a  tenacious  grasp  of  religious  truth,  if 
they  are  to  breathe  freely  and  tread  firmly  on  these  giddy  heights. 

I  have  not  in  these  somewhat  disjointed  remarks  made  any  specific 
reference  to  the  higher  education  of  women.     My  only  reason  is  this  : 


MR.   T.   G.   OSBORN'S  ADDRESS.  309 

I  do  not  know  why  any  great  distinction  should  be  made,  or  why  the 
mental  training  which  we  believe  to  be  necessary  for  our  sons  should 
be  denied  to  our  daughters.  I  heartily  sympathise  with  recent  efforts 
for  improving  the  education  of  girls  ;  and  so  far  from  a  sound  and 
thorough  education  impairing  domestic  instincts  and  injuring  family 
life,  I  beheve  that  no  advance  the  world  has  yet  seen  in  the  path  of 
intellectual  progress  can  be  compared  with  that  which  awaits  the 
generation  in  whom  the  seed  of  highest  progress  shall  be  always 
planted  by  a  mother's  hand,  and  quickened  by  a  mother's  love. 
Nothing  can  do  more  to  promote  higher  education  among  men  than 
raising  the  standard  higher  among  women. 

To  glance  for  a  moment  at  the  places  and  means  of  higher  culture  in 
our  midst.  The  inevitable  tendency  of  our  system  of  national  Univer- 
sities is  to  abstract  in  great  measure  all  religious  influence  from  higher 
education.  That  this  result  is  clearly  foreseen  by  many  can  be  inferred 
from  the  recent  foundation  of  denominational  colleges,  such  as  Keble 
and  Hertford  at  Oxford,  and  Selwyn  and  Ridley  at  Cambridge.  How 
much  the  same  difficulty  has  grown  and  been  felt  in  America  we  may 
gather  from  the  reference  to  this  subject  last  week  by  Dr.  Edwards,  of 
New  York.  Our  American  friends  are  pioneers  in  this  matter,  and  we 
may  profit  largely  by  their  experience.  We  English  Nonconformists 
have  been  so  much  occupied  in  establishing  our  claim  to  a  fair  share 
in  the  national  educational  endowment,  that  we  have  as  yet  hardly 
faced  the  grave  question.  What  shall  be  done  for  the  moral  and 
religious  side  of  the  higher  education  which  we  have  now  for  our 
children  ?  That  something  should  be  done  can  hardly  be  doubted  by 
rehgious  men  who  know  the  dangers  of  college  life,  and  the  tendency 
of  non-religious  teaching  to  become  anti-religious.  The  ^jroblem  before 
us  is  really  this,  how  to  reconcile  the  breadth  and  freedom  of  English 
University  life  with  the  moral  safety  of  our  children  and  their  loyalty 
to  the  Church.  We  cannot  afford  to  give  it  up  as  insoluble — we  are 
not,  I  take  it,  at  present  prepared  to  abandon  our  hard-won  inheritance 
and  fall  back  on  denominational  colleges.  The  difficulty  is  a  very 
serious  one,  which  is  not  likely  to  be  lessened  as  years  roll  on.  I  can 
only  suggest  one  or  two  thoughts  pointing  towards  a  solution. 

First.  We  should  make  more  provision  for  Methodist  High  School 
Education.  If  we  can  secure  the  first  few  years,  under  Methodist 
influences,  we  ought  to  do  much  to  fix  impressions  and  establish  prin- 
ciples which  will  bear  the  test.  We  cannot  with  any  safety  allow  our 
children  to  be  introduced  into  the  higher  learning  and  science  in 
colourless — that  is  generally  godless — schools.  Exception  may,  perhaps, 
be  made  in  the  case  of  day-schools  for  children  whose  parents  have 
time  and  ability  to  supply  the  lacking  element  of  godly  culture ;  but 
such  cases  must  always  be  exceptions. 

Secondly.  Some  effort  should  be  made  to  maintain,  in  more  or  lees 
close  connection  with  the  Universities,  representatives,  whose  special 


310  EDUCATION. 

duty  it  should  be  to  watch  over  the  religious  welfare  of  students,  and 
the  interests  of  Methodism  generally. 

Thirdly.  More  might  be  done  in  the  organisation  of  the  collec- 
tive Methodist  life  of  the  University,  and  the  provision  of  practical 
religious  work,  the  surest  safeguard  against  speculative  dangers.  And 
here  we  have  special  advantages.  The  society  that  took  its  rise  from 
"the  godly  club"  of  Oxford  has  not  yet  lost  its  adaptation  to  such 
cases. 

There  are  other  points  of  practical  importance  which  I  can  only 
briefly  mention.  Higher  education  must  ere  long  cease  to  be  merely  a 
matter  of  social  status,  and  be  more  and  more  regulated  by  and 
dependent  on  the  ability  of  the  individual  child.  This  being  so,  the 
Church  will  los«  much  if  she  allows  her  poor  children  of  highest 
promise  to  rise  to  i^osition  and  influence  with  no  help  on  her  part  and 
no  gratitude  on  theirs. 

Nothing,  again,  could  do  more  for  the  cause  of  religious  education 
than  a  closer  and  more  defined  connection  between  the  teacher  and  the 
Church.  I  am  no  advocate  for  putting  the  higher  education  into  the 
hands  of  the  ministry — far  from  it.  I  believe  the  true  economy  is  to 
divide  the  work  of  teaching  the  Church,  young  and  old,  among  different 
men,  not  to  divide  (and  so  distract)  the  men  for  the  work.  But  for  the 
increasingly  arduous  work  and  solemn  responsibilities  of  Christian 
education,  there  must  be,  first  of  all,  a  high  and  holy  enthusiasm  in  the 
teacher.  To  inspire  and  recognise  and  foster  this  is  the  duty  of  the 
Church,  and  how  best  to  fulfil  this  duty  is  one  of  the  most  important 
problems  of  this  near  future. 

In  conclusion,  the  Christian  use  of  higher  education  must  be  frank 
and  fearless  :  there  must  be  no  misgiving  as  to  its  effect  on  religion  or 
on  life.  No  men  should  be  more  ready  to  welcome  light  from  any 
source  than  they  who  have  learned  to  trace  all  light  to  the  "  Father  of 
hghts  in  whom  is  no  variableness  nor  shadow  of  turning."  There  is  no 
doubt  that  the  progress  of  science  may  test  our  faith — that  is  the 
appointed  trial  of  our  age — but  it  will  never  contradict  it.  And  if  as 
the  horizon  of  knowledge  widens,  our  faith  but  soars  the  higher ;  if  the 
materialism  of  science  is  neutralised  by  a  more  intense  spirituality, 
and  the  selfishness  of  culture  by  a  more  devoted  self-sacrifice,  the 
Church  has  nothing  to  fear,  but  everything  to  gain,  by  the  spread  of 
education  and  the  advance  of  knowledge. 

Kev.  F.  a.  Mood,  D.D.  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South),  in 
delivering  the  invited  address,  said :  Mr.  President, — Living  in  a 
frontier  country,  it  is  more  than  likely  that  my  views  on  the  subject 
submitted  for  consideration  at  this  hour  may  be  tinged,  or  even 
seriously  discoloured,  by  my  surroundings.  The  Conference,  however, 
with  this  statement,  can  make  the  proper  allowance  in  the  case.  The 
Church  should  hold  itself  strictly  accountable  for  the  "  necessities  "  it 


EEV.    F.    A.    mood's   ADDRESS.  S  I  1 

has  entailed  upon  itself  tbrough  the  wrong  spirit,  as  well  as  the  mis 
taken  methods,  that  have  sometimes  directed  its  action.  Impatience 
■with  the  slower  methods  that  seem  to  govern  the  Divine  proceedings 
led  to  the  pious  frauds  of  the  early  centuries.  Impatience  with  the 
opinions  of  men  in  reference  to  Church  teaching  and  administration  led 
to  the  tortures  of  persecution  in  later  centuries.  Impatience  with  the 
independence  of  thought  that  is  the  product  of  the  teachings  and 
influence  of  the  Christian  rehgion  has  led  to  exclusive  and  intolerant 
claims  of  priestly  supremacy  in  still  later  days— extending,  indeed,  to 
our  day.  These  periods  of  the  perversion,  suppression,  and  caricature 
of  what  is  noble,  are  the  fruitful  topics  of  infidel  writers.  They  are, 
after  all,  the  chief  ground  of  popular  appeal  for  the  rejection  of  the 
Bible.  They  are  the  stubborn  facts  to  which  infidel  writers  make 
constant  appeal  to  stir  contempt  for  the  Christian  religion  in  the  minds 
of  the  masses.  The  appeal  has  not  been  fruitless.  "We  have  been  con- 
gratulating ourselves  upon  the  total  absence  of  this  wrong  sj)irit  or 
these  false  methods  in  the  operations  of  Methodism.  It  becomes  this 
Conference  to  inquire,  under  the  subject  now  presented  for  considera- 
tion, whether  or  not  these  congratulations  are  altogether  deserved.  It 
becomes  us  to  inquire  in  this  connection  bow  far  the  work  of  God, 
especially  among  the  young,  has  been  hindered  by  our  impatience  with 
Divine  methods,  our  impatience  with  the  opinions  of  men  daring  to 
differ  from  us,  and  our  impatience  with  that  very  independence  of 
thought  that  belief  in  the  Christian  religion  tends  to  inspire.  I 
solemnly  believe,  sir,  that  in  more  than  one  instance  in  our  hintory  an 
unwarrantable  spirit  has  ruled  in  the  reformatory  effoits  of  Methodism, 
— a  spirit  of  impatience,  bitterness,  and  intolerance,  warranted  nowhere 
in  the  teachings  of  Christ,  and  fur  from  being  emulative  of  His  example. 
The  result  has  been,  in  some  sections  at  least,  that  suspicion  of  Evan- 
gelical teaching  has  taken  hold  of  the  minds  of  the  young,  fear  of  its 
intolerance  has  been  awakened  by  the  uncultured,  and  contempt  of  its 
narrowness  awakened  among  the  educated.  To  remove  these  supicions, 
to  dissipate  these  fears,  to  i)urge  this  contempt,  are  now  some  of  the 
"necessities"  laid  upon  the  Church  in  our  day.  It  is  impossible  to 
estimate  the  violence  of  the  shock  given  to  young  minds  who,  looking 
upon  professedly  good  men  as  the  exemplars  of  the  meekness  and 
patience  of  Christ-like  teaching,  have  seen  rude  rebuff,  impatient 
expostulation,  or  bitter  denunciation ;  or  who,  regarding  Methodism 
with  reverence  and  admiration  as  the  embodiment  of  Christ's  spirit  in 
action,  have  witnessed  the  spirit  of  Jehu,  which  cries,  *'  Come,  see  my 
zeal  for  the  Lord ! "  or  with  Peter,  "  Lord,  shall  I  smite  with  the 
sword?"  or  with  John,  "  Shall  we  call  dowTi  fire  from  heaven  to  con- 
sume them  ?  "  I  am  aware  that  the  denunciations  of  Christ  against  the 
hypocrisy  of  Pliariseeism  are  often  pointed  to  in  justification  of  much 
to  which  I  have  alluded.  But  it  is  exactly  in  this  vindication  of  in- 
tolerance and  impatience  with  opinions  and  doubts  that  the  victims  of 


312  EDUCATION. 

this  spirit  feel  outraged.  It  is  the  assumption  of  their  hypocrisy  and 
dishonesty,  and  of  our  superior  sincerity  and  honesty,  that  makes  it 
intolerable.  This,  then,  brings  me  to  consider  the  spirit  that  should 
rule  in  "the  higher  education  demanded  by  the  necessities  of  the 
Church  in  our  day."  With  the  advance  of  education  and  the  progress  of 
human  thought,  nev'  conditions  of  thought  are  imposed  upon  the  human 
mind  at  large.  These  conditions  must  be  met  by  a  clearer  apprehension, 
a  more  complete  exemplification,  and  a  more  thoroughly  experimental 
knowledge  of  the  spirit  of  Christ  than  has  yet  been  reaUsed  by  the 
Church.  While  conceding  all  that  can  be  claimed  as  the  proper 
functions  of  the  pulpit,  it  will  not  be  denied  that  in  this  particular 
connection  the  operations  of  our  colleges  and  universities  are  indis- 
pensable. I  hold,  therefore,  as  i),  consequence,  that  a  sound  Christian 
experience,  an  experience  manifesting  in  the  life  "  all  the  mind  that 
was  in  Christ,"  is  the  first  and  indispensable'  qualification  for  those 
who  are  called  to  preside  in  our  institutions  of  learning.  The  best 
type  of  Christian  character  is  demanded  there.  The  spirit  marking 
their  instructions  and  guiding  their  enforcement  of  speculative  or 
practical  truth,  should  be  known  by  that  noble  self-command  that  is 
the  glorious  resialt  of  the  rule  of  Divine  grace  in  the  heart ;  by  the 
unmoved  patience  and  fairness  that  exhibit  absolute  confidence  in  the 
truth  wherever  or  by  whomsoever  discovered  ;  in  the  burning  zeal  that 
gives  assurance  of  its  final  triumph  ;  and  in  that  tenderness  with 
doubting  minds  that,  while  it  dares  not  sympathise  with  doubt  by 
partaking  of  the  doubt,  sympathises  with  the  struggles  of  mind  and 
heart  that  awakened  the  doubt.  This  brings  us  to  consider  in  the 
next  place  the  methods  that  should  govern  in  our  labours  for  advanced 
education.  It  is  impossible  at  this  point  to  draw  a  distinct  line 
between  the  methods  that  should  rule  in  higher  education  and  that 
of  a  less  advanced  stage.  Whatever  significance  we  may  choose  to 
give  to  the  term  "  higher  education,"  whether  it  relates  to  its  in- 
tellectual or  moral  characteristics,  or  to  both,  "  higher  education,"  at 
last,  must  be  developed  from  the  lower  forms.  The  tree  needs  similar 
chmate,  similar  culture,  and  similar  conditions  at  the  fruit-bearing 
age  as  when,  a  tender  plant,  it  was  necessary  to  "  train  it  up  in  the 
way  it  should"  grow.  Herein,  I  think,  has  been  an  error  in  our 
methods.  The  convenient  terms  primary,  elementary,  intermediate, 
preparatory,  collegiate,  and  the  like,  which  were  intended  to  be 
expressive  of  the  different  stages  of  the  same  process,  have  become, 
by  long  use,  connected  with  difference  of  conditions,  demanding  dif- 
ference of  methods.  How  are  we  to  account,  except  from  such  an 
error,  for  the  singular  incongruity  of  method  that  presses  upon  the 
student's  linguistic,  mathematical,  historical,  mechanical  studies — and 
in  the  term  mechanical  I  include  the  whole  range  of  natural  science — 
and  postpones,  until  the  final  stages  of  education,  the  cultivation  of 
the  powers  of  abstract  thought  and  the  study  of  mental  phenomena 


GENERAL   REMARKS.  313 

in  tlie  li<:;lit  of  liuman  consciousness  ?  If  education  be  correctly  defined 
to  be  the  inculcation  of  correct  habits  of  thought,  feeling,  and  action, 
then  the  method  alluded  to  is  in  direct  contravention  of  proper 
education.  The  continuous  routine  of  mathematical  demonstration, 
for  instance — lor,  however  varied  in  form,  it  must  be  pronounced 
routine — can  never  impart  the  habits  of  patient  mental  industry 
demanded  in  the  mastery  of  mental  science.  From  the  very  first 
period  when  the  pupil  rises  to  the  position  of  student ;  from  the  time 
when  he  no  longer  sits  the  passive  reciiaient  of  instruction,  but  requires 
the  direction  of  a  professor  in  his  studies,  he  should  be  required  to 
give  careful  studj'  to  the  action  of  his  own  mind.  He  should  at  the 
earhest  possible  stage  begin  to  master  the  inner  teachings  of  self- 
consciousness.  To  habituate  his  mind  for  years  to  the  details  of 
natural  science,  mathematics,  and  the  like,  unmixed  with  metaphysics, 
is  to  unfit  his  mind  for  the  study.  He  is  instinctively  curious  about  the 
outer  world.  The  material  world  is  thrust  upon  him,  unbidden,  every 
moment.  He  is  compelled,  whether  or  not,  to  listen  to  its  voice  and 
to  receive  its  teachings.  Far  different  is  the  study  of  the  wondrous 
receptacle  of  all  these  outer  and  material  impressions.  It  is  palatable 
to  comparatively  few  minds  to  introvert  the  process  of  thought,  and  to 
turn  the  mind's  eye  in  ujpon  itself.  I  am  sanguine  that  a  change  of 
method  that  wiD  lead  to  an  earlier  familiarity  with  mental  j)rocesses 
would  result  in  a  decided  check  to  the  materialistic  tendencies  of  the 
day.  The  method  I  am  urging  is  directly  suggested  in  the  experience  of 
every  intelligent  Christian.  He  is  called  upon  every  moment  to  watch 
and  investigate  that  heart  out  of  which  "proceed  evU  thoughts,"  and 
of  the  deceitfulness  of  which  the  projjhet  asks  "who  can  know  it?" 
The  most  beautiful  types  of  Christian  character,  the  most  Christ-like 
lives,  have  been  among  those  who,  by  familiarity  with  mental  j)rocesses, 
have,  under  the  light  of  Divine  grace,  learned  to  detect  the  subtle 
movings  of  selfishness,  the  secret  imjjulsions  of  passion,  the  cunning 
waverings  of  affection,  and  the  struggles  of  the  will  in  conflict  with 
evil.  Of  all  this  I  may  incidentally  add  John  Wesley  was  a  dis- 
tinguished instance.  It  would  be  instructive  in  this  connection  to  give 
attention  to  the  obligation  the  Church  is  under  "  in  our  day  "  to  afford 
the  opi)ortunities  of  "  higher  education  "  to  women.  Time  allows  me 
only  to  call  attention  to  the  matter  and  ask  its  proper  consideration  by 
the  Conference. 

Rev.  Alfred  Wheeler,  D.D.  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church)  :  I  cannot 
agree,  sir,  with  our  essayist  in  his  opinion  that  there  is  a  tendency  to 
narrowness  in  our  system  of  edtieatiou.  I  tliink  the  tendency  is  in  the 
other  direction  with  us,  antl  from  the  information  tliat  I  get  in  the  various 
magazines  and  books  from  England,  I  think  the  tendency  is  the  same  here. 
It  is  rather  to  latitudinarianism  tlian  >  a  rigid  compliance  with  doctrina' 
standards  ;  hence  the  claim  that  there  is  tliat  fault  may  be  dismissed. 
There  is  a  j  nt  the  first  e^siyist  made  that  I  think  ought  to  he  re- 
ferred to,  for  to  my  mind  it  is  one  of  very  great  importance  •  that  uoint 


314  EDUCATION. 

is  the  neg-lect  of  the  study  of  Church  history  and  the  development  of 
Christian  doctrine.  There  is  no  claim  that  is  brought  before  us  by  scep- 
ticism that  is  more  powerful  with  the  young,  there  is  no  claim  made  by  the 
philosophy  of  the  day  that  is  so  leading  captive  the  minds  of  our  younger 
ministry,  as  that  made  that  the  Church  has  been  narrow  in  her  investiga- 
tions, that  her  doctrines  are  antiquated,  that  she  is  still  moving  in  old  ruts, 
that  she  has  no  philosophy  at  the  basis  of  her  creed.  I  think  a  competent 
investigation  of  the  development  of  Church  doctrine  or  Christian  doctrine 
would  for  ever  banish  any  such  thought  from  any  man's  mind.  Let  him 
start  with  that  development  in  the  second  or  third  century  and  follow  it 
through  up  to  the  present  day,  and  it  seems  to  me  he  will  find  more  of  rich 
thought,  more  of  profound  philosophy,  more  of  elaborate  learning 
associated  with  the  brightest  genius  that  this  world  has  ever  produced,  than 
he  will  find  in  any  other  system  of  study  whatever.  Neither  law  nor 
philosophy  nor  profane  literature  can  gather  to  itself  such  a  bright  galaxy 
of  writers,  or  so  much  of  profound  thought,  or  so  nmch  of  logical  con- 
sistency, as  gather  themselves  around  the  development  of  Christian 
doctrine.  Let  our  young  men  studj'  this,  let  them  become  thoroughly 
acquainted  with  it,  and  the  powerful  arguments  used  by  scepticism  and 
infidelity  will  lose  their  force  with  them,  and  they  will  adhere  to  the  old 
doctrines  of  the  Church  which  I  believe  are,  and  ever  will  be,  found  con- 
tained in  the  revelation  of  Divine  truth.  There  is  another  point  that  I 
wish  to  refer  to.  The  essayists  have  treated  the  matter  of  higher 
education  as  if  it  were  confined  to  two  elements  in  our  nature,  the  moral 
and  the  intellectual.  At  present  there  is  another  element  in  our  nature 
that  ought  to  he  referred  to,  and  the  education  of  which  ought  to  be 
attended  to  with  some  care.  What  is  that  element  in  our  nature  that 
certain  forms  of  error  and  a  certain  form  of  infidelity  appeal  to,  in  order 
to  carry  captive  tlie  hearts  of  the  young  and  those  among  us  that  are 
possessed  of  a  peculiar-constitutioned  nature  or  intellectual  structure,  or, 
if  you  please,  aesthetic  tendency  ?  There  is  something  in  our  nature 
besides  the  intellectual,  that  is,  viewing  the  intellectual  as  the  logical,  or 
that  which  pertains  to  the  reason  and  the  understanding,  that  needs  to  be 
appealed  to.  There  is  something  in  the  human  soul  that  is  appreciative  of 
art,  and  that  is  deeply  affected  in  its  presence,  and  influenced  by  its 
power.  To  this  Ritualists  appeal,  and  infidelity  also,  with  no  little  effect. 
Art,  in  all  its  various  forms,  is  resorted  to  to  gain  an  end,  and  with  no 
little  success.  Protestantism  might  wisely  take  counsel  of  those  facts  in 
its  educational  endeavours. 

Mr.  J.  DiNGLEY  (Wesleyan  Methodist)  :  In  addressing  this  Conference 
a  simple  layman  ought  to  be  modest  in  his  expressions;  but  I  have  been  so 
thoroughly  convinced  of  the  necessity'  of  a  higher  education  for  our  people, 
and  a  higher  education  within  the  reach  of  all,  that  I  should  be  wrong  if  I 
were  silent  to-day.  To  turn  the  matter  into  a  practical  channel,  I  think  we 
naist  be  content  to  take  one  thing  at  a  time.  We  have  succeeded  in 
getting  our  Universities  open  to  all  classes  of  the  community,  and  now 
that  ahnost  the  last  rags  of  intolerance  have  gone  from  their  management, 
I  think  the  next  step  must  be,  not  the  regulation  of  life  in  the  Universities, 
but  the  preparation  of  our  young  people  for  the  Universities  ;  and  in  order 
to  that  we  must  have  amongst  us  a  much  larger  number  of  schools  which 
are  competent  to  give  a  higher  education.  I  am  very  glad  to  find  that 
among  the  Methodist  bodies  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic  a  great  step  has 
Keen  taken,  but  I  am  afraid  that  there  is  a  fear  lest  a  higher  education, 
taken  in  its  proper  signification,  would  be  an  impediment  to  the  business 
life  of  our  young  people.  I  must  confess  I  cannot  see  any  truth  in 
that  view.  I  wish  to  second  what  was  said  by  the  reader  of  the  essay, 
that  as  Christians  it  is  our  duty  to  educate  our  young  people  -in  order  that 


GENERAL   REMARKS.  315 

they  may  he  more  useful  in  tlie  Church  of  Christ.  There  can  be  no 
question  that  education  is  power,  and  that  on  this  side  of  tlie  Atlantic  the 
Methodist  communities  have  not  taken  their  proper  position,  b}-  reason  of 
the  lack  of  education.  The  endowments  for  Grammar  Schools,  and  all 
endowments  which  are  preparatory  to  the  Universities,  are  almost  entirely 
in  the  hands  of  those  to  whom  we  could  not  wisely  trust  our  children.  1 
think  when  our  sons  grow  to  maturer  years,  and  have  been  well  trained,  we 
can  then  trust  them  in  the  Universities  ;  but  what  are  we  to  do  for  those 
who  do  not  propose  to  go  to  Universities  ?  I  think  we  must  provide  our 
own  schools  ;  we  must  provide  schools  which  will  give  the  highest  edu- 
cation possible  within  the  time  the  boys  can  devote  to  it ;  and  we  must 
provide  those  schools  at  such  a  price  as  most  of  our  people  can  reach.  I  do 
not  think  that  this  can  be  done  entirely  on  a  conmiercial  basis.  As  com- 
munities we  shall  have  to  find  money,  and  if  not  absolutely  to  endow  these 
schools,  at  all  events,  find  the  buildings  and  the  appliances  of  education 
free  of  expense.  I  believe  that  if  that  be  done,  and  if  we  can  then  manage 
that  the  schools  can  work  harmoniously  together,  if  they  can  be  graded,  if 
we  can  say  to  a  school,  "  Your  most  successful  boys  shall  be  sent  to  another 
school,  and  shall  be  sent  there  with  scholarships,"  if  we  can  say,  "The 
most  successful  boys  in  the  higher  school  shall  be  sent  to  the  University 
with  scholarships,"  I  tliink  that  will  do  something  to  establish  a  higher 
education. 

Bishop  Holsey  (Coloured  Methodist  Episcopal  Church) :  I  ask  permission 
to  say  a  few  words  on  this  subject  of  education  ;  I  am  glad  it  is  called  higher 
education,  but  I  should  have  preferred  that  it  should  have  been  called  broader 
education,  so  as  to  take  in  a  larger  mass  of  the  human  species  and  race. 
You  see  at  once  what  I  am  at.  The  Scriptures  tell  us  that  God  made  of  one 
blood  all  the  nations  of  the  earth,  and  I  come  from  a  people  that  is  a 
nation.  Though  they  may  be  dark,  and  though  they  may  have  been  ostra- 
cised, though  they  may  have  been  enslaved,  yet  they  stand  as  a  nation.  It 
has  been  thought  that  the  coloured  man  was  insusceptible  of  high  culture  and 
of  religious  moral  training  ;  but  recent  experiments  have  proved  the  contrary, 
and  I  am  thankful  to  say  that  while  these  advantages  have  been  cut  off  from 
us,  yet,  through  the  mercies  of  God,  the  daylight  is  now  breaking  upon  us. 
I  hail  from  the  Southern  Methodist  Church, — that  is,  we  were  organised  by 
that  Church  ;  she  is  our  mother,  and  I  love  her  ;  I  have  been  sucking  her 
milk  ever  since  I  was  born,  but  I  want  to  suck  more,  to  grow  better  and 
stronger.  And  I  am  thankful  to  say  that  those  dear  brethren  who  have  done 
so  much  for  us  are  yet  ready  to  do  more,  and  the  time  is  coming  when  their 
hearts  and  their  pockets  will  be  wide  open.  I  suppose  there  has  been  a  great 
deal  of  misunderstanding  with  regard  to  the  relations  that  coloured  people 
sustain  to  the  white  people  in  the  Southern  States,  and  I  heard  some  senti- 
ments that  did  not  exactly  accord  with  my  feelings  nor  with  the  truth.  I 
wish  to  say  this  :  it  is  true  that  we  did  stand  wide  apart,  and  do  stand  wide 
apart  yet ;  but  you  cannot  e.xpect  a  nation  to  be  boi'n  in  a  day  ;  you  cannot 
expect  society  to  be  revolutionised  in  a  few  hours  ;  it  takes  time  ;  it  takes 
proce.ss  after  process,  "  here  a  little  and  there  a  little."  But  what  I  wish  to 
say  is,  I  want  the  people  of  Christendom  not  only  to  look  to  China  and  other 
nations,  but  to  turn  their  eyes  across  the  Atlantic,  and  look  back  upon  the 
poor  sons  of  Ham  as  they  cry  for  light,  and  as  they  cry  for  the  living  bread. 
What  if  we  are  black !  Why,  sirs,  we  have  got  souls,  and  we  have  that 
impulsive  feeling  that  leads  us  to  cUmb  and  go  up,  and  to  strive  after  our 
right  position  in  human  society.  I  believe,  whenever  we  are  prepared  for  it, 
even  in  the  Southern  States,  the  door  will  be  open,  and  already  I  feel  the 
warm  hands  of  my  brethren  grasping  me  strongly,  and  saying,  "  Holsey,  come 
up  higher."  Now,  my  friends,  I  feel  very  much  honoured  ;  I  know  I  have 
been  down-trodden,  but  thank  God  the  shackles  are  off  now,  and  I  have 


316  EDUCATION. 

aluiost  forgotten  tliat  I  am  a  WacTj  man,  except  when  I  look  in  the  glass.  What 
I  want  to  say  is,  give  us  a  little  more  education,  a  little  more  religious  training, 
and  we  shall  show  you  that  we  are  worthy  of  that  position.  I  know  that  our 
people  are  low ;  I  know  that  they  are  immer.s«d  in  superstition,  and  their 
ideas  of  Cluistianity,  and  especially  of  Methodism,  may  be  low  ;  but  what  else 
could  we  expect  ?  Our  friends  have  done  much  ;  our  Northern  brethren  have 
established  institutions  of  learning  ;  they  have  sent  their  young  ladies  and 
their  young  gentlemen  to  teach  our  poor  children,  and  they  have  done  a  great 
and  noble  work  ;  but  I  hope  even  they  may  do  more,  and  will  do  more,  I 
long  to  see  the  day  when  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  and  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  North,  if  you  will  permit  me  to  use  those 
expression.^,  will  join  hand  in  hand  to  educate,  to  elevate,  and  to  refine  the 
sons  of  Ham.  We  have  already  done  much  good :  we  cultivate  the  land,  we 
make  your  cotton,  we  cut  down  the  pines  and  the  oaks,  and  tear  up  the  soil, 
and  cast  the  seed  into  the  faithful  bosom  of  the  earth,  and  sometimes  we 
coloured  people  say  we  don't  think  the  world  could  move  except  the  negro's 
iirm  moved.  We  send  you  cotton,  we  send  you  sugar :  why  not  send  us 
your  bounty  back  across  the  Atlantic  and  help  us  ? 

Rev.  Dr.  Rigg  :  I  wish  to  tender  my  thanks  to  Mr.  Osborn  and  the 
brother  who  followed  him  for  their  excellent  addresses.  In  Mr.  Osborn 
we  have  one  of  the  evidences  of  the  great  benefit  of  the  highest  possible 
education,  because  he  is  not  only  the  head  master  of  our  new  Kingswood 
School,  but  is  a  Fellow  of  jDerhaps  the  most  renowned  University  in  the 
world  ;  and,  if  he  had  not  had  those  advantages,  we  think  he  would  not 
have  been  the  man  of  power  for  us  in  respect  to  the  training  of  boys  that 
we  find  him  to  be.  I  believe,  sir,  there  are  three  things  upon  which  the 
advancement  of  religion  depends  in  any  Church  :  evangelical  simplicity 
and  earnestness  in  our  ministrations,  Christian  family  life  and  influence,  and 
the  most  complete  and  thorough  systematic  education  which  it  is  possible 
to  give  to  our  youth  of  every  class  ;  and,  unless  we  can  keep  this  matter 
of  the  highest  possible  education,  as  part  and  parcel  of  our  continual  aims,  it 
is  simply  impossible  for  our  Churches  to  maintain  their  true  position  in 
the  nation.  People  little  know  how  much  evangelical  life  and  influence 
below,  depend  upon  the  conformation  of  them  with  the  highest  education 
above.  1  have  no  doubt  it  will  be  found  that  not  an  unimportant  factor 
in  that  social  equality,  of  which  some  men  say  so  much,  is  the  education 
which  is  combined  with  evangelical  truth  in  the  teaching  and  life  of  the 
Church  ;  and  unless  we  bear  this  in  mind  we  shall  not  attain  to  all  that 
is  desired,  either  in  regard  to  the  extension  of  evangelical  truth  in  the  nation, 
and  in  the  world,  or  the  attainment  of  evangelical  liberty  and  equality  in 
their  fullest  and  most  precioits  sense. 

Rev.  Dr.  Bennett  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South) :  I  am  happy  to 
say  that  in  the  State  from  which  I  come  (Virginia),  the  oldest  southern  State, 
bearing  the  name  of  the  great  virgin  Queen  of  England,  the  education  of 
the  coloured  people  has  claimed  our  special  attention.  In .  the  city  of 
Richmond  one  of  the  finest  school  buildings  has  been  appropriated  to  the 
training  of  coloured  people  in  all  branches  of  education.  I  am  happy  to 
find  that  my  friend.  Brother  Holsey.  from  the  Southern  Coloured  Methodist 
Church,  is  in  the  line  of  ascent  to  the  very  highest  point  of  training.  I  wish 
to  say  briefly  that  I  conceive  that  the  Methodist  Church  in  the  world  has 
the  very  best  opportunity  for  giving  her  sons  the  highest  education.  If  our 
people  train  their  children  at  home  under  the  authority  of  the  Bible,  as 
I  presume  they  do,  and  will  then  transfer  them  to  our  own  schools,  and  have 
those  children  trained  by  Christian  teachers  under  the  authority  of  the 
Bible,  there  will  be  little  danger  of  their  departing  from  the  faith  of  their 
fathers.  Sir,  our  great  trouble  has  been  this :  a  gentleman  says,  "  I  will 
educate  my  son  to  be  a  lawyer,  to*  be  a  physician,  to  be  a  merchant,  to  be  an 


REV.    C:    G.    ANDREWS'   ADDRESS.  317 

engineer."  He  does  not  say  "I  will  educate  ray  son  to  be  a  Christian  Lawyer, 
or  physician,  or  merchant,  or  engineer."  We  need  to  keep  before  the  minds 
of  our  people  the  great  fact  that  no  man  can  be  truly  or  thoroughly  educated 
who  is  not  educated  under  the  direct  influence  of  Bible  truth.  I  have  the 
honour  to  be  engaged  on  our  side  o.'  the  Atlantic  in  the  work  of  higher 
Christian  education,  and  we  make  it  a  rule  in  our  institution  to  bring  the 
Bible  to  bear  in  its  doctrines  and  moral  teachings  directly  upon  the  con- 
sciences of  our  students.  One  of  the  first  classes  that  meets  in  our  college 
from  7.45  to  8.45  is  a  class  for  the  study  of  the  Bible.  Before  we  study 
philosophy  o:  science  or  language,  we  take  up  the  Book  of  God  and  study  it 
in  its  great  teacbings.  I  have  found  that,  as  one  of  the  essayists  remarked, 
the  tendency  o  those  institutions  which  are  supported  by  the  State  is  to 
nurture  scepticism.  I  hope  the  Conference  will  remember  that  history 
shows  that  the  Church  has  been  the  great  educator.  Take  the  Jewish 
Church,  take  the  early  Christian  Church,  take  the  Church  in  the  ages  from 
that  time  downwards,  and  you  will  find  that  in  every  age  she  has  felt  bound 
to  train  the  minds  of  men  for  usefulness  as  members  of  the  Church.  I  trust 
that  there  will  go  forth  such  an  utterance  from  this  Conference  on  this 
subject  as  will  be  felt  throughout  the  entire  world  of  Methodism. 

Rev.  C.  G.  Andrews,  D.D.  (Metliodist  Episcopal  Church,  South), 
then  delivered  the  following  essay  on  The  Duty  of  the  Church  to 
Kaintain  Schools  uhich  are  Christian  in  their  Influence  and  Character. 

He  said :  Of  all  the  factors  that  enter  into  the  solution  of  the  world's 
problems,  confessedly  the  most  potent  is  knowledge.  Its  inevitable 
tendency  is  to  control  all  other  factors,  and  make  them  subservient  to 
its  own  designs.  Individuals  and  communities  recognise  this  'truth, 
and  seek  for  knowledge  as  for  hid  treasure.  Possessing  this,  they 
have  the  means  of  procuring  everything  else  ;  they  can  enter  into  the 
contests  of  life  with  the  absolute  assurance  of  victory.  Observation 
invariably  teaches  that  nations  and  individuals  furnished  with  know- 
ledge rank  with  the  foremost  in  achievement  and  influence. 

The  Church,  made  wiser  by  the  accumulated  experience  of  the  ages, 
and  encouraged  and  inspired  by  the  Master,  is  now  showing  by  its 
zeal  and  enterprise  that  it  is  not  in  this  era  of  its  history  so  obnoxious 
to  the  condemnation  of  tJie  Saviour's  utterance,  "  The  children  of  this 
world  are  wiser  in  their  generation  than  the  children  of  light,"'  as  when 
the  words  were  first  spoken.  It  is  realising  that  it  cannot  afford  to  be 
behind  in  the  acquisition  of  any  force  that  may  keep  it  fully  abreast  of 
the  age.  Does  the  world  sharpen  and  polish  the  intellects  of  its 
followers  that  they  may  solve  mysteries,  evolve  truth,  and  enrich  its 
votaries  with  then-  discoveries  ?  Then,  even  greater  necessity  to  do 
likewise  is  laid  upon  the  Church  ;  for  the  mystery  she  is  to  solve  is 
that  which  from  the  beginning  of  the  world  hath  been  hid  in  God, 
who  created  all  things  by  Jesus  Christ ;  the  truth  she  is  to  evolve  is 
the  eternal  fitness  of  all  things,  and  the  discoveries  she  is  to  make  are 
even  those  that  show  the  way  to  God.  Is  the  conclusion  of  the  govern- 
ments of  the  day  unanimous  that  education  is  necessary  to  the  very 


318  EDUCATION. 

perpetuity  of  a  State ;  that  a  State  exists  and  flourishes  just  in  pro- 
portion as  its  subjects  are  enlightened  ?  Then  there  is  by  far  the 
greater  reason  why  the  Church  should  found  schools  and  educate  ;  for 
the  State  which,  under  the  blessing  of  God,  it  establishes  and  perfects, 
"  is  an  everlasting  kingdom,  and  its  dominion  endureth  throughout 
all  generations."  Has  the  world,  under  the  light  and  experience  of 
ages,  come  to  regard  education  as  above  wealth  and  power,  or  repu- 
tation and  rank,  as  indeed  the  one  thing  needful,  the  mythical 
philosoi^her's  stone  that  turns  all  things  to  gold,  and  that,  therefore, 
must  be  acquired  at  all  hazards  ?  Then,  by  all  possible  means  must 
the  Church  seek  to  possess  herself  of  this  wonderful  agent,  that  she 
may  impress  its  omnific  force  upon  her  high  mission  of  subduing  the 
world  for  Christ. 

But  an  important  question  for  the  Church  to  solve  lies  back  of  these 
considerations ;  and  that  is,  how  can  education,  with  its  immense 
power,  be  made  to  conserve  the  ends  of  Christianity  ?  She  must  ask,  Is 
education — meaning  the  mere  enlightenment  of  the  intellect,  without 
reference  to  moral  culture — an  unmixed  good,  a  blessing  in  itself? 
Perhaps  the  majority  of  thinking  men,  and  that  including  even  many 
of  religious  convictions,  would  answer  this  question.  Yes,  unhesitat- 
ingly ;  yes,  education  by  all  rueans :  enlighten  the  mind,  enlarge  the 
capacity;  let  the  mysteries  of  nature  be  unlocked;  let  science  bring 
her  tribute,  and  hterature  lend  her  refinement ;  let  all  wisdom  be 
intermeddled  with,  so  that  man  may  go  forth  thoroughly  equipped  for 
the  conquest  and  occupancy  of  his  dazzling  future. 

But  a  more  careful  and  scrutinising  investigation  may  prove  that 
education  is  only  a  good  as  it  brings  man  into  reconciliation  and  com- 
munion with  his  Maker.  The  deliverance  of  the  Christian  Catechism 
contains  true  philosophy,  viz.:  "That  the  chief  end  of  man  is  to 
glorify  God  ; "  and  if  education  fails  to  carry  forward  tliis  great  pur- 
pose, it  not  only  proclaims  itself  to  be  of  no  good,  but  really  an  evil, 
in  that  it  increases  responsibility,  enlarges  capacity,  and  makes  the 
opportunities  for  evil  vastly  greater. 

There  is  an  unvarying  principle  in  nature,  and  in  philosophy,  that 
those  things  which  constitute  blessings  when  properly  used,  which  are, 
indeed,  of  vital  importance  to  mankind,  become  curses  when  their  use 
is  perverted.  Indeed,  it  might  be  laid  down  as  an  axiom  that  just  in 
proportion  as  an  attainment  or  possession  is  of  value  if  it  is  used  in 
its  legitimate  channel,  in  the  same  ratio  will  its  abuse  or  perversion  be 
of  loss.  Fire  and  water,  for  instance,  how  incalculable  their  value, 
how  multifarious  their  uses !  Yet,  when  allowed  the  mastery,  they 
become  the  most  terrible  and  ruthless  agents  of  destruction.  The 
blessed  Scriptures  of  Christ  furnish  another  illustration  :  "  In  them  ye 
think  ye  have  eternal  life,  and  they  are  they  which  testify  of  Christ ;  " 
they  "  bring  life  and  immortality  to  light,"  yet,  when  their  warnings 
are  neglected,  their  blessings  perverted,  the   increased  responsibility 


REV.    C.    G.   ANDREWS'    ADDRESS.  319 

brings  a  corresponding  disaT)ility.  The  very  acquaintance  with  the 
truth  and  the  right,  with  the  beautiful,  the  pure,  and  the  good,  which 
they  furnish,  will  only  make  the  loss  of  them  all  the  more  keenly  felt. 
*'  For  we  are  unto  God  a  sweet  savour  of  Christ  in  them  that  are 
saved  and  in  them  that  perish.  To  the  one  we  are  the  savour  of 
death  unto  death,  and  to  the  other  the  savour  of  life  unto  life." 

In  like  manner  it  may  be  seen  that  education,  though  the  greatest  of 
all  earthly  blessings,  may  yet  be  made  the  medium  of  irreparable 
injury.  It  is  difficult  for  the  mind  to  contemplate  the  abstract  idea  of 
an  education  entirely  uninfluenced  by  spiritual  principles.  Ecligious 
light  has  so  diffused  itself  throughout  all  the  ramifications  of  literature. 
Christian  sentiments  have  so  (cupletely  taken  possession  of  the 
thought  of  the  present  day,  and  so  naturally  sjjeak  and  write  them- 
selves out,  that  it  is  impossible  to  conceive  of  an  education  purely 
sensual.  Yet,  if  we  could  deal  with  the  simple  ideal,  and  concei-ae  of 
a  community  devoted  to  the  acquisition  of  knowledge,  solelj'  for  un- 
godly purposes,  or  of  an  individual  who  had  no  thought,  and  never 
would  have  a  thought,  of  purity  or  salvation,  then  would  we  say,  that 
community,  by  the  acquisition  of  knowledge,  was  simplyproviding  the 
elements  of  its  destruction,  and  that  individual  was  only  preparing 
himself  for  increased  and  sublimated  misery. 

Should  you  consider  a  nation  educated  throughout  all  its  masses, 
and  to  the  very  highest  attainment,  yet  devoid  of  those  principles 
which  are  furnished  by  Christianity  alone — viz.,  humility,  unselfish- 
ness, love — you  would  see  an  assemblage  of  unscrupulous  beings,  each 
pursuing  his  own  interests  regardless  of  the  rights  and  privileges  of 
others  ;  his  rare  attainments  eualjliug  each  by  turns  to  circumvent  and 
overreach  the  other,  to  take  subtle  strides  in  treacherj^  to  refine  upon 
revenge,  and  to  perfect  contrivances  for  the  infliction  of  sufferinpf  and 
for  the  destruction  of  human  life.  In  this  godless  thing,  it  would 
seem  that  education  only  furnished  the  power  to  rise  above  the  less 
gifted,  to  snatch  the  sweetest  morsels,  and  to  enjoy  the  most  undis- 
turbed reign.  The  wisest  man  would  thus  become  the  most  dangerous 
man,  his  own  shrewdness  furnishing  the  power  to  make  him  the  dic- 
tator, the  despot ;  to  resist  whom,  even  communities  would  band 
together,  and  thus  produce  a  conflict,  the  decision  of  which  would  only 
temi^orarily  elevate  another,  in  bis  turn  to  be  hated  and  overtlirown. 

It  is  impossible  to  find  a  nation  whose  history  would  illustrate  this 
position  fully ;  for,  in  the  first  place,  no  nation  has  ever  been  totally  de- 
void of  religious  illummation  ;  even  in  spite  of  avowed  infidelity,  Divine 
teaching  has  been  silently  handed  down,  and  has  made  its  impression 
upon  the  mental  organism  ;  in  the  next  place,  no  nation  has  ever  been 
known  to  be  without  some  subjects  who  feared  God,  and  this  saving 
property,  even  amid  a  decaying  mass,  has  been  a  power  for  good. 

But  the  effect  can  be  shown  by  considering  a  nation  avowedly  criven 
up  to  irreUgion ;   that  one,  for  instance,  which  dethroned  the  living 


320  EDxrCATION. 

God  and  deified  hnman  reason.  This  was  a  gifted  nation ;  learning, 
art,  science  had  lavished  their  benefits  upon  her.  But  what  did  these 
gifts  result  in  ?  in  what  did  this  Christless  philosophy  culminate  ?  Let 
the  guillotine  answer  ;  that  artfully-contrived  instrument  said  to  be 
the  very  acme  of  human  discovery  for  the  purpose  of  most  speedily 
launching  the  soul  into  eternity.  Let  the  Keign  of  Terror  answer : 
when  minds  made  aspirant  by  cultivation,  aimed  at  high  place,  and 
used  that  very  cultivation  to  undermine,  to  torture,  to  ruin  others ; 
when  hecatombs  of  human  victims  were  offered  to  the  remorseless 
Moloch  of  self,  enlarged  and  elevated  by  knowledge. 

Should  you  contemplate  an  individual  educated  to  his  highest  capa- 
city, yet  totally  unrestrained  by  Christian  influence,  you  would  find 
one  enslaved  by  ambition,  naade  restless  and  eager  by  tlie  very  revela- 
tions of  knowledge,  yet  discontented  because  knowledge  had  limits, 
jea'ous  of  any  one  who  had  outstripped  him  in  its  acquisition,  and 
rendered  by  the  very  consciousness  of  his  superiority  over  others 
supercilious,  treacherous,  domineering. 

If  the  mind  is  permitted  to  dwell  upon  the  conception,  hard  to  be 
realised,  and, 'if  realised,  most  consummately  painful,  of  a  soul  lost  to 
God — a  wreck  upon  the  gi-eat  main  of  creation,  a  blighted  excrescence 
upon  the  realms  of  nature,  a  purposeless  and  guilty  waif  driven  through 
the  abysm  of  sjiace  by  fear  of  the  vindication  of  violated  truth  and 
right,  and  the  lashings  of  a  never-sleeping  Nemesis  within — then  would 
we  say  the  nearer  such  an  entity  might  be  brought  to  the  status  of  the 
brute,  the  less  of  misery  would  he  feel.  Let  there  be  no  habit  of 
acquiring  knowledge ;  if  so,  there  would  be  a  memory  of  a  serene 
gratification,  now  to  be  enjoyed  no  more,  to  embitter  existence,  an 
aching  void,  ever  asserting  itself,  ever  making  its  imperious  demands, 
only  to  be  mocked  by  the  impossibility  of  gratification.  Let  no  effort, 
however  slight,  have  been  made  toward  elevating  the  physical  or  mental 
condition,  or  a  spectre  would  thus  be  conjured  into  existence  distinctly 
traceable  and  visible,  yet  so  shadowy  and  mysterious,  so  awful  as  it 
lifted  itself  up  into  the  regions  of  the  once  possible,  as  to  excite  pangs 
of  unrelieved  despair.  If  a  man  is  to  fail  of  God,  better  let  him  fail  of 
everything  else ;  if  he  take  not  that  step — all-important,  though  less 
difficult  than  many  totally  valueless — then  he  had  better  take  no  step. 
If  he  has  not  the  knowledge  which  makes  him  thrill  with  the  conscious 
possession  of  the  favour  and  communion  of  his  Maker,  then  the  less  of 
knowledge  he  has  the  better. 

The  mission  of  the  Church  of  Christ  is  to  save  the  souls  of  men. 
It  cannot  afford  to  recommend  anything  in  pursuit  or  practice  which 
does  not  confessedly  promote  this  great  end  :  it  dare  not  tolerate  any- 
thing that  directly  or  by  implication  jeopardises  it.  The  one  great 
question  always  to  be  considered  by  the  custodians  of  the  Church, 
when  any  interest  supposed  to  be  good  is  offered  for  its  fostering  care, 
is  not.  Will  it  give  polish  or  respectability,  success  or  power  ? — not,  Will 


EEV.    C.    G.   ANDREWS'   ADDRESS.  321 

it  solve  the  problems  of  sociology,  or  develop  the  internal  resources  of 
a  people,  or  give  them  position  internationally  ?  but  the  question 
should  be,  Will  it  promote  piety,  will  it  secure  a  holy  heart,  will  it 
furnish  those  qualifications  valuable  in  the  sight  of  God  when  eternal 
destinies  are  being  fixed  ? 

Christianity  is  the  only  ]oower  that  can  remove  the  trail  of  the 
serpent  which  is  over  everything  of  earth — the  glaringly  bad  as  well  as 
the  seemingly  intrinsic  good.  Things  inanimate  need  to  be  born  again, 
as  well  as  the  souls  of  men,  else  they  will  be  scatterers  abroad,  not 
gatherers  together  with  God.  Just  as  they  seem  to  be  more  valuable, 
so  in  exact  proportion  will  their  influence  for  evil  be  more  seductive  and 
irresistible  if  they  are  not  created  anew  by  the  influence  of  Jesus. 
Adam  fallen  from  God,  vamly  striving  to  cover  his  shame,  is  no  more 
diametrically  opposed  by  Adam  restored,  and  walking  in  favour  with 
his  Maker,  than  is  knowledge,  Adam's  fairest  possession,  when  on  the 
one  hand  it  is  puffed  ujj  with  self-conceit,  vaunting  itself  through  the 
very  wantonness  of  its  own  power,  even  presumptuously  rushing  into 
the  presence-chamber  of  the  Almighty  to  ask  "  What  doest  thou  ?" 
and  when,  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  meekened  and  humbled  by  a  proper 
■inception  of  itself,  as  simply  one  of  the  gifts — albeit  the  fairest — of 
the  Great  Creator,  and  adoringly  crying  out,  even  in  the  midst  of  its 
sublimest  discoveries,  "Lo,  these  are  parts  of  His  ways,  but  how 
little  a  i)ortion  is  heard  of  Him  ;  but  the  thunder  of  His  power  who 
can  understand  ?" 

Francis  Asbury,  the  Pioneer  Bishop  of  America,  was  called  upon  to 
preach  the  sermon  of  consecration  at  the  opening  of  Cokesbury 
School,  named  in  honour  of  Dr.  Coke  and  himself.  He  accepted,  thus 
showing  that,  as  rigidly  consecrated  as  he  was,  he  could  yet  consci- 
entiously turn  aside  to  bestow  his  blessing  upon  a  college  ;  that,  as 
strict  as  was  his  construction  of  those  pursuits  which  could  conserve 
piety,  he  yet  regarded  an  acquaintance  with  the  educational  curri- 
culum as  being  helpful  and  necessary.  But  that  he  did  not  regard 
schools,  except  as  they  were  "Christian  in  their  character  and  in- 
fluence," is  very  quaintly  and  impressively  set  forth  in  tbe  text  he 
chose  for  the  occasion  :  "  O,  thou  man  of  God,  there  is  death  in  the 
pot."  The  substance  which  the  sons  of  the  prophets  esteemed  to  be 
wholesome  and  life-sustaining,  looked  beautiful  to  the  eye,  seemed  to 
have  all  the  properties  needful  for  food ;  but  alas  !  when  it  came  to  the 
test,  it  proved  to  be  bitter  and  poisonous,  and  could  only  be  relieved 
of  its  deadly  characteristics  by  the  transforming  power  of  the  man 
of  God.  Thus  with  education,  it  is  desirable  to  make  man  wise  ;  it  is 
refining,  it  is  elevating,  it  gives  to  a  man  light  and  po\»  or  ;  but  eleva- 
tion and  power  are  so  apt  to  j)roduce  the  bitterness  of  self-glorification, 
to  inject  the  poison  of  pride  and  ambition,  as  to  prove  utterly  destruc- 
tive of  the  interests  of  man,  unless  they  are  sanctified  and  rendered 
wholesome  by  the  leaven  of  the  Gospel. 

Y 


322  EDUCATION. 

The  first  inquiry  in  regard  to  a  school  should  be,  Is  it  "  Christian 
in  its  character  and  influence?"  The  acaderoical  character  and 
thoroughness  should  be  secondary.  If  its  influence  is  not  Christian, 
and  there  is  no  prospect  of  making  it  so,  then  ought  the  Church  at 
once  to  withdraw  its  patronage  and  fostering  care.  No  instructor 
should  be  retained  in  a  Church  institution  whose  teaching  and  in- 
fluence are  known  to  be  in  opposition  to  Christianity,  even  though  he 
possesses  qualifications,  as  a  teacher,  pre-eminently  superior  to  all 
others,  and  even  teaches  those  things  essential  to  thorough  mental 
culture  which  no  one  else  can  teach ;  still  it  is  incomparably  better  for 
the  mind  to  go  unenlightened,  and  be  for  ever  wanting  in  that  line  of 
truth,  than  to  purchase  it  at  the  expense  of  iufidelic  sentiments,  which 
destroj^  the  soul.  "  Though  I  understand  all  mysteries  and  all  know- 
ledge, and  have  not  Christianity,  I  am  nothing." 

As  Methodism  was  born  in  a  University,  and  as  it  has  always  been 
foremost  in  founding  schools  and  imparting  knowledge,  it  would  seem 
unnecessary  to  exhort  its  adherents  to  watchfulness  that  they  do  not 
recede  from  their  advanced  position  in  this  direction.  But  as,  in  this 
day,  the  tendency  is  for  materialism  to  legislate  s]pirit  out  of  the  world ; 
as  cold,  stern  philosophy  would  reject  everything  that  cannot  be  re- 
conciled to  its  own  self-made  principles ;  as  rationalism  would  even 
dethrone  God  Himself;  it  is  eminently  proper  that  this  great  gathering, 
representing  the  entire  following  of  Mr.  Wesley,  should  have  made 
prominent,  as  one  of  its  topics  of  discussion,  "  The  duty  of  the  Church  to 
maintain  schools  which  are  Christian  in  their  character  and  influence." 
Woe  be  to  the  Church  if  she  ever  yields  to  the  pressure  and  consents  to 
accept  education  as  the  end,  and  not  merely  a,s  the  golden  means  for 
securing  that  end.  Let  Methodists  be  ever  taking  their  reckoning  to 
assure  themselves  that  they  are  still  upon  the  Scriptural  foundation. 
"  Wisdom  is  a  defence,"  "  but  the  excellency  of  knowledge  is  that 
wisdom  giveth  life  to  them  that  have  it."  "  Behold,  the  fear  of  the 
Lord,  that  is  wisdom,  and  to  depart  from  evil  is  understanding." 

Rkv.  G.  W.  Olver,  B.A.  (Wesleyan  Methodist  Church),  then  de- 
livered the  following  invited  address :  The  topic  which  I  have  to  pre- 
sent to  the  Conference  this  morning  is,  "  The  Duty  of  the  Church  to 
Maintain  Schools  which  are  Christian  in  their  Influence  and  Character ; " 
and  I  have  taken  it  for  gragited  that  every  word  in  that  topic  has  been 
chosen  discreetly  and  with  a  purj)ose.  By  the  term  "  Church," 
naturally  we  should  understand  in  its  general  sense  the  aggregate  of 
Christ's  true  disciples  upon  earth,  corresponding  to  which  in  its  spiritual 
organisation  we  look  in  vain  for  any  visible  form ;  but  wherever  there 
is  an  organisation  of  Christian  professors,  claiming  for  themselves  the 
independent  life  and  privileges  of  a  Church,  upon  that  organisation 
must  be  supposed  to  devolve  aU  the  responsibilities  and  duties  which 
would  belong  to  the  Church  as  a  whole.     The  true  Church  of  Christ, 


REV.    G.   W.   OLVER'S   ADDRESS.  323 

then,  is  His  representative.  It  is  His  bod}-,  fitly  framed  together  and 
compacted  by  that  which  every  joint  supplieth  through  the  operation 
of  the  one  Spirit,  in  order  that  it  may  accomplish  His  work  and  fill  up 
that  which  is  lacking,  whether  in  labour  or  in  patience.  It  is  called 
upon  to  complete  the  things  which  He  began  both  to  do  and  to  teach. 
Christ  Jesus  came  as  the  Healer  of  the  Nations,  that  He  might  destroy 
the  works  of  the  devil.  Hence  He  wrought  cures,  taught  wisdom,  and 
saved  souls.  He  was  the  Redeemer  of  man,  and  of  the  whole  man. 
The  Church  is  to  be  His  almoner  ;  and  every  Church  must  in  His  name, 
for  His  sake,  and  in  obedience  to  His  command,  dispense  the  gifts 
which  He  has  entrusted  to  its  care.  It  is  a  narrow  view  of  the  Church's 
duty  and  privilege  which  limits  its  operation  to  the  spiritual.  Not 
many,  perhaps,  would  attempt  in  the  present  day  so  to  limit  its 
operations.  In  every  age  alms  as  well  as  prayers  are  recognised  as 
coming  up  with  acceptance  in  the  sight  of  God.  But  if  food  for  the 
body  is  needful,  then  surely  food  for  man's  higher  nature  is  equally 
needful.  Neither  bread  nor  culture  can  be  wilfully  denied  to  the 
destitute  and  the  forsaken  by  those  whose  mission  is  to  do  good.  And 
there  is  a  yet  wider  view  of  Church  responsibility,  which  must  not  be 
forgotten,  though  it  may  not  command  the  homage  of  all.  The 
Christian  Church  has  its  duty  to  the  race  as  well  as  to  the  indi- 
vidual. The  history  of  the  future  we  cannot  read.  Even  the  light  of 
the  past  will  scarcely  enable  us  to  guess  at  its  possibiUties.  Applied 
physical  science  is  conquering  the  material  difficulties  and  remedying 
the  fleshly  ills  of  human  life.  Applied  theological  science  is,  or  should, 
be,  no  less  surely  remedying  tlie  moral  evils  and  upraising  the  absolute 
level  of  successive  generations. "  The  science  of  education  applied  con- 
secutively and  persistently  lifts  up  a  man,  or  a  nation  ;  why  should  it 
not  lift  up  the. race  ?  The  duty  of  every  Christian  is  to  make  the  best 
of  himself  in  every  part  of  his  nature.  The  duty  of  every  Church  is  to 
lift  up  the  fallen  everywhere,  and  to  make  the  utmost  of  men  and  of 
man.  In  urging  this  view  of  the  subject,  it  is  not  necessary  to  affirm 
that  each  se^mrate  Church  must  take  separate  and  independent  action. 
Christian  Churches,  no  less  than  Clu'istiau  men,  may  both  co-operate 
and  combine  for  special  purposes,  and  for  this  purpose  of  education 
among  others.  Nor  does  it  of  necessity  follow  that  Christian  Churches 
might  not  co-operate  witli  other  persons,  even  though  these  should  not 
be  members  of  any  Church  whatever,  in  order  to  make  suitable  educa- 
tional provision  for  the  youth  of  the  generation.  But  it  is  maintained 
that  the  Churches,  as  such,  must  see  to  it  that  in  some  way  the 
necessary  instruction  is  provided,  that  schools  are  maintained.  But  if 
so,  what  schools  ?  In  education,  as  we  arc  now  regarding  it,  there  are 
three  elements  which  demand  constant  attention.  They  are,  informa- 
tion— that  is  a  knowledge  of  facts,  intellectual  training,  and  moral 
direction.  Information  furnishes  the  raw  material,  intellectual  train- 
ing improves  the  machinery,  moral  direction  determines  the  pattern. 

y2 


324     .  EDUCATION. 

Or  look  again.  There  is  in  every  man  a  certain  force  of  nature.  His 
information  brings  him  into  conscious  and  intelligent  connection  with 
the  world  around  him.  Intellectual  training  enables  him  the  more 
definitely  to  choose  his  ends,  to  select  and  adapt  his  means,  and  to  apply 
his  energy  with  the  least  waste.  But  unless  he  has  also  the  right  moral 
direction  he  will  become  only  a  mighty  man  for  mischief.  Schools 
without  definite  moral  direction  cannot  answer  the  high  purposes  of 
education,  or  fulfil  the  high  responsibility  of  the  Church.  I  cannot 
discuss  in  detail.  Morality  apart  from  the  authority  of  God  is  a 
theoretical  absurdity,  and  morality  apart  from  the  grace  of  Christ  is  a 
practical  impossibility.  To  secure  the  objects  for  which  Churches 
exist  and  labour,  schools  must  be  Christian.  That  they  must  be 
Christian  in  their  influence  is  evident,  for  otherwise  the  purpose  for 
which  they  are  maintained  would  be  defeated.  ■  The  subordination  of 
every  individual  child  to  the  authority  of  Divine  law,  and  the  union  of 
every  life  with  that  of  the  living  Saviour,  must  be  the  ruling  desire  of 
every  Christian  teacher,  and,  equally  so,  of  every  Christian  Church. 
But  influence  is  here  distinguished  from  character.  There  are  men 
occasionally  to  be  met  with  whose  influence  is  in  the  direction  of  Chris- 
tian morality,  but  who,  nevertheless,  make  no  profession  of  their  faith. 
So  there  may  be  schools  whose  general  influence,  because  of  the  godli- 
ness of  the  teacher,  is  in  favour  of  truth  and  righteousness,  but  which 
are  carried  on  without  any  recognition  of  Christ  or  of  God.  That  such 
schools  are  better  than  utterly  godless  schools  we  do  not  deny.  And 
they  are  infinitely  better  than  schools  in  which  Divine  things  are 
treated  with,  scant  reverence,  and  Divine  truth  is  dismissed  with  a 
shrug  or  a  sneer.  But  they  cannot  accomplish  the  work  which  the 
Christian  Churches  have  to  do  for  mankind.  We  meet  here  the 
question  which  during  the  present  Conference  has  recurred  again  and 
again,  and  which  meets  us  continually  in  our  daily  path.  It  concerns 
the  relation  of  the  spiritual  to  the  external  and  formal  in  matters  of 
.religion.  So  long  as  human  nature  is  what  it  is,  men  will  need  an 
outward  form  whereby  to  give  expression  to  inward  realities.  In  the 
sanctuary  and  in  the  school,  in  worship  and  in  duty,  the  outward  must 
express  the  inward.  But  what  we  need  and  what  we  must  have,  is  not 
the  spiritual  plus  the  material — the  external  added  to  the  real.  It  must 
be  the  spiritual  ruling  and  guiding  the  material— the  inner  life  finding 
its  free  and  natural  expression  in  the  outer  life.  Form  without  life 
and  life  without  form  are  neither  of  tliem  fitted  for  this  world's 
salvation.  "  What  God  hath  joined  together  let  not  man  put  asunder." 

We  ask,  then,  for  schools  in  which  there  shall  be  a  very  distinct  and 
reverent  acknowledgment  of  Divine  authority  and  of  Divine  grace. 
The  child  must  be  taught  not  only  to  do  right,  but  to  keep  the  Com- 
mandments. He  must  be  taught  not  only  to  do  good  to  his  neighbour, 
but  to  trust  his  Saviour.  He  must  be  trained  to  subordinate  all  earthly 
things  to  the  laws  of  the  unseen  life,  and  to  set  the  Lord  always  before 


GENERAL   REMARKS.  325 

bim.  If  this  is  to  be  so,  there  seems  to  be  no  other  conclusion  than 
that  schools  such  as  these  must  be  under  Christian  control  as  well  as 
under  Christian  teachers.  And  if  any  one  lesson  more  than  another 
is  to  be  learnt  from  the  experience  of  modern  times,  that  lesson  is,  that 
if  this  control  is  to  be  truly  Christian,  it  must  be  more  or  less  defi- 
nitely denominational.  And  therefore  the  conclusion  to  be  gathered 
from  mj'  parti j^  spoken  and  partly  written  address  is  this ;  that  upon 
the  Christian  Church  must  devolve  ever  more  the  responsibility  and 
duty  of  seeing,  in  the  first  place,  that  schools  are  provided ;  in  the 
second  place,  Witit  those  schools  are  Christian  in  their  influence;  and 
in  the  third,  that  their  Christianity  is  manifest  in  the  methods  and  the 
discipline  adoj)ted  as  well  as  in  the  instruction  given. 

Rev.  I.  G.  John  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South)  said  :  The  duty  of 
the  Church  to  educate  its  children  is  euipliasised  by  the  special  dangers  to 
which  our  children  are  exposed.  The  impoitance  of  general  education  is 
no  longer  a  question  of  the  day.  The  State  recognises  that  obligation, 
and  tlie  State,  both  in  England  and  America,  is  endeavouring  to  meet  that 
obligation.  But  how  1  By  the  operation  of  the  State,  as  was  intimated 
yesterday  in  the  eloquent  remarks  of  Dr.  Newman,  there  is  a  danger  which 
the  Church  should  look  fairly  in  the  face.  The  argument  is  used  in  order 
to  eliminate  all  religious  education  from  the  schools  under  public  control, 
that  there  must  be  no  connection  wliatever  between  the  Church  and  the  State. 
The  schools,  they  claim,  are  supported  by  taxation,  which  is  paid  by  every 
citizen  ;  therefore  the  Jew,  the  Catholic,  and  the  infidel  have  a  voice  in  this 
matter,  and  when  they  oppose  an  objection  to  the  use  of  the  Bible  in  the 
day-schools  under  public  control  their  voice  is  heard,  and  their  authority 
is  recognised.  The  consequence  of  this  is,  the  Bible  is  eliminated  from 
their  school  boolts  ;  the  name  of  God  is  not  allowed  to  be  recognised  in 
any  of  their  lessons,  and  in  many  of  our  institutions  under  State  control 
they  are  not  even  permitted  to  open  the  schools  with  prayer.  That,  sir, 
is  the  condition  of  affairs  in  the  State  from  which  I  come,  and  our  School 
Board,  under  the  provisions  of  our  Constitution,  has  positively  declared 
that  not  one  cent  of  the  funds  raised  by  taxation  from  a  people  largely 
Protestant,  and  to  a  large  extent  evangelical,  should  be  given  to  support  a 
school  vhi;h  uses  in  it  the  Bible,  or  where  the  voice  of  prayer  is  heard. 
How  are  we  to  meet  these  arguments  ?  It  occurs  to  me  there  is  a  very 
simple  and  plain  reply.  If  it  be  true  that  the  Church  and  State  must  be 
kept  separate,  and  an  earnest  Christian  will  not  discuss  the  question,  for 
he  does  not  ask  for  his  religion  any  State  aid  whatever  ;  if  it  be  true  that 
the  man  who  has  paid  his  taxes  has  a  right  to  representation  ;  if,  in  a 
word,  the  State  has  no  right  to  legislate  the  Bible  into  the  school,  we  ask 
the  question,  Has  the  State  a  right  to  legislate  the  Bible  out  of  the  school? 
What  right,  sir,  have  they  to  say  to  the  Protestant  Christian,  "  Because  that 
Catholic  objects  to  the  Bible,  the  Word  of  God  should  not  be  in  the  house 
where  your  children  are  trained  for  coming  life  i  "  What  right,  sir,  have 
they  to  say  when  the  Jew  or  the  infidel,  the  followers  of  Paine  and 
Ingersol,  object  to  the  voice  of  prayer  in  the  place  where  our  children  are 
educated,  that  those  who  believe  in  the  Bible  and  recognise  the  authority 
of  God  should  not  have  in  their  schools  the  right  to  hear  the  voice  of 
prayer  in  connection  with  their  study  ?  We  are  endeavouring  to  solve 
this  matter,  su-,  by  recognising  the  principle  of  local  option,  and  demand- 
ing that  the  State  should  relegate  the  question  to  the  people,  and  whenever 
the  people  say  in  any  community,  "  We  want  the  Ward  of  God  there  "  it  is 


326  EDUCATION. 

their  right.  They  have  no  more  right  to  legislate  it  out  of  the  school  than 
they  have  to  legislate  it  in. 

Rev.  Alexander  Martin,  LL.D.  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church)  :  Our  duty 
in  regard  to  the  matter  now  before  us  may  be  argued  from  the  importance 
of  education  to  the  individual.  A  being  endowed  with  such  wondroua 
powers  of  thought,  feeling,  and  volition  as  man  is,  should  have  these 
powers  developed,  strengthened,  and  rightly  directed.  Only  thus  can  he 
be  made  most  useful  and  happy  in  any  pursuit  or  profession  to  which  God 
in  His  providence  and  grace  may  call  him.  Again,  as  to  thefaviily.  Where 
the  mind  is  dwarfed,  the  taste  depraved,  and  appetite  and  passion  reign 
supreYne,  the  evils  of  ignorance  are  greatly  intensified.  And  so  with 
society  and  the  nation.  Educated  labour  of  mind  and  body  commands  a 
premium  and  rules  the  world.  It  is  gratifying  to  observe  that  the  Church 
is  becoming  more  alive  to  her  duty  and  interest  in  this  work.  Through  it 
God  intends  to  redeem  the  world  from  ignorance  as  well  as  from  sin, 
to  renew  it  in  knowledge  as  well  as  in  holiness.  And  so  from  the  earliest 
days  she  has  established  and  maintained  her  own  institutions  of  learning. 
Ages  before  Homer  sang  or  Herodotus  wrote,  we  read  of  the  schools  of  the 
prophets  established  for  the  good  of  the  Church,  the  nation,  and  the  world. 
Our  Lord  commanded  His  ministers  to  teach  as  well  as  to  preach.  The 
apostle  exhorts  his  son  in  the  Gospel,  "  The  things  thou  hast  heard  of  me 
commit  to  faithful  men  able  to  teach  others  also."  In  his  enumeration  of 
gifts  bestowed  upon  the  Church,  "  teachers  "  are  included,  and  stand  next 
to  "  apostles  and  prophets."  "  My  people  are  destroyed  for  lack  of  know- 
ledge," and  "  Oh  that  they  were  wise,"  are  but  examples  of  the  Word 
of  God  about  this.  The  Lord  Jesus  had  scarce  resumed  His  throne  in 
glory  when  in  Jerusalem,  at  Antioch,  Ca^sarea,  Rome,  Alexandria,  and 
elsewhere,  began  to  be  laid  the  foundations  of  Christian  schools  and  colleges. 
In  these  was  preserved  the  light  of  knowledge  during  the  night  of  the 
dark  ages,  and  the  world  preserved  from  utter  barbarism.  They  handed 
that  light  down  to  us.  We  are  acquainted  with  the  vital  relation  of  these 
institutions  to  the  Reformation  under  Luther,  and  also  under  Wesley.  Of 
all  our  colleges  in  the  United  States,  seven  out  of  eight  are  Church  schools, 
and  ten  out  of  eleven  of  all  our  students  are  in  their  halls.  Need  I  say 
this  part  of  our  work  is  one  of  great  magnitude  and  responsibility.  At 
home  and  in  mission-fields  it  ought  to  lie  nearer  to  the  heart  of  the  Church 
than  I  fear  it  yet  does.  It  is  her  proper  work,  not  by  accident  or  inference, 
but  by  every  consideration  which  makes  any  duty  plain  and  positive. 
When  she  prays  for,  and  gives  of  her  means  and  the  very  best  of  her  sons 
and  daughters  to  this  ministry,  she  is  not  stepping  aside  to  what  is  not  her 
business,  but  is  carrying  out  an  essential  part  of  her  constitution,  and 
discharging  a  duty  imposed  by  her  great  Head.  If  the  altars  of  her  places 
of  immediate  worship  lie  nearer  to  her  heart,  the  halls  of  her  schools  and 
colleges  should  lie  next,  and  only  next,  in  order. 

Bishop  Dickerson  (African  Methodist  Episcopal  Church)  :  It  is  my 
desire  to  remark  that  Methodism  and  the  highest  culture  have  ever  been  "t 
one.  There  has  never  been  a  time  M'hen  they  were  divorced  ;  no  period 
when  Methodism  joined  issue  with  scholarship.  It  was  born,  sir,  amid 
classic  surroundings  ;  never  has  it  lost  sight  of  its  birth.  Though  high  in 
itself,  it  has  always  stooped  to  the  lowly.  It  has  heard  the  Master  say  : 
"Tell  him  that  the  b'lind  see,  that  the  dumb  speak,  that  the  lame  walk,  that 
the  lepers  are  cleansed  ;  yea,  you  may  tell  him  that  the  dead  even  are 
raised  up  ;  but  remember  to  tell  him  that  the  poor  have  the  Gospel 
preached  unto  them."  Methodism  has  ever  been  mindful  of  this,  and 
because  of  its  exceeding  devotion  to  that  it  has  been  sadly  misunder- 
stood by  many  of  those  who  were  wealthy  and  cultured.  But,  from  Mr. 
Wesley  to  the  last  consecrated  bishop  on  the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic, 


GENERAL   REMARKS.  327 

Methodism,  under  God,  has  not  lacked  havins;  in  some  place  always  the 
highlj'-trained  pastors  and  the  broadly  and  liberally  cultivated  people.  The 
higher  education  is  demanded  by  the  necessities  of  the  Church  in  our  time, 
and  the  Christian  training  as  well.  First,  becavise  the  Church  must  keep 
step  with  the  march  of  the  progressive  thought  of  this  age.  Marvellous 
progress  indeed  has  been  made  in  education  per  se,  as  also  in  its  methods 
and  in  its  aims.  If  any  shoidd  doubt,  I  would  ask  them  to  go  off  to  tin,' 
museums  of  art  of  this  empire  city  alone.  Go  elsewhere  :  look  abroad 
over  the  world,  and  see  how,  under  God,  the  thought  of  the  age  has 
developed  ;  how,  under  God,  educational  developments  are  going  on  every 
whei-e.  And  secondly,  because  the  foes  of  Christianity,  the  foes  of 
Protestantism,  and  especially  the  foes  of  Methodism,  are  to  be  met  on  the 
field  of  letters.  Why  do  we  chooee  our  most  highly-cultivated  men  to 
edit  our  Church  organs  ?  Is  it  simply  because  they  can  write  good 
editorials,  readable  editorials  ?  because  they  can  write  intelligent  editorials  ? 
No,  for  there  are  others  who  may  write  as  well,  as  prettily,  and  as  grandly 
as  they,  and  as  interestingly  ;  but  rather  because  they  are  set  for  the 
defence  of  the  Church,  and  nobly  have  the  editors  in  Methodism 
defended  it. 

Rev.  W.  Arthur  (Wesleyan  Methodist) :  In  my  view,  Mr.  President, 
these  two  papers  look  at  the  same  subject  ;  the  one  being  the  higher 
education,  and  the  other  the  Christian  education  as  affecting  the  interests 
of  the  Church.  I  have  not  much  to  say  ;  but  what  I  have  to  say  comes 
fi'om  a  sincere,  deep  feeling.  Some  Churches,  in  respect  to  education,  may 
well  pride  themselves  upon  their  past.  We  stand  looking  into  the  face  of 
a  great  future,  which  gazts  upon  us  with  millions  and  millions  of  unborn 
eyes,  and  many  a  new  nation  is  waiting  for  its  education  from  us- — for  tlie 
tone  of  its  education.  In  every  American  State  there  is  a  new  nation 
springing  up,  what  in  old  times  would  have  been  considered  a  very 
wonderful  nation.  In  every  English  colony  you  have  a  new  nation 
springing  up,  what  in  old  times  would  have  been  considered  a  very 
mighty  nation,  and  the  tone  and  influence  of  the  future  education  of  those 
countries  depend,  in  a  very  high  degree,  upon  the  extent  to  which  you 
give  to  higher  education  and  to  all  education  a  truly  Christian  impress. 
If  a  Christian  impress  be  not  given  in  our  day,  we  have  lost  our  oppor- 
tunity. The  future  will  come  on.  It  is  no  use  talking  to  families  about 
not  sending  their  sons  and  daughters  to  convent  schools,  or  this  school,  or 
that  school,  or  the  other  school.  They  will  send  them  to  the  best  schools 
— and  we  must  set  ourselves  to  have  the  best  schools.  For  the  combating 
of  nun  schools  all  over  the  world,  let  us  have  highly-educated  Christian 
women  all  over  the  world  ;  for  the  combating  of  monastic  schools  all  over 
the  world,  let  us  have  highly-educated  Christian  men  all  over  the  world  ; 
and  let  me  saj^,  Mr.  President,  so  far  as  I  have  observed  our  movement, 
there  is  one  lesson  I  would  impress  upon  all  bodies  making  an  attempt  at 
higher  education  :  "  Whatever  you  do,  get  the  right  man."  I  have  several 
times  in  my  life  been  nuich  astonished  at  the  extent  to  v/hich  men  ihem- 
stdves,  without  the  advantages  of  early  education,  have  shown  a  power 
both  of  appreciating  its  value  and  of  observing  the  men  who  can  make  it 
succeed  ;  but  I  have  sometimes  been  sadly  perplexed,  on  the  other  side, 
when  I  saw  men  who  nmst  have  known  that  they  were  unlit  to  form 
a  practical  judgment  upon  the  interior  economy  of  a  higher  school,  whose 
study  seemed  to  be  ratlier  to  make  men  by  giving  them  a  place  in  an 
institution,  than  to  make  the  institution  by  finding  men  that  could  make 
the  institution.  Whatever  you  do,  take  care  of  the  men  that  need  the 
institutions.  Whatever  you  do,  seek  out  and  keep  up  the  men  that  can 
make  the  institution,  whatever  grade  of  institution  it  may  be.  When  I 
Bay  men,  of  course  I  mean  women  too.    The  sanue  rule  applies  to  both  sexes. 


328  EDUCATIO:^. 

Mr,  Ob'bnrn  spoke  abouL  tliere  being-  no  great  difference  between  the 
schools  for  the  one  and  the  schools  for  the  other.  I  thoroughly  agree, 
so  far  as  it  relates  to  intellectual  and  scientific  training,  to  everything  that 
is  really  intellectual.  In  the  social,  the  personal  training,  I  hold  firmly  by 
my  theory  that  for  women  the  more  perfect  the  womanly  development  can 
be,  the  better  ;  that  for  men  the  more  perfect  the  manly  development,  the 
better.  On  those  two  sides  let  'there  be  great  diversity  ;  but  as  to  the 
elevation  and  the  amount  of  knowledge,  let  ns  never  try  to  make  woman 
lower  than  man,  or  let  us  never  think  that  by  making  women  less  than 
men,  we  shall  do  any  benefit  to  men.  We  want  the  family  to  be  to  a  very 
great  extent  a  school  ;  and  we  want  the  siiool  to  be  as  mach  as  poreible 
a  family  ;  and  the  solution  of  all  the  difficulties  with  the  State  will  be  in  the 
great  family  institute.  To  my  mind,  all  authority  on  earth  begins  in  the 
authority  that  is  Divine  and  natural — at  the  same  time  the  authority  of 
husband,  the  authority  of  the  parent,  the  authority  of  the  family. 

Mr,  T,  Snape  (United  ]\f  ethodist  Free  Churches)  :  Mr.  President,  I  should 
not  press  any  remarks  on  this  subject,  but  so  far  most  of  the  speeches 
have  been  all  on  one  side.     There  are  some  of  us  who  hold  rather  different 
views  from  those  which  have  been  expi'e&sed.     Whilst  I  am  thoroughly 
in  accord  with   Mr.  Olver  as   to   education   comprising  the  imparting  of 
information,   the   training  of  the  intellect,  and  the  education  of  the  moral 
faculties,  I  cannot  quite  see  that  it  is  absolutely  necessary  that  those  things 
should  be  carried  on  at  one  and  the  same  time  in  the  same  school.     It  does 
not  follow  because  we  have  two  only,  we  should  lose  sight  of  the  third.    The 
question  before  us,  at  least  in  thi-'!  country,  and  I  think  it  is  much  the  same 
in  the  United  States,  has  altered  its  position  very  considerably,  owing  to 
the  legislation  of  recent  years.     If  there  had  not  been  much  legislation  I 
would  freely  admit  that  it  would  be  the  duty  of  Methodism  to  maintain 
denominational  schools.     But  a  national  system  has  taken  the  place  of  a 
denominational  system,  and  I  believe  that  the  national  system,  whether  for 
good  or  ill,  must  pi'evail.     Those  men  who,  in  the  United  States,  object  to 
give  three  cents  for  a  religious  education  which  they  believe  to  be  totally 
erroneous  have  as  much  right  to  that  opinion  as  those  who  have  urged  to- 
day the   necessity  of   giving  a  religious   education,   which   must,   under 
existing  circumstances,   be   given  at  the  expense  of  the  State — in  other 
words,  by  taxing  many  who  disagree  with  the  religion  we  wish  to  teach. 
Does  it  follow  because  we  have  the  national  system,  because  Board  Schools 
prevail,  that  the  Church  is  to  forsake  her  duty  to  see  that  the  young  people 
who  are  rising  in  our  midst  are  provided  with  a  religious  education  ?     On 
the  contrary,   it  seems  to  me  that  the  Church  is  made  free  to  take  that 
department  under  her  special  control,  and  to  see  to  the  efiiciency  of  her 
Sunday-schools,  of  her  children's  services,  and  means  of  occupation  which 
she  provides  in  the  week-nights  for  her  scholars,  and  in  this  way  to  take 
care  that  the  necessary  moral  and  religious  instruction  is  imparted.     Can  we 
suppose  for  one  moment  that  even  if  we  get  the  right  men — and  you  cannot 
always  secure  the  right  men,  even  under  the  denominational  system,  much 
less  can  you  pretend  to  secure  the  right  men  morally  and  religiously  under 
the  School  Board  system — supposing  that  we  have  them,  and  that  we  have 
(though  they  have  not  in  the  United  States)  the  principle  of  local  option, 
and  can  have  ourBil)les  read  in  the  Board  Schools — are  we  to  suppose  that 
the  mere  reading  of  a  few  verses  out  of  the  Bible  is  a  sufficient  moral  and 
religious  training  for  young  people  ?    Is  the  mere  reading  of  a  few  passages 
day  by  day  a  sufficient  safeguard  against  the  temptation  of  worldliness  and 
ungodliness  and  scepticism  by  which  they  will  be  surrounded  in  after  years? 
The  dutj^  of  the  Church  is  to  take  hold  of  them  in  the  province  where  the 
Church  has  power  and  influence,  and  there  to  see  that  religious  schools, 
her  Sunday-schools,   are   well   provided,   and   maintained   for  supplying, 


KEY.   DR.   pope's  ADDRESS.  329 

religious  instruction  of  the  highest  kind ;  religious  instruction  purer  than 
any  that  can  come  from  Downing  Street  or  the  mere  secular  schoolmaster  ; 
that  comes  from  the  loving  hearts  of  men  and  women  who  have  given  their 
lives  to  Christ,  and  who  feel  that  they  themselves  have  been  saved  by  the 
blood  of  the  Lamb.  This  is  the  only  religious  education  I  can  value,  the 
only  religious  education  I  tliiuk  we  can  secure,  and  it'  must  be  secured,  not 
through  national  assistance,  not  through  asking  the  State  to  help  the  Church, 
but  through  our  own  personal  and  persevcriag  effort. 

Rev.  a.  R.  Winfikld  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South)  :  The  subject 
before  us  is  the  duty  of  the  Church  to  uiaiuhiin  schools  Christian  in  their 
character.  I  have  only  three  or  four  minutes  to  make  a  report  of  that  part 
of  the  Church  to  which  I  have  the  honour  to  belong.  There  liave  really  been 
no  statistics  brought  forward  as  regards  our  Churches  in  relation  to  schools 
Christian  in  their  character,  and  people  may  think  the  bouthern  Church  is 
accomplishing  nothing  in  that  direction.  We  want  to  assure  you  that  we 
have  universities  and  a' so  colleges  fjnd  academies  in  the  Southern  States. 
Our  Vanderbilt  University  claims  to  have  few  superiors  in  imparting  instruc- 
tion, Avhether  religious  or  secular.  We  believe  that  there  is  no  conflict 
between  religion  and  science.  The  Methodist  Church  has  no  fear  of  science. 
We  have,  so  far  as  we  can  do  it,  opened  every  window,  and  thrown  wide 
every  door,  in  the  temple  of  knowledge,  and  we  have  invited  men  to  come 
and  learn.  We  believe  that  whatever  may  be  the  patronising  air  of 
scientists  to  the  Church  and  the  Christian  religion,  the  noblest  triumphs  of 
science  will  be  when  she  has  swept  the  most  distant  heavens,  and  returns  to 
cast  her  tribute  at  the  feei  of  the  Nazarene.  Jesus  Christ  the  Son  of  God 
has  nothing  to  fear  from  the  investigation  of  nature,  for  He  is  the  Creator  of 
nature.  There  never  was  a  period  in  the  history  of  the  civilised  world  when 
the  greatest  minds  were,  as  now,  looking  into  and  investigating  the  claims  of 
our  great  Messiah.  We  have  no  fear  that  science  can  ever  damage  the 
foundation  of  our  Christian  religion.  Let  science  use  every  agency  which 
she  can  employ  to  find  a  creation  of  man  outside  of  Adam,  and  she  will  still 
find  a  Creator  and  a  Redeemer. 

The  Benediction  was  then  pronounced,  and  the  Session  termi- 
nated. 


In  the  Afternoon  the  Conference  reassembled  at  Half-past 
Two  o'clock.  After  the  usual  Devotional  Service,  the  Eev.  Dr.  Pope 
(British  Wesleyan  ]\Iethodist  Church)  read  a  paper  on  The  Education 
and  Sjjecial  Training  of  Ministers  in  Theological  Schools. 

He  said :  Although  the  subject  assigned  to  me — "  The  Education  and 
Special  Training  of  Ministers  in  Theological  Schools  " — prescribes  no 
limitation,  my  treatment  of  it  must  be,  by  the  necessity  and  propriety 
of  the  present  hour,  restricted  to  the  training  of  jprobatiouers  in  the 
theological  colleges  of  Methodism,  and  esijecially  their  training  in 
theology. 

This  at  once  shuts  out  the  ideal  from  cur  scope  and  confines  us  to 
the  hard  reality  of  our  own  position.  It  would  be  easy  to  sketch 
the  discipline  of  a  divinity  school  conducted  under  other  and  better 
conditions :  one,  namely,  into  which  candidates  are  received  after 
having  passed  through  all  the  preliminary  stages  of  elementary  edu- 


330  EDUCATION. 

cation.  It  need  not  be  said  that  this  has  been  the  universal  theory 
of  the  Universities  of  Christendom  ;  first,  the  curricukim  of  literature, 
science  and  philosophy,  including  all  that  is  general  in  mental  dis- 
cipline and  equipment  ;  and  then,  but  not  till  then,  the  special  studies 
belonging  to  a  ministerial  vocation  ;  adequate  grounding  in  the  sacred 
languages,  with  its  application  to  the  study  of  the  Bible ;  and  the 
prosecution  of  a  course  of  theology  proper  in  all  its  departments. 
This  is  undoubtedly  the  right  theory ;  the  necessity  which  sets  it 
aside  is  a  hard  necessity  ;  and  the  nearer  we  can  approach  it  the 
better.  But  the  several  comniunities  of  Methodism  must  resign  the 
hope  of  reaching  that  consummation.  It  is  one  secret  of  our  strength 
that  men  are  sent  to  us  by  the  Holy  Ghost  for  the  service  of  Christ 
generally,  and  our  own  particular  service,  who  have  not  the  prepara- 
tory education  which  would  warrant  our  deaUng  with  them  as  theo- 
logical students  only.  We  cannot  have  our  divinity  schools,  pure  and 
simple,  waiting  for  these  probationers,  after  they  have  spent  some 
time  in  seminaries  for  preliminary  discipline.  They  come  to  us,  so  to 
speak,  as  already  ministers  designate ;  and,  in  the  great  majority  of 
cases,  could  not  undergo  the  successive  ordeals  of  school  after  school 
without  losing  their  vigour,  and  the  impetus  of  their  original  call. 
What  then  is  the  consequence  ?  Our  colleges  are  perforce  seminaries 
for  "  the  Education  and  Special  Training  of  Ministers,"  as  my  theme, 
whether  designedly  or  undesignedly,  words  it.  The  same  students  are 
prosecuting  their  studies  at  the  same  time  in  almost  every  branch  of 
knowledge ;  all  their  studies  paying,  it  is  true,  a  loyal  homage  to 
theology,  which,  however,  must  of  necessity  become  only  the  first 
among  equal  claimants  of  time  and  thought.  And  all  the  work  in  aU 
their  departments  must  be  done  in  two  or  three  short  years. 

Let  me  say,  before  proceeding,  that  while  we  feel  the  rigour  of  this 
necessity  on  the  one  hand,  we  rejoice  over  it  on  the  other.  On  the 
whole,  the  multifarious  system  works  well  throughout  our  institutions 
for  ministerial  training  everywhere.  Everywhere,  I  say  ;  for  although 
we  may  presently  hear  that  some  progress  has  been  made  by  Western 
Methodism  towards  a  realisation  of  the  higher  ideal,  the  general 
principle  holds  universally  good,  that  the  theological  training  of  our 
colleges  must  submit  to  be  thus  fettered.  And  now  arises  the  im- 
portant question  :  What  is  the  kind  of  theological  training  that  may  be 
arrived  at  under  these  restrictions,  and  how  may  the  very  restrictions 
themselves  be  turned  to  advantage  ? 

The  first  object,  and  one  that  may  be  attained  even  within  the 
limits  of  our  term  of  study,  is  to  impress  on  the  minds  of  students  the 
clear  and  comprehensive  outlines  of  systematic  theology  as  such.  The 
character  of  this  assembly  makes  it  superfluous  to  dilate  on  the 
supremacy  of  that  science  which  gives  its  value  to  all  other  science. 
Suffice  that  His  name  is  in  it  in  whom  all  the  treasures  of  wisdom  and 
knowledge  are  hidden.     Nor  is  it  needful  to  contend  for  its  claims  to 


EEV.    DR.    pope's   ADDRESS.  331 

be  in  reality  a  science — having  all  the  attributes,  and  sustaining  all  the 
tests,  and  answering  all  the  ends,  of  Avhat  may  be  truly  called  by  that 
name.  There  is  a  unity  and  organic  perfection  in  the  sum  of  truth  we 
term  theology,  which  it  is  of  the  first  importance  to  impress  on  the 
students  ;  and  whatever  else  we  can  do,  we  can  send  them  out  with  its 
great  systematic  outlines  engraven  ineffaceably  upon  their  minds,  to  be 
afterwards  filled  up  by  patient  industry.  This  does  not  imply  any  par- 
ticular system  ;  for  every  tutor  may  be  presumed  to  have  his  own.  It 
only  suggests  the  value  to  the  student,  at  the  outset  of  his  studies,  of 
a  comprehensive  view  of  the  entire  analysis  of  his  great  subject.  And 
the  more  thoroughly  that  analysis  descends  from  generals  to  par- 
ticulars, the  better  for  his  future  progress.  Every  doctrine  has  its 
relation  to  every  other  doctrine,  and  no  one  truth  can  be  fully  studied 
unless  it  is  first  located  in  its  own  place,  ■  and  then  viewed  in  its 
bearings  on  all  the  rest.  Take  any  of  them,  from  the  least  to  the 
greatest, — if  such  words  may  be  here  used, — and  a  good  system  will 
assign  its  own  position,  its  proper  home,  where  it  shines  in  its  full 
brightness  and  gives  out  its  full  meaning.  But  it  reappears,  though 
with  fainter  light,  in  many  other  regions  of  the  great  analysis. 
Having  its  own  place  —  let  us  say  —  among  the  privileges  of  the 
Chi'istian  believer,  where  its  richest  melody  is  heard,  it  vibrates  also 
in  the  attributes  of  God,  in  the  atonerbent  of  Christ,  in  the  offices  of 
the  Sph'it,  in  the  covenant  of  grace,  in  the  ethics  of  the  Christian  life, 
and  in  the  heavenly  world  itself.  It  would  be  as  easy  to  illustrate  this 
as  thus  to  generalise.  Suffice  that  here  is  a  worthy  aim  for  a  short 
course  of  discipline.  The  outlines  cannot  be  filled  in  adequately  ;  but 
the  well-arranged,  scheme  may  be  so  wrought  into  the  fabric  of  the 
student's  theological  thoiight  that  it  shall  be  part  and  parcel  of  his 
mental  constitution  abidingly.  And  if— which  will  not,  however,  be 
the  case — he  should  leave  the  coUege  with  little  more  than  this  clear 
and  fuD  progi'amme,  his  time  will  not  have  been  lost.  He  will  never 
again  study  theology  as  a  mere  series  of  unconnected  topics,  one 
following  the  other  in  the  order  of  a  dictionary.  He  will  not  give 
disproportionate  place  to  any  particular  doctrine,  forgetting  the  har- 
mony of  the  whole.  He  will  be  saved  from  the  great  danger  of  taking 
a  onesided  view  of  any  truth.  More  than  that,  if  he  abides  faithful 
to  his  early  principle,  his  theological  system  will  be  more  and  more 
the  object  of  his  reverence  and  delight,  until,  articulated  in  its  great 
framework  and  reticulated  down  to  its  minutest  fibre,  it  absorbs  his 
whole  soul  and  draws  into  itself  by  degrees  all  other  knowledge. 
Everything  he  knows,  or  cares  to  know,  will  take  its  place  in  that 
sacred,  sphere  of  which  God,  in  Christ,  is  both  circumference  and 
centre. 

The  restrictions  of  our  course  of  theological  study  suggest  further 
the  importance  of  a  certain  unity  in  the  method  of  conducting  it,  so  far 
as  it  must  go  beyond  a  mere  analysis.     The  ideal— to  return  for  a 


332  EDUCATION. 

moment  to  that — would  dictate  distinct  courses  on  the  apologetics  or 
evidences,  which,  if  worth  anything,  must  include  almost  the  whole 
round  of  theology ;  on  the  dogmatic  faith,  running  over  much  of  the 
same  ground  in  another  interest ;  and  then  on  the  ]polemical  or  his- 
torical developments  of  truth  :  all  this  being  followed  by  courses  on 
the  morals  and  institutions  of  Christianity.  Now  it  seems  to  be  our 
wisdom,  pressed  as  we  are,  to  combine,  if  possible,  all  these  objects  in 
one  scheme.  It  is  sound  economy  to  treat  every  subject  at  once  dog- 
matically, apologetically,  and  historically,  the  ethics  of  Christianity 
being  bound  up  with  its  dogmas,  and  its  institutions  incorporated  also 
into  the  same  system.  This  means  no  less  than  that  in  one  and  the 
same  course  of  lectures  the  truths  of  our  common  faith  should  be 
defined,  defended,  traced  in  their  history,  exhibited  in  their  moral 
aspects,  and  connected  with  the  institutions  of  the  Church  to  which 
they  have  been  committed  for  preservation.  Nor  can  there  be  any 
valid  objection  to  this.  Some  of  the  best  theology  of  modern  times  has 
followed  that  method.  It  may  be  said,  with  regard  to  the  evidences 
of  Christianity  in  particular,  that  they  should  be  studied  apart  and 
distinctly,  especially  in  days  when  the  Faith  is  assaulted  as  it  never 
was  before.  But  there  is  no  possible  defence  of  Christianity  which  is 
not  bound  up  with  the  defence  of  its  specific  doctrines.  What  attacks 
upon  our  religion,  what  hypotheses  of  error,  are  conceivable  which  do 
not  confront  successively  our  doctrines  of  God,  and  the  creation,  and 
the  Scrij)tural  account  of  the  fall  and  recovery  of  man?  Nor  can  the 
evidences  of  revealed  religion  be  more  effectually  taught  than  by  letting 
every  truth  deliver  its  own  credentials.  If  it  is  urged  that  the  doc- 
trines should  be  presented  apart  from  all  controversy,  and  in  their  dog- 
matic simplicity,  the  answer  is  obvious.  There  is  no  better  way  of 
establishing  a  dogma  than  by  showing  that  no  opposition  can  avail 
against  it ;  and  no  better  way  of  endearing  it  to  the  heart  than  by 
showing  its  past  triumphs  in  the  history  of  the  Church's  conflicts. 
This  is  the  New  Testament  method :  witness  the  discourses  and  epistles 
of  St.  Paul.  By  this  method  modern  theology  purged  itself  from  the 
corruption  of  ages.  This  was  the  method  that  gave  us  the  best  part 
of  our  own  theological  heritage.  Here,  again,  it  would  be  as  easy  to 
illustrate  as  to  assert.  But  time  admits  only  of  the  latter ;  and  it  is 
enough  to  saj^ — first,  that  in  the  short  space  at  our  disposal,  the  wiser 
course  is  to  stamp  on  the  mind  of  the  student  the  general  outline  of 
the  science  of  his  life ;  secondly,  to  make  the  whole  sum  of  teaching  one 
connected  course,  showing,  as  the  scheme  unfolds,  that  all  the  evidences, 
all  the  dogmatic  decisions,  all  the  ethics,  and  all  the  institutions  of 
Christianity,  are  only  aspects  or  modifications  of  doctrine,  and  are  best 
taught  as  such. 

In  this  presence  it  is  appropriate  to  suggest,  further,  the  importance 
of  training  our  students  m  right  views  of  the  relation  of  our  own 
theology  to  the  Cathohc  theology  of   Christendom  :  first,  regarding  its 


REV.    DR.    pope's   ADDRESS.  333 

fidelity  to  the  Faith  once  dehvcred ;  and,  secondly,  those  features  that 
are  distinctivelj^  its  own.  Whatever  may  be  the  progi'css  of  other 
studies,  and  however  contracted  the  space  allotted  to  theology,  this 
must  not  be  omitted. 

They  must  be  taught  that  we  have  nothing  in  our  system  of  teaching 
that  does  not  go  straight  up  to  apostolic  days,  that  we  hold  no  error 
denounced  by  the  apostles  in  their  own  time  or  foretold  by  them  as  to 
come.  This  must  have  its  proof,  and  that  will  require  a  certain  amount 
of  study  in  the  history  of  doctrine.  We  may  not  be  able  to  go  deeply  or 
extensivelj'  into  that  study,  but  we  sliall  at  least  be  able  step  by  step 
to  point  out  the  uncorrupted  tradition  of  the  faith  we  hold  in  common 
with  the  best  in  Christendom,  and,  what  is  of  equal  importance,  to 
mark  the  beginnings  of  error  which,  like  the  best  of  Cliristendom,  we 
reject.  It  is  a  great  thing,  brethren  of  Ecumenical  Methodism,  that 
we  should  be  able  to  make  good  our  boast  of  being  faithful  to  the  Faith 
once  delivered.  Those  who  do  not  know  us  may  say,  or  think  when 
they  do  not  say  it,  that  we  have  built  up  our  house  upon  a  few  truths 
which  we  exaggerate,  and  that  after  all  we  are  at  best  little  better 
than  unconscious  heretics.  Whatever  else  we  do,  we  must  vindicate 
our  catholicity  botli  in  doctrine  and  constitution.  This  is  surely  a 
legitimate  glorying.  Whether  we  can  make  the  world  believe  it  or  not, 
we  must  see  to  it  that  our  young  ministers  believe  it ;  and  that  should 
be  one  great  aim  in  the  short  theological  curi-iculum.  Tliey  must  be  for- 
tified in  the  conviction  that  Methodism  is,  on  the  whole,  true  to  the 
one  truth.  Perhaps  we  should  be  more  anxious  than  we  are  to  instruct 
their  eyes  to  trace  the  great  trunk-line  of  cardinal  doctrines,  with  the 
exact  points  in  the  course  of  the  past  eighteen  hundred  years  when 
this  and  that  error  branched  off ;  and  to  make  the  evidence  plain  to 
them  that  our  faith  has  made  the  whole  journey  from  the  apostles,  and 
never  had  fellowship  with  the  errors  that  have  diverged  to  the  right 
and  to  the  left.  Then  they  will  pursue  their  ecclesiastical  history,  and 
history  of  dogma,  with  confidence.  They  will  not  be  afraid  of  anything 
that  the  study  of  antiquity  may  reveal.  They  will  feel  the  catholic 
sentiment  strong  within  them,  and  that  will  make  them  charitable : 
for  catholicity  and  Christianity  are  one.  They  will  see  that  with 
regard  to  some  most  vital  truths — the  Holy  Trinity,  the  fall  and 
redemption  of  man,  the  vicarious  atonement,  the  eternal  penalties  of 
sin — there  has  been  one  steadfast  and  persistent  belief  that  has  sur- 
vived all  error,  and  is  common  to  East  and  West,  reformed  and  unre- 
formed.  At  the  same  time  they  will  see  that  East  and  West,  reformed 
and  uureformej:!,  have  alilvc,  though  not  equally,  added  certain  errors 
which,  by  the  grace  of  God,  their  own  creed  lias  been  enabled  to  avoid. 
Then  they  will  come  to  perceive  that  the  middle  ages  are  not  the  utter 
chasm  between  the  old  and  the  new  which  it  has  been  the  fashion  to 
think  them.  They  will  cherish  deep  respect,  mingled  indeed  with 
sorrow,  for  the  schoolmen  who,  while  they  gathered  the  materials  for 


334)  EDUCATION. 

Trent,  which  we  mourn  over,  laid  also  the  foundations  of  modern  sys- 
tematic divinity  in  which  we  rejoice.  And  they  will  not  absolutely 
despise  the  mystics,  the  better  part  of  whose  theology  glows  in  the 
Methodist  Hymn-book,  and  is  the  very  unction  that  pervades  its  system 
of  teaching.  They  will  find  out  that  what,  in  modern  terms,  are  called 
Arminianism  and  Calvinism,  have  existed  side  by  side,  with  their 
points  of  difference  and  their  points  of  agreement,  too,  in  almost  all 
ages,  represented  severally  by  the  stately  forms  of  Chrysostom  and 
Augustine,  but  only  one  of  them  going  further  back  into  antiquity. 
And  they  will  discern  a  true  doctrine  of  the  sacraments,  mediating 
between  the  extremes  that  make  them  either  too  much  or  too  little, 
which  has  found  its  fine  expression  in  the  Westminster  Confession,  in 
the  Apology  of  the  Remonstrant  Arminians,  and  in  the  works  of  the 
Wesleys.  In  fact,  to  sum  up  with  an  abrupt  change  of  figure,  they 
will  rest  in  the  sure  conviction  that  Methodism  is  a  branch  of  the  great 
Tree,  which  is  Christ  the  Truth ;  a  branch  which  had  its  life  in  the 
stem  before  it  lived  as  a  branch ;  which  has  outgrown  many  of  the 
earlier  and  lower  branches,  whether  withering  or  not  withering,  and 
which,  in  the  providence  of  God,  is  contributing  much  towards  the  con- 
summation when  all  nations  under  the  shadow  of  that  tree  will  rejoice. 
Suffer  me,  brethren,  at  such  a  time  as  this,  to  urge  the  plea  for  clear 
teaching  in  our  several  communities  as  to  the  catholicity  of  our  doctrine, 
and,  in  all  essential  respects,  of  our  constitution  and  discipline.  Thus 
only  can  we  secure  a  succession  of  men  whose  whole  mind  and  heart 
and  soul  will  be  ours,  undisturbed  and  unweakened  by  secret  doubts, 
and  svho  will  know  how  to  give  a  good  account  of  the  faith  they  hold, 
and  which  then  they  will  be  little  likely  to  forsake. 

But  at  such  a  time  as  this  we  must  not  forget  the  deposit  of  truth 
committed,  as  it  were,  specially  to  us.  By  the  charis,  or  grace  of  God, 
we  are  what  we  are  in  the  common  faith  of  the  Church  ;  but  by  the 
charisma,  or  gift  of  God,  we  have  in  trust  the  maintenance  of  some 
great  principles  of  that  faith. 

Here  it  may  be  observed  that,  apart  from  any  particular  doctrine 
we  may  make  prominent,  there  is  a  certain  specific  manner  of  unfold- 
ing certain  fundamental  doctrines  which  it  may  be  asserted  is  cha- 
racteristic of  our  teaching,  in  common  with  the  best  and  most  elect 
teaching  of  the  Church  of  Christ.  There  are  some  great  truths  in 
which  the  evangelical  bodies  agree,  but  there  is  considerable  dif- 
ference among  them  as  to  the  aspect  under  which  they  present  and 
teach  these  truths.  That  difference  gives  what  may  be  called  the 
tone  to  their  views  and  style  of  theology.  Nothing  is  more  important 
than  that  the  right  tone  should  be  communicated  to  the  students  on 
some  of  these  points.  If  limitation  of  time  does  not  allow  a  deep  and 
exhaustive  discussion  of  them,  it  is  possible  to  give  a  strong  and  deter- 
minate bias  in  the  right  direction.  The  teacher  has  here,  in  fact,  his 
best  function  generally  ;  it  is  rather  the  stamp  be  impresses  than  the 


REV.    DR.   pope's   ADDRESS.  335 

knowledge  he  imparts  which  gives  him  his  value  to  the  tanght,  and  is 
to  himself  the  best  fruit  of  his  labours.  But  this  is  a  subject  which 
will  not  allow  of  mere  generalisation ;  illustration,  however  brief,  is 
imperative. 

Then  take,  for  instance,  the  doctrine  of  the  Holy  Trinity,  and  the 
relation  of  the  Sacred  Persons  in  the  Godhead.     Now  two  men  may 
agree  to  hold  the  Eternal  Sonship,   and   in  a  Scriptural   sense   the 
eternal  subordination  of  the  Son,  both  being  alike  far  from  Arianism. 
But,  I  venture  to  say,  the  effect  and  influence  of  the  doctrine  on  the 
theology  of  the  one  raay  be  very  different  from  its  effect  on  the  theology 
of  the  other.     Methodism  has  done  much  for  tlie  definition  of   the 
Eternal  Sonship ;  and  the  tone  of  its  teaching  on  the  intercommunion 
of  the  Father  and  the  Son,  which  rendered  it  possible  that  the  One 
should  send  and  the  Other  be  sent,  and  which  underlies  the  mystery 
of  the  Iucarna,tion,  is  more  true,  both  to  the  Bible  and  to  the  best 
antiquity,   than   that  of  many  otherwise  orthodox.      Then  take  the 
Person  of  the  Son  incarnate ;  and  only  one  aspect  of  it,  though  mauj^ 
might  be  taken.     Two  men  may  think  themselves  equally  opposed  to 
Nestorianism  and  Eutychianism.     Yet  the  one  may  shrink  from  main- 
taining the  absolute  impossibility  of  sin  in  the  tempted  Son  of  man ; 
the  other  glories  in  that  truth  as  giving  its  eternal  steadfastness  to  the 
doctrine  of  redemption.     They  agree,  be  it  observed,  in  believing  that 
"  in  Him  is  no  sin  ; "  but  the  tone  of  the  theology  which  holds  that  the 
Deliverer  from  sin  could  not  sin,   being  always  and   everywhere,  in 
earth  and  in  heaven,  in  the  wilderness  and  on  the  Mount,  on  the  cross 
and  in  the  bosom  of  the  Father,  no  other,  no  less,  than  the  Son  of  God, 
is  unspeakably  affected  by  that  belief.     The  theological  training,  how- 
ever scanty  in  other  respects  on  this  inexhaustible  doctrine,  which 
impresses  the  right  stamp  or  strikes  the  right  liote  as  to  this  phase  of 
it,  has  done  its  work  well.     Again,  take  the  doctrine  of  the  atonement. 
Two  men,  equally  orthodox  as  to  the  vh'tue  of  the  sacrifice  offered  for 
all,  may  differ  widely  as  to  the  emphasis  laid  on  the  word  For.     Here 
we  must  not  dilate,  as  the  two  men  might    soon  multiply  into  ten. 
Suffice  it  to  say  that  holding  as  we  do  a  doctrine  which  mediate.^ 
between  extremes — Calvinistic  and  latitudinarian  extremes  that  need 
not  be  described — much  dei:)ends  here  also  on  the  tone  of  our  theology 
on  the  subject.     If  it  is  a  sound  one  it  will  have  a  blessed  effect  on  our 
preaching  of  the  cross,  and  of  union  with  Christ  in  His  death  and  His 
life,  and  of  the  efficacy  of  the  atonement  on  our  death  to  sin  and  life  in 
holiness.     The  teacher  may  give  that  right  note  also — whatever  it  is — 
though  the  entire  theology  of  the  atonement  may  overtask  his  short 
term.     Similar  observations  might  be  made  with  respect  to  the  person 
and  offices  of  the  Holy  Spirit ;  the  tone  here  makes  much  of  the  differ- 
ence which  divides  the  Churches,  and  I  humbly  think  is  the  secret  that 
must  unite  them  if  they  are  ever  united.     Union  with  Christ,  again — a 
term  or  a  doctrine  or  a  privilege,  to  which  Methodist  Theology  owes 


336  EDUCATION. 

some  amends  for  neglect — as  the  source  of  our  rigliteousness  and  sane- 
tification  and  the  new  life  that  unites  those  two,  is  deeply  affected  by 
the  character  given  to  it  in  our  teaching.  A  certain  almost  undefinable 
tone  may  be  such  as  to  wither  the  energy  of  man ;  or  it  may  be  such 
as  to  make  him  too  confident  in  his  own  powers  as  united  to  his  Lord's ; 
or,  and  this  is  what  we  must  aim  at,  it  may  be  such  as  to  keep  clear  of 
both  errors ;  teaching  that  through  the  Spirit  common  to  Him  and  us 
"  in  Him  roe  are  made  full,"  but  giving  Him  the  glory  as  "  the  Head  of 
all  principality  and  power." 

Further  illustration  would  at  once  lead  me  to  the  second  point — our 
own  special  deposit  of  truth ;  not,  indeed,  of  new  truth,  but  of  truths 
which  have  been  committed  to  us  as  revivalists,  not  merely  of  a  failing 
religion,  but  of  a  failing  truth  also.  What  these  are  the  programme 
of  our  proceedings  scarcely  allows  to  be  stated,  and  certainly  not  to  be 
discussed.  But  no  controversy  will  be  excited  by  the  simple  assertion 
that  the  specialty  of  our  Methodist  doctrine  is  that  it  is  a  "  doctrine 
according  to  love."  Love  was  from  the  beginning  its  keynote ;  and 
is  still,  so  far  as  it  is  perfect,  "  the  bond  of  its  perfectuess."  This  is  a 
broad  generalisation  which  particulars  will  justify.  First,  our  theology 
proclaimed  the  universal  love  of  God  to  man  declared  in  the  pi'ovision 
of  the  Atonement,  and  in  the  free  gift  of  the  Son,  with  His  righteous- 
ness, to  the  race :  not  indeed  as  a  new  truth,  but  the  same  which 
we  had  from  the  beginning;  yet  with  a  new  accent,  and  with  greab 
boldness,  and  with  all  its  effects  on  original  sin  and  the  estate  of 
mankind,  and  human  freedom  of  will,  and  the  internal  light  of  the 
Spirit  given  by  the  Light  of  the  world,  clearly  maintained  and  pursued 
to  their  consequences.  Secondly,  our  theology  of  love  brings  that 
universal  charity  of  God  home  to  the  individual,  telling  him  that  he 
may  and  that  he  must  have  it  shed  abroad  in  his  own  heart,  and  say 
always  what  St.  Paul  never  said  but  once,  "  He  loved  me,  and  gave 
Himself  for  me ;  "  having  his  sure  warrant  in  the  direct  witness  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  Himself.  Neither  was  this  a  new  truth  ;  it  also  is  the 
same  which  we  had  from  the  beginning ;  and  yet  it  was  to  countless 
multitudes  a  new  thing  to  hear  that  all  the  treasures  of  the  love  of 
God  in  Christ  Jesus  might  converge  upon  each  poor  human  heart  and 
make  it  rich  with  this  abiding  inheritance  of  righteousness,  sonship, 
and  sauctification.  Thirdly,  it  gave  a  new  aspect  to  the  doctrine  of 
love,  as  the  love  of  the  brethren  :  knitting  soul  to  soul,  not  only  as  a 
moral  obligation,  but  in  the  bonds  of  a  doctrine  of  fellowship.  The 
Methodist  theology  of  love  had  here  its  social  triumj)h  ;  and  it  may  be 
said  that  the  whole  economy  of  its  special  communion  (with  the  Lord's 
Table  in  the  centre),  maintained  in  ways  well  known  to  all  of  us, 
sprang  from  its  doctrine  rather  than  from  any  organisation  of  genius, 
and  that  its  doctrine  must  maintain  it  if  it  is  to  be  maintained  at  all. 
Neither  was  this  a  new  thing;  though  we  had  it  not,  indeed, /?-ora  the 
beginning  uninterruptedly,  yet  it  was  in  the  beginning,  and  we  only 


REV.   DR.   pope's  ADDRESS.  337 

renewecl  tlie  youth  of  Cliristian  fello-nship.  Fourthlj',  onr  theology  of 
love  has  set  a  peculiar  seal  ui)on  the  doctrine  of  Christian  perfection, 
in  all  the  hranches  of  that  doctrine  :  as  the  love  that  fulfils  the  law, 
conforms  the  regenerate  to  the  image  of  the  Son,  and,  set  on  God  and 
man  supremely,  is  the  power  which  the  Holy  Ghost  uses  to  cast  out 
all  sin  from  the  nature.  No  truth  was  proclaimed  earlier  by  the 
founders  of  Methodism  than  this  ;  none  was  more  firmly  maintained 
to  their  end  ;  perhaps  none  has  been  subject  to  more  misconception — 
let  it  not  be  said  that  none  is  in  more  danger.  We  cannot  now  do  more 
than  include  this  among  our  special  deposits,  as  we  were  raised  up 
for  a  testimony  to  the  Churches.  It  was  not  a  new  doctrine  ;  it  shines 
through  the  ages,  though  only  with  an  occasional  light.  But  in  some 
respects  it  was  almost  new  to  later  ages  ;  perhaps  in  its  bold  main- 
tenance of  the  possible  and  necessary  destnaction  of  inbred  sin  in  this 
life,  and  by  another  and  an  earlier  Hand  than  the  hand  of  death,  it 
was  altogether  new  in  the  modern  Church.  Be  that  as  it  may,  this 
department  is  by  all  acknowledged  as  our  own  :  whether  our  glory  or 
our  rebuke.  Fifthly  and  lastly,  the  entire  system  of  Methodism  in  all 
its  branches  is  and  has  always  been  kept  in  vigour  by  such  a  doc- 
trine of  the  Church  as  makes  it  simply  and  almost  solely  an  oi'gan 
which  love  to  Christ  alone  could  keeii  in  motion,  for  the  conversion  of 
the  nations  and  the  preparation  of  the  final  kingdom  of  our  Lord. 
Eemembering  this,  the  Methodist  societies  and  churches  throughout 
the  world  regard  themselves  as  so  many  organisations  for  the  salva- 
tion of  mankind  wherever  mankind  is  found  without  Christ.  Thus 
our  theology  is  throughout  and  consistently  the  theology  of  love.  It 
will  not  be  thought  x^resumptuous  to  insist  in  this  Ecumenical  Con- 
ference that  in  all  our  colleges  our  rising  ministry  must  be  trained  to 
glory  in  these  truths,  to  study  them,  to  preach  them,  to  defend  them, 
to  liv^e  by  them,  and,  if  needs  be,  to  die  for  them.  Whatever  else  is 
taught,  these  elementary  principles  of  our  common  Methodism  should 
have  a  foremost  place.  Our  j'oung  men  must  become  thoroughly 
versed  in  these  our  special  characteristics ;  for  these  after  all  are  the 
pith  and  marrow  of  their  ministry. 

The  mention  of  preaching,  however,  suggests  another  consideration 
which  must  not  be  passed  over.  Our  ministers  are  always  preachers, 
and  according  to  their  ability  as  i)reachers  is,  on  the  whole,  their  value. 
Their  early  training,  therefore,  must  include  some  instruction  in  this 
art.  No  one  here  will  be  offended  by  the  word.  It  means  only  what 
is  undeniably  true,  that  a  good  sermon  must  be  the  work  of  a  good 
artist ;  and  that  the  higher  his  standard  is,  and  the  better  the  principles 
are  by  which  he  works,  the  more  perfect  and  efficient  will  be  the  result. 
The  day  is  past  when  it  was  thought  best  to  leave  a  young  preacher  to 
the  zeal  kindled  by  the  Holy  Ghost  and  the  rough  inspiration  of  his 
own  instinct.  Appeal  has  been  sometimes  made  to  our  own  earlier 
preachers,  who  without  training  reached  results  which  none  of  our 

Z 


338  EDUCATION. 

methods  of  discipline  seem  able  to  attain.  But  ttere  is  a  fallacy  in 
this  :  those  mighty  preachers  were  consummate  artists  as  well  as  elect 
organs  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  Their  sermons  were  the  product  of  their 
utmost  skill,  working,  indeed,  often  on  princij)les  of  their  own  devising, 
but  always  with  a  high  ideal  before  them.  Now,  some  of  the  little 
time  of  a  college  course  ought  to  be  spent  in  the  application  of  a  few 
sound  laws  of  Homiletics.  The  student  should  be  taught  to  regard  the 
finished  sermon  as,  generally  speaking,  the  crown  and  masterpiece  of 
the  labour  of  his  mind.  And  such  good  laws  should  be  given  to  him 
to  work  by  as  will  ensure  him  against  the  common  faults  of  bad  preach- 
ing and  help  him  greatly  in  doing  the  chief  work  of  his  life  well. 

The  question  is,  how  to  carry  on  this  homiletic  course  in  connection 
with  theological  teaching  proper.  Certain  it  is  that  it  must  be  done, 
;ind  that  wherever  it  is  neglected  the  result  appears  in  the  disappoint- 
ment of  the  people  ;  and,  what  is  more,  in  a  ministry  below  the  highest 
standard  of  efficiency.  But  this  is  not  the  occasion  to  discuss  the  sub- 
ject fully.  For  myself  I  have  great  faith  in  a  very  simple  method. 
Instead  of  the  course  of  lectures  on  the  elaborate  homiletic  text-book, 
let  the  tutor  lay  down  and  constantly  iterate  his  own  cardinal  prin- 
ciples of  sermon-making ;  ■  not  letting  a  week  pass  without  showiug 
their  practical  application  to  the  students'  own  sermons,  or  to  sermons 
prepared  in  the  class.  In  two  or  three  years  the  effect  of  this  will  be 
great.  But  here  I  am  obviously  transgressing  the  limits  of  my  theme 
and  becoming  too  practical. 

One  thing,  however,  of  a  practical  nature  must  be  added.  We  all 
know  the  value  of  what  is  technically  called  Biblical  Theology,  which 
lives  and  moves  and  has  its  being  strictly  within  the  limits  of  the 
Scriptures  themselves.  One  branch  of  this  is  occupied  with  Exegesis, 
or  the  principles  of  exposition.  Now,  if  the  overweighted  tutor  and  the 
patient  pupils  can  compass  a  complete,  however  brief,  system  of  Her- 
meneutics,  so  much  the  better.  If  not,  this  branch  of  Bibhcal  Theology, 
which  is  specifically  the  preacher's  theology,  may  be  advantageously 
blended  with  the  homiletics.  One  of  the  fundamental  laws  of  good 
preaching  is  perfect  fidelity  to  the  exposition  of  text  and  context : 
whether  the  text  be  literal  or  figurative,  and  whatever  the  context  may 
be.  Here  then  Hermeneutics  and  Homiletics  meet ;  and  a  few  sound 
principles  will  be  found  as  useful  as  a  long  and  elaborate  course ;  much 
more  useful,  considering  the  pressure  on  the  time.  And  they  may  be 
made  to  meet  also  in  the  application  of  the  principles  of  both.  The 
teacher  may  find  in  Scripture  a  certain  number  of  leading  passages, 
classical  texts  or  paragraphs  from  both  Testaments,  which  contain  in 
themselves  jointly  and  severally  all  the  great  truths  of  revelation  and 
all  the  great  topics  of  preaching.  Now,  let  one  hour  of  each  week  be 
devoted  to  the  searching  exposition  of  one  of  these  half-hundred  salient 
passages,  and  to  the  study  of  the  original  text,  to  a  close  theological 
and  expository  analysis  of  it,  and  then  to  a  consideration  of  what  and 


EEV.    DK    pope's   ADDRESS.  339 

what  kind  of  sermon-subjects  it  presents.     If  another  hour  could  be 
found  in  the  same  Aveek  for  the  scrutiny  of  the  students'  exercises  as 
the  result  of  that  former  hour,  a  great  point  would  be  gained.     But, 
leaving  details  to  the  tutor  himself,  it  may  be  safely  affirmed  that  in 
three  years  such  a  series  of  these  cardinal  passages  of  God's  Word 
might  be  traversed  as  -would  amount  to  a   large  sum   of   dogmatic, 
expository,  and  homiletic  discipline.     This,  indeed,  only  suggests  what 
is  in  some  form  or  other  done  already,  and  perhaps  in  a  way  much 
better.     But  there  are  some  to  wliom  these  remarks  may  be  useful. 
And  in  any  case  they  belong  essentially  to  the  present  subject.     But  to 
return.     The  representation  of  universal  Methodism  will  certainly  be  of 
one  mind,  that  our  rising  ministry  must  if  j)ossible  be  so  trained  as  not 
only  to  keep  unimpaired  our  ancient  theology,  but  also  to  keep  up  the 
high  tradition  of  our  preaching  power.     We  need  not  ask  the  question 
whether  it  has  or  has  not  declined  of  late  years,  or  since  this  century 
began.     Indeed,  it  is  doubtful  whether  any  comparisons  between  our 
present  ministry  and  the  ministry  of  the  past  can  serve  any  really 
good  purpose.     We  have  to  do  with  the  present ;  its  lawful  needs  and 
its  glorious  opportunities.     It  is  a  solemn  thought  that  to  our  various 
communities  is   committed  the  charge  of   educating  and   trainincf  so 
large  a  proportion  of  the  men  who  have  in  the  next  generation  to  do 
the  work  of  Christ  in  the  world.     It  is  a  solemn  thought  that  so  large 
a  part  of   the  world's  myriads   is  at   our  feet  as  preachers.     What 
unspeakable  issues  depend  under  God  on  the    fidelity  of   our  rising 
ministry  to  our  doctrine  and  their  power  of  preaching  it  to  the  world : 
how  earnestly  should  we  send   uj)  our  united  prayer — united  repre- 
sentatively as  it  never  was  and  never  could  be  before — that  the  Holy 
Spirit  would  bajptise    our   young  men   all   over  the  earth   with  the 
unction,  and  the  zeal,  and  the  power   that  revived  the  languishing 
religion  of  the  last  century.     Witliout  that,   in  vain  shall  we  strive 
to  train  our  candidates  to  the  standard  of  the  requirements  of  the  acre. 
But  if  He  hear  our  prayer,  and  bless  our  efforts,  Methodism  may  still 
be  one  of  the  formal  agencies  for  the  conversion  of  the  world. 

These  too  hasty  words  must  not  come  to  an  end  without  a  last 
suggestion.  The  colleges  in  which  the  ministers  of  God  are  trained 
are  sacred  places,  and  everything  connected  with  them  must  be 
hallowed.  Well  for  us  if  in  all  our  arrangements  and  places  we 
remember  this.  My  theme  calls  them  "  Theological  schools."  Such 
they  are,  though  much  is  taught  in  them  besides  theology.  For  every 
hour  of  instruction,  be  the  subject  wliat  it  may,  is  directly  or  in- 
directly tributary  to  the  one  great  end  of  making  each  man  "  meet 
for  the  ]Master's  use.'  We  would  give  Him,  for  His  highest  service, 
the  very  best  that  we  have  ;  and  present  every  man  whom  He  puts 
into  our  hands  for  training  finished  and  complete,  lacking  nothing  that 
human  education  can  do.  But  all  that  is  profitable  to  Him  or  fit  for 
His  use  must  be  "sanctified  •"  and  our  supreme,  never-forgotten  aim, 

22 


340  EDUCATION. 

should  be  to  hallow  this  entire  ministerial  training  in  ever  j  part  of 
it,  so  that  our  colleges  should  tend  to  the  education  of  our  young  men 
in  the  religious  life  as  well  as  in  the  arts  that  prepare  for  the  ministry. 
Over  our  colleges,  our  class-rooms,  and  every  study,  there  should  be 
written  invisibly,  but  not  less  really  than  if  we  saw  the  handwriting, 
that  inscription  which  God  Himself  has  given  us,  and  which  runs 
through  the  Bible,  written  as  it  were  in  larger  than  St.  Paul's  "  large 
letters,"  as  the  watchword  of  all  consecration  to  Him — "  Holiness  unto 
the  Lord."  Over  this  institution,  and  all  our  institutions  organised 
for  His  glory  and  used  in  His  service,  may  His  glory  rest  as  a  defence 
for  ever. 

The  Eev.  G.  E.  Crooks,  D.D,  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church),  gave 
the  invited  address.  He  said:  Mr.  President  and  Brethren, — In  the 
education  of  ministers,  all  turns  upon  the  motive  with  which  the 
sacred  office  is  assumed.  We  cannot  train  men  to  any  good  purpose 
who  are  not  animated  by  proper  impulses.  He  who  enters  the 
ministry  from  the  persuasion  of  friends,  or  from  the  expectation  of  an 
easy  life,  or  from  a  vague  desire  to  do  some  good,  can  never  become 
an  efficient  herald  of  the  Gospel.  Learning  will  only  serve  to  render 
his  worldliness  more  conspicuous.  He  may  be  a  litterateur,  he  may 
dabble  in  science,  but  he  will  never  persuade  men  to  become 
Christians.  Therefore  we  must  put  first  among  our  conditions  of 
ministerial  culture  the  choosing  of  the  right  men  ;  the  choosing  of 
the  men  who  are  persuaded  that  they  are  called  to  tliis  service  by  the 
Spirit  of  God,  who  can  say  of  themselves,  "  the  love  of  Christ  con- 
straineth  us ;  "  who,  like  Paul,  are  conscious  that  this  is  their  work, 
and  that  there  is  no  other  for  them  to  do.  I  would  also  add  that  the 
men  selected  for  preaching  must,  in  the  nature  of  the  case,  be  picked 
men.  They  should  be  the  flower  of  the  youth  of  the  Church.  There 
is  a  complaint  in  some  of  the  churches  that  the  supply  of  men  for  the 
ministry  is  failing ;  so  that  the  Church  goes  begging  for  candidates ; 
allures  them  by  bounties,  and  is  ready  to  accept  "  the  lame  and  halt." 
Such  a  reluctance  to  enter  the  ministry  is  a  sign  of  a  wrong  condition 
of  the  Church  itself.  The  ministry  is  not  a  hospital  for  incurables, 
who  can  find  nowhere  else  a  roof  to  shelter  them.  Whenever  the 
Church  is  aglow  with  the  love  of  Christ,  it  wUl  give  up  its  choicest 
youth  to  recruit  the  ministerial  ranks.  They  will  pass  into  the  service 
from  all  classes  of  society — the  poor,  the  moderately  prosperous,  and 
the  rich.  In  training  candidates  we  should  assume  that  the  very  best 
culture,  grafted  upon  a  thoroughly  religious  spirit,  will  produce  the 
largest  results.  There  is  force  in  the  maxim — "  All  sorts  of  ministers 
for  all  sorts  of  people,"  but  the  prevalent  impression  that  culture 
disables  a  minister,  and  makes  him  ineffective,  is  a  delusion.  The 
founders  of  Methodism  were  not  disabled  by  their  learning;  "the 
common  people  heard  them  gladly."     The  larger  the  mind  the  greater 


REV.    G.    R.    CROOKS'S   ADDRESS.  341 

tlie  power  of  attaining  simplicity.  It  is  the  half-trained  man  ■who 
astounds  us  with  porteutously  mixed  imagery,  who  turns  plainness 
into  obscurity,  and  darkens  counsel  by  words  without  linowledge.  We 
may  safely,  then,  set  up  a  high  standard  of  ministerial  culture.  I  have 
yet  to  learn  that  the  so-called  evangelical  faith  suffers  from  learning  ; 
if  I  thought  that,  I  would  doubt  the  solidity  of  the  evangelical  system 
in  the  Word  of  God.  We  need  to  train  our  theological  students  to  a 
high  apjireciation  of  the  theology  which  Methodism  represents.  The 
Evangelical  revival,  which  began  in  the  last  century,  has  its  distinctive 
ideas.  The  power  of  the  idea  is  witnessed  by  the  fact  of  this  assembly 
of  representatives  of  Methodism.  That  power  is  exhibited  in  the 
silent  modification  of  other  theologies  which  has  marked  our  times. 
We  have  seen  a  Presbyterian  body  of  Scotland  adopt  a  declaration  Act 
by  which  the  so-called  "  subordinate  standards  "  are  interpreted  in 
accordance  with  Arminian  views.  And  even  the  Calvinistic  Methodists 
of  Wales,  at  their  General  Assembly  in  1875,  gave  fresh  emphasis  to 
the  declaration  that  "  None  will  perish  because  of  the  insuflBciency  of 
the  Atonement,  but  all  because  they  will  not  come  unto  Christ  to  be 
saved."  Methodist  Catholicity  is  not  inconsistent  with  a  tenacious 
adherence  to  distinctive  doctrine.  By  our  proclamation  of  the  fulness 
of  the  atonement ;  of  the  work  of  the  Spirit  in  the  heart  witnessed  to 
the  consciousness  of  the  believer  ;  of  the  immediateness  of  the  re- 
generating act  in  those  who  will  embrace  Christ  with  an  unhesitating 
faith — we,  following  in  the  footsteps  of  our  fathers,  have  wrought  a 
revolution  in  Anglo-Saxon  Christendom.  Our  boundeu  duty  is  to  lead 
our  candidates  for  the  ministry  away  from  a  theology  of  negations, 
from  a  theology  of  mere  churchiness,  to  the  theology  of  the  Spirit. 
When  so  many  are  saying,  in  a  state  of  half -despair,  "Wliat  is  there 
that  we  can  believe  ? "  it  behoves  us  to  show  in  whom  we  have 
bfheved.  This  is  no  time  to  send  out  young  men  who  have  nothing 
more  to  utter  than  dreary  platitudes,  or  who  preach  Christ  and  Him 
crucified  with  anything  less  than  the  utmost  intensity  of  conviction. 
In  this  confluence  of  so  many  streams  of  thought  pouring  into  the 
modern  mind,  it  is  just  possible  that  Methodism  may  lose  somewhat 
of  its  distinctness  and  individualism.  We  may  modify  our  poHty, 
but  let  us  never  modify  our  theology — the  theology  of  the  heart. 
The  age  is  disposed  to  criticise  ministers,  and  to  scan  narrowly 
their  qualifications  for  the  work  which  they  have  assumed.  I, 
for  one,  am  not  sorry  that  the  age  is  so  minded.  We  should  be 
admonished  by  criticism  to  look  the  more  carefully  to  our  systems 
of  training,  and  to  improve  them  as  far  as  we  can.  When  the 
age  complains  that  so  many  ministers  are  ineflBcient  and  incom- 
petent, we  should  see  to  it  that  our  methods  of  training  are  above 
reproach.  Fortunately  it  is  still  true  that  Methodist  preachers  can 
preach ;  though  there  has  been  some  abatement  of  the  power  with 
which  our  fathers  were  endowed,  the  power  is  not  gone.     When,  how- 


342  EDUCATION. 

ever,  it  is  asserted  that  the  knowledge  and  learning  of  ministers  are  far 
away  from  the  common  interests  of  life,  we  have  the  ready  answer 
that  so  is  classic  culture  far  removed  from  human  interests.  The 
ohjection  will  hold  of  all  the  seats  of  learning  in  this  realm.  It  is  yet 
to  be  found  that  the  study  of  ancient  books,  of  the  languages  and 
thinking  of  peoples  who  long  since  disappeared,  disables  us  for  the  duties 
of  the  present  time.  If  a  classic  Grecian  can  make  a  commanding 
statesman,  so  may  a  thorough  Hebraist  make  a  skilful  winner  of  souls. 
There  is  no  more  of  anachronism  in  the  study  of  Old  Testament  history 
and  New  Testament  divinity,  than  in  the  study  of  Eoman  law  and 
Greek  philosophy.  In  fact,  the  studies  of  the  minister  come  closest  of 
all  others  to  the  business  and  bosoms  of  men.  To  teach  men  purity — 
personal,  domestic,  and  social, — to  warn  thera  that  sin  is  defilement, 
that  it  eats  away  the  best  affections  of  the  heart,  and  the  finest  powers 
of  the  intellect ;  to  show  them  that  sorrow  for  wrong-doing  need  not 
be  remorse,  but  may  become  sincere  repentance,  to  ease  them  of  their 
griefs  by  bringing  them  to  the  embrace  of  their  Saviour  and  their 
God ; — these  achievements  are  not  renjote  from  their  daily  lives.  We 
Methodists  in  America  have  tried  to  lead  our  young  men  to  the  pure 
fountains  of  Wesleyan  theology.  We  have  drilled  them  in  the  solid  not 
to  say  cumbrous  argumentation  of  Watson,  and  are  now  strengthening 
them  with  the  abundant  theological  learning  of  Pope.  We  have  done 
something  in  theology  ourselves,  and  hope  to  do  more.  We  have  not 
moved  a  single  theological  landmark  set  up  by  our  fathers.  We 
believe  that  those  landmarks  are  planted  as  near  to  the  lines  and  angles 
of  Scripture  as  men  in  this  age  can  hope  to  come.  We  shall  try  to 
teach  our  young  men  a  pure  Gospel,  unmixed  with  foreign  elements  ;  a 
simple  Gospel,  so  simple  that  plain  men  can  understand  it ;  a  whole 
Gospel  with  a  loving  Father,  a  Redeeming  Christ,  and  a  sanctifying 
Spirit.  And  may  it  be  for  a  century  to  come  the  glorying  of  Methodist 
preachers,  the  world  over,  that  they  "  are  not  ashamed  of  the  Gospel 
of  Christ." 

Rev.  Dr.  C.  G-.  Andrews  CMethodist  Episcopal  Church,  South) :  I  shall 
not  detain  the  Conference  long.  I  want  to  make  just  one  point,  aiid  I  would 
like  to  prefece  my  remarks  by  thanking  the  distinguished  essayist  for 
referring  twice  to  the  necessity  that  he  finds  himself  under  of  teaching  his 
theological  students  other  things  than  mere  points  of  theology.  I  believe 
myself,  sir,  it  very  frequently  is  the  case  that  the  knowledge  of  numbers 
is  more  essential  to  the  theological  student  than  becoming  acquainted  with 
hermeneutics,  and  to  get  a  thorough  acquaintance  with  language  is  better  for 
him  than  to  have  injected  into  him  at  second  hand  the  ability  to  reconcile 
science  with  religion.  Let  the  man's  mind  be  clear,  and  he  will  take  on  the 
theology.  We  have  had  divinity  schools  in  the  United  States  of  the  highest 
grades,  in  which  men  could  be  thoroughly  qualified  for  their  work;  but,  sir, 
I  wish  to  say,  and  I  hope  to  be  pardoned  if  my  opinion  is  extreme,  that 
I  believe,  over  and  above  all,  in  training  our  young  men  in  theological 
institutions,  it  would  be  best  to  let  them  come  out  of  the  institution  with  just  as 
little  of  the  institution  itself  attaching  to  them  as  possible.     What  I  mean 


GENERAL  REMARKS.  343 

to  say  is  just  this :  the  highest  expression  of  art  is  to  conceal  art,  and  so 
when  you  put  a  young  man  through  the  curricuUuu  of  a  theological  school, 
or  college,  let  him  come  out  as  rtatural,  as  ready  to  take  on  the  blessed 
inspiration  of  the  Gospel,  if  possible,  as  if  he  had  not  been  there.  I  know 
of  an  institution  in  the  United  States  whose  every  student  conies  out  of  it 
with  a  peculiar  bent  of  mind,  or  a  peculiar  accentuation  of  character,  marking 
hiui  as  an  alumnus  of  that  college.  I  think  such  training  as  this  is  absolutely 
a  sin  in  the  sight  of  God.  You  waTit  a  young  man  when  he  comes  forth 
from  a  college  to  have  his  own  individuality  still  attaching  to  him,  and  you 
want  to  forbid,  if  possible,  by  your  training,  that  he  should  take  any  man  as 
a  pattern  ;  you  want  him  to  be  himself ;  you  want  him  to  regard  himself 
as  simply  a  voice  proving  that  the  Almighty  can  speak  through  him  accord- 
ing to  the  man's  individual  peculiarities.  You  want  to  have  his  head, 
polished  as  it  may  be,  and  his  heart,  pure  as  it  may  be,  and  his  hand,  skilful 
as  it  may  be,  only  as  the  media  through  which  Almighty  God  can  make  an 
impression  on  the  world.  I  believe  it  is  the  accomplishment  of  the  highest 
idea  and  purpose  of  theological  ischools  to  let  the  student  come  out  simply  him 
self,  polished  and  prepared  by  all  the  powers  that  we  are  able  to  impart  to  him. 
Rev.  Dr.  A.  S.  Andrews  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South)  :  Mr. 
President,  I  heard  with  very  great  pleasure  the  essays  that  have  been  read, 
and  I  feel  the  profoundest  sympathy  with  the  Church  and  her  institutions  in 
her  efforts  to  develop  and  prepare  our  young  men  for  the  fields  of  activity 
into  which  they  are  speedily  to  go.  I  agree  most  heartily  with  those  who 
have  taught  us  to  look  aloft  and  to  prepare  our  men  for  the  high  stations 
that  they  are  to  fill  in  the  days  to  come,  so  that  in  the  advancement  of  society 
the  ministers  in  all  departments  of  Methodism  shall  be  abreast  with  the 
refinement  and  culture  of  the  age.  I  am  not,  sir,  in  my  sympathies  with 
education  of  this  sort,  a  whit  behind  the  foremost.  I  agree  also  that  our 
culture  should  embrace  that  prodigious  factor,  the  religion  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ ;  and  I  hold  that  no  uiiin  is  educated,  in  the  highest  and  truest  sense 
of  the  word,  until  he  is  taught  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ.  But  while  I 
agree  with  all  that  has  been  said  by  the  distuiguished  men  who  have  written 
and  spoken  upon  this  subject,  I  believe,  sir,  ^that  there  is  one  branch  of 
culture,  essential  for  the  minister  and  the  layman  alike,  that  has  scarcely 
been  alluded  to.  My  experience  as  an  educator  is  that  it  is  a  very  essential 
one.  I  refer — and  I  do  it  modestly — to  physical  culture.  Depend  upon  it 
there  is  danger  lest  we  put  tuo  great  a  strain  upon  the  human  intellect,  lest 
the  body  be  dwarfed,  and  we  send  forth  weak,  debilitated  men  from  our 
halls  of  learning.  I  desire  that  the  great  masters  who  preside  over  the 
intellects  and  hearts  of  our  sons  should  look  to  this,  and  that  we  should 
have  a  care  as  to  how  much  the  physical  nature  will  bear  ;  so  that  when  our 
sous  go  out  they  may  be  fitted  for  the  circuit,  and  the  station,  and  the  pre- 
siding elder's  district,  and  be  able  priysically  to  take  their  places  shoulder  to 
shoulder  with  our  truest  and  bravc-^t  men.  I  can  recall  the  names  of  institu- 
tions to  mind  whose  alumni  I  have  seen  agaiu  and  again  shelved  in  two  years 
after  they  came  out — gone  to  the  roll  of  supernumeraries  or  put  on  the 
superannuated  list,  to  live  and  die  there.  While,  therefore,  I  advocate  most 
heartily  and  earnestly  thorough  culture  of  heart  and  head,  I  would  bring 
those  brethren,  especially,  who  preside  over  our  young  men  in  institutions  of 
learning,  to  look  well  to  their  pliysical  training.  No  man  is  well  fitted  for 
his  sphere  in  life  as  a  Christian  minister  who  has  not.  to  some  extent,  a 
robust  physical  constitution.  Why,  sir,  it  was  the  temperance,  the 
prudence,  and  the  wisdom  of  the  training  given  to  John  Wesley  by  his 
mother,  which  prepared  him  for  the  noble  sphere  he  afterwards  filled,  and 
we  shall  do  well  if  the  mothers  of  the  present  genenition,  and  the  masters 
who  teach  their  sons,  will  have  an  eye  to  the  physical  culture  and  develop- 
ment of  our  youth.      I  earnestly  desire  to  impress  this  fact  upon  every 


344  EDUCATION. 

educator  within  this  hall.  Then  our  men  will  have  robust  bodies,  able  to 
work  and  to  work  until  scores  of  years  shall  have  passed  away.  Why, 
Mr.  President,  the  distinctions  that  have  been  won,  and  the  usefulness  that 
has  been  achieved  upon  the  part  of  men,  depended  to  a  very  large  extent 
upon  their  ability  to  run  a  long  race,  and  to  carry  on  earnest  persistent 
work  year  after  year. 

Rev.  J.  Wood,  M.A.  (Primitive  Methodist) :  I  trust  we  are  proceeding 
with  due  caution  in  this  very  important  discussion.  I  take  it  that  one 
subject  runs  througli  all  the  sessions  to-day.  This  morning  we  were  con- 
sidering the  importance  of  educating  our  people,  this  afternoon  we  have 
turned  our  attention  to  the  education  of  ministers  ;  it  would  liave  been  as 
well,  perhaps,  for  the  order  to  have  been  reversed,  but  no  matter  if  we 
have  the  subjects  clearlj^  before  us.  The  daily  papers,  as  I  dare  saj^  you 
have  noticed,  are  just  beginning  to  acknowledge  our  existence,  and  in 
their  editorial  notices  it  seems  tliat  they  have  just  found  out  tliat  there  is 
a  people  called  Methodists  in  the  world,  and  they  are  very  anxious  to 
inform  us  and  inform  the  world  what  we  are.  They  have  said  we  are 
preachers,  but  that  hitherto  we  have  not  been  teachers  at  all.  It  has 
been  intimated  to-day  several  times  that  there  is  some  danger  of  losing 
a  certain  class  of  our  young  friends  tlirough  not  paying  sufficient  attention 
to  the  higher  branches  of  education.  I  should  be  sorry  to  say  one  word 
in  disparagement  of  an  educated  ministry  or  an  educated  people,  but  I 
cannot  shut  my  eyes  to  the  fact  that  there  is  some  danger  of  losing  some 
of  our  common  people.  I  know  that  there  is  no  necessary  connection 
between  education  and  the  decline  of  spiritual  life  and  evangelistic 
enterprise.  Our  founder,  John  Wesley,  was  a  man  of  scholarly  attain- 
ments, and  so  were  some  of  his  coadjutors  ;  but  we  have,  as  you  know, 
very  many  plain  people  to  minister  to,  and  we  are  not  prepared,  I  am  sure, 
to  give  up  our  country  work.  The  monuments  round  about  us  in  this 
chapel,  and  those  outside,  remind  us  all  very  forcibly  how  much  Methodism 
is  indebted  to  country  Methodist  societies,  from  which  we  have  to  get  a 
deal  of  the  bone  and  muscle,  and  not  a  little  of  the  mind  of  our  ministry. 
But  I  do  not  know  how  highly-educated  ministers  will  take  to  walking 
twenty  miles  on  a  Sunday,  and  preaching  three  times.  In  many  country- 
places  there  is  a  cultured  ministry,  the  clergy,  but  the  people  do  not  care 
to  go  to  this  ministry  ;  they  would  sooner  go  to  hear  a  plain  Methodist 
local  preacher.  There  are  many  Methodist  chapels  in  towns  at  the  present 
time  that  are  not  half  tilled.  I  was  talking  with  a  gentleman  only  last 
week,  who  told  me  of  one  that  wall  seat  2,500  people,  in  a  somewhat 
denselj'-populated  neighbourhood,  and  the  average  congregation,  exclusive 
of  the  Sunday-school,  is  about  250.  Now  I  am  sure  that  in  such  places  as 
these,  if  there  was  a  Salvation  Army  brother,  or  a  Salvation  Army  lass,  there 
would  soon  be  an  overflowing  congregation.  We  must  adapt  ourselves  to 
the  plain  people  we  have  to  deal  with,  and  I  hope  that  the  spirit  of  true 
evangelists  will  not  be  lost,  however  much  attention  we  pay  to  education. 

Kiiv.  Dr.  Cocker  (Methodist  New  Connexion):  We  shall  all  be  agreed 
that  one  of  the  main  objects  of  our  theological  schools  or  colleges  is  to 
make  our  students  or  candidates  for  the  ministry  effective  preachers.  If 
we  instruct  them  in  the  great  facts  of  Church  history,  and  in  the  sublime 
and  saving  truths  associated  with  those  facts,  and,  indeed,  founded  upon 
them — if  we  instruct  them  in  language  and  logic  and  philosophy,  one  of 
the  principal  designs  is  to  make  them  effective  preachers.  But,  sir,  they 
may  be  well  instructed  in  all  these,  and  yet  not  be  effective  preachers.  I 
have  risen  chiefly  to  say  that  some  inquiries  and  a  little  observation  have 
produced  a  conviction  in  my  mind  that  in  some  of  our  schools  for  the 
training  of  ministers,  sufficient  attention  is  not  paid  to  two  things,  two 
things  vitally,  essentially  connected  with  effective  preaching — namely,  the 


1 


GENERAL   REMARKS.  S45 

constmction  of  sermons  and  the  delivery  of  sermons.  It  is  not  enough 
that  a  young:  nian  shall  have  the  ability  to  prepare  a  good  essay  ;  however 
it  may  be  distinguished  by  logical  power  or  rhetorical  beauty,  it  cannot  be 
substituted  for  a  sermon — a  sermon  constructed  on  the  principle  of  facili- 
tating the  clear  and  quick  apprehension  of  Gospel  truth.  And  then  there 
is  something  else  ;  it  is  necessary  that  having  prepared  for  the  pulpit, 
a  young  man  should  go  and  be  able  to  deliver  what  he  has  p7e|)ared  as 
though  it  liad  gone  through  his  whole  heart  and  soul — not  to  read  a  well- 
prepared  essay  mechanically  and  monotonously,  with  as  little  animation  as 
a  statue  ;  that  is  the  tendency  of  the  practice,  whatever  exception  there 
may  be  to  it  ;  not  to  do  that,  but  to  speak  to  the  people — to  speak  truths 
which,  while  he  is  giving  utterance  to  them,  are  exerting  their  influence 
upon  his  own  heart  and  his  own  intellect  whilst  they  are  stinudating  his 
own  tongue.  I  have  looked  with  the  greatest  apprehension  upon  a  practice 
which  is  becoming  sadly  too  prevalent  in  our  churches — that  of  reading 
sermons.  I  confess  that,  unless  I  could  hear  one  of  those  men  who  can 
read  as  though  they  did  not  read — a  man,  for  instance,  like  Dr.  Chalmers 
in  the  latter  part  of  his  days,  I  would  not  go  to  hear.  I  would  stay  at 
home  ;  if  it  were  not  for  the  claims  of  Divine  worship,  I  wotdd  stay  at  liome 
and  read  a  sermon  for  myself.  I  cannot  too  strongly  deprecate  the  too 
common  practice  of  inanimate  reading  of  sermons.  I  say  that  too 
frequently  the  practice  of  reading  is  associated  with  mere  abstract  essays 
on  Christian  truth  rather  than  seimons  on  Christian  truth.  I  quite  agree 
with  our  good  brother  as  to  the  importance  of  our  Churches  having  more 
regard  than  they  have  to  the  physical  qualifications  of  our  ministers. 
Why,  sir,  we  liave  students  sent  sometimes  with  an  utter  regard lessness  of 
these  things.  I  think  there  should  be  some  regard  both  to  plij'sical 
strength  and  stature.  I  would  not  have  a  student  to  be  six  feet  four,  but 
I  would  not  have  many  preachers  of  four  feet  six.  Let  us,  if  possible, 
come  between.  When  you  consider  the  social  and  moral  influence  which 
a  minister  is  expected  to  exert,  and  the  duties  he  has  to  perform,  there 
should  be  some  regard  to  physk'al  fitness. 

Eev.  a.  HoLLiDAY  (United  Methodist  Free  Churches) :  Many  important 
subjects  have  been  under  the  consideration  of  this  Conference,  but  none,  in 
my  judgment,  has  been  of  so  much  importance  to  the  future  of  our  Methodist 
Churches  as  that  now  under  discussion.  There  is  no  paper  that  I  shall  read 
with  more  care  than  that  presented  by  Dr.  Pope  this  afternoon.  One  very 
vital  question  with  reference  to  this  matter  was  touched  upon  by  Dr.  Crooks, 
that  is,  the  selection  of  the  right  candidates  for  our  institutions.  We  want 
true  men ;  we  want  men  who  possess  the  truth,  or  rather  men  who  are 
possessed  by  the  truth.  We  have  many  good  men  who  are  not  really 
posse.'-sed  by  the  truth.  They  have  taken  hold  of  a  subject  that  they  have 
learned  from  other  people,  but  the  truths  connected  with  it  have  never 
entered  into  their  own  mental  and  moral  consciousness,  and  become  truly 
their  own.  Having  got  good  men,  they  will  want  training.  I  have  no  fear 
such  as  that  expressed  by  Mr.  Wood.  I  do  not  believe  that  our  ministry 
can  be  too  highly  educated.  I  have  no  fear  that  country  people  will 
absent  themselves  from  our  chapels,  when  we  have  well-educated  ministers 
in  the  pulpit.  The  fear  is  from  half-educated  men — men  who  use  words 
(as  Dr.  Crooks  said)  a  foot  and  a  half  long.  John  Wesley  was  a  well- 
educated  man,  yet  the  common  people  "  heard  him  gladly."  It  was  the 
same  with  John  Fletcher.  Whose  sermons  can  the  common  people 
understand  if  not  those  of  Charles  Kingsley  ?  I  say  nothing  about  his 
views.  So  with  Martin  Augustas  Hare.  Any  of  these  men  might  be 
pointed  to  as  well-educated  men  ;  yet  they  presented  the  truth  in  such 
a  way  as  to  be  understood  and  appreciated  by  the  people.  With  a  view 
to  the  training  of  our  young  men,  I  think  it  would   be  a  good  thing  if 


346  EDUCATION. 

in  coniiection  ■wdth  our  theological  schools,  we  had  mission  rooms  that  could 
be  worked  and  managed  by  the  young  men  themselves.  I  should  like  the 
young  men  to  visit  places  two  and  two,  so  as  to  become  practically  acquainted 
with  the  work  to  be  done  when  they  become  pastors  of  churches  and 
ministers  of  circuits.  I  have  a  strong  conviction  that  we  should  in  this  way 
send  out  into  our  churches  men  who  would  preach  with  more  power  than 
those  who  have  not  had  any  such  special  training  as  that  to  which  I  have 
referred.  Again,  it  would  be  well  if  we  could  train  them  for  the  wise  and 
practical  management  of  circuits.  Would  it  not  be  well  for  the  young  men 
in  our  towns  to  have  opportunities  of  seeing  how  business  is  managed  at  our 
quarterly  meetings,  and  in  our  leaders'  meetings,  so  that  when  they  go  out 
into  the  circuit  work  or  church  work  they  may  be  already  acquainted  with 
the  work  which  they  have  to  do  ?  I  believe  the  future  of  Methodism  will 
depend  upon  the  ministry,  and  if  we  only  get  the  right  class  of  men,  well 
trained,  filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  I  believe  Methodism  will  achieve 
greater  victories  in  the  future  than  she  has  done  in  the  past. 

Eev.  E.  J.  Badgeley,  B.D.,  IX.D.  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
of  Canada),  then  read  an  essay  on  The  Education  and  Special  Training 
of  Ministers  while  engaged  in  Ministerial  and  Pastoral  IFork. 

He  said  :  "  When  He  ascended  up  on  high  He  led  captivity  captive, 
and  gave  gifts  unto  men.  And  He  gave  some  apostles,  and  some 
prophets,  and  some  evangelists,  and  some  pastors  and  teachers,  for  the 
perfecting  of  the  saints,  for  the  work  of  the  ministry,  for  the  edifying 
of  the  Body  of  Christ." 

Such  is  the  Divine  economy.  On  its  philosophical  side  it  meets  all 
the  demands  of  reason,  and  in  its  practical  application  in  history  it 
gives  fullest  evidence  that  it  alone  provides  for  the  varied  wants  of 
humanity. 

Our  theme,  from  the  limitations  put  upon  it  by  preceding  essayists, 
has  to  do  with  those  ministers  who  have  been  taken  into  the  work 
without  previous  scholastic  or  theological  training.  What  shall  be 
done  for  them  in  the  way  of  education  that  they  themselves  may  be 
benefited,  and  thus  become  more  useful  to  those  to  whom  they  are  sent 
to  minister  ? 

In  the  rough  school  of  experience  the  Methodist  fathers  found 
opportunity  for  developing  superior  pulpit  jjower,  were  wondrously 
successful  in  leading  souls  to  Christ,  and  produced  a  literature  that 
takes  rank  with  the  ablest  productions  of  modern  times.  The  best 
place  to  learn  to  swim  is  in  the  water,  and  the  best  place  to  learn  to 
preach  is  in  the  pulpit.  No  text-book  can  be  made  a  successful  substi- 
tute for  experience.  To  be  educated  in  the  ministry  is  the  best  pre- 
paration for  the  ministry.  You  begin  with  a  probationer,  then,  much 
as  the  parent  begins  with  the  child.  The  training  is  under  your  own 
control.  The  candidate  is  as  clay  in  the  hands  of  the  potter.  There 
are  no  preconceived  theories  to  uproot,  A  mind  less  subject  to  the 
guiding  hand  of  Providence  than  John  Wesley,  with  his  Church  preju- 
dices, would  have  permitted  the  masses  to  sleep  on  in  their  dream  of 


EEV.   E.   J.   BADGELEY'S   ADDRESS.  S47 

security,  •uitliout  awakening  their  slumbering  consciences,  and  pouring 
the  full  tide  of  religious  life  and  power  ux)on  the  peoi>le  dead  in  tres- 
passes and  sins. 

There  is  an  absolute  necessity  for  training  preachers  upon  the  field. 
History  has  already  verified  that  it  is  utterly  impossible  for  colleges, 
literary  or  theological,  or  both,  to  make  provision  for  the  spiritual 
wants  of  humanity.  Untrained  workers  are  of  necessity  pushed  into 
the  pulpit.  Such  helpers,  both  lay  and  clerical,  have  been  the  pioneers 
ia  Methodism  everywhere.  These  earnest  John  Baptists  have  heralded 
the  coming  of  more  cultured,  but  not  grander,  men.  And  yet  it  must 
not  be  presumed  that  these  men  are  not  great  because  not  classically 
or  theologically  trained.  Many  of  them  are  nature's  noblemen,  while 
a  collegiate  education  is  too  often  necessary  to  supplement  natural 
weakness  in  the  vain  hope  of  making  its  possessor  great,  or  even 
medium.  Education  may  be  of  equal  value  whether  obtained  in  the 
schools  or  on  the  field,  with  the  advantage  to  the  latter,  however,  that 
like  David's  armour  it  has  been  tried,  and  its  possessor  knows  tho- 
roughly how  to  use  it.  These  men  are  not  needed  as  authors  in  science, 
in  history,  in  art,  or  in  theology.  They  are  needed  in  the  work  of 
saving  souls.  Let  the  evolutionist  search  for  the  origin  of  life  in  the 
slime  of  ancient  seas,  or  in  the  primeval  star -dust  that  flicked  the 
heavens  of  the  long  ago,  it  is  for  an  earnest  Christian  ministry  to 
labour  to  destroy  moral  and  spiritual  death.  "  Getting  knowledge  is 
good,  saving  souls  is  better."  School  life  too  often  develops  the  intel- 
lectual powers  at  the  sacrifice  of  the  affections,  and  we  thus  lose  our 
strongest  hold  upon  the  masses  who  especially  need  our  services. 
Both  mind  and  heart  are  afforded  joint  opportunity  for  develojjmeut 
in  active  pulpit  labour. 

These  remarks  must  not  be  taken  as  disparaging  either  collegiate  or 
theological  training  in  either  State  or  denominational  schools. 

The  broadest  and  most  thorough  education  for  the  pulpit  that  it  is 
possible  to  attain  has  our  most  earnest  sympathy  and  endorsement. 
Methodism  has,  and  continues  to  receive,  probationers  who  are  not 
trained  in  either  arts  or  theology  ;  and  the  simple  question  is,  What  is 
the  best  way  to  provide  instruction  for  them  while  continuing  in  active 
pulpit  labour  ? 

The  Gospel  minister's  work  is  eminently  practical.  It  is  not  too 
early  or  too  late  to  repeat  the  words  of  our  common  founder  : — "  You 
have  nothing  else  to  do  but  to  save  souls.  It  is  not  your  business  only 
to  preach  so  many  times,  and  to  take  care  of  this  or  that  society,  but 
to  save  as  many  as  you  can,  to  bring  as  many  sinners  as  you  can  to 
repentance,  and  with  all  your  i^owers  to  build  them  up  in  holiness." 
This  is  our  work.  It  is  a  mistake  to  suppose  that  the  peoplo  are 
interested  in  the  discussion  of  scientific  and  speculative  truth.  They 
want  to  be  told  of  theu*  sins,  to  be  directed  to  the  cross.  Tb.cir  hearts 
need  to  be  warmed  by  the  fires  burning  in  our  own  souls.     Their  dead 


348  EDUCATION. 

consciences  need  to  be  roused.  For  thisvery  reason  many  an  earnest 
local  preacher  or  exhorter  is  more  acceptable  to  the  masses,  and  much 
more  successful  in  winning  souls,  than  your  learned  and  polished 
college  professor.  Let  an  earnest  Methodist  ministry  preach  the  great 
truths  of  the  Gospel,  truths  that  the  keenest  philosophical  analysis 
cannot  fathom,  but  omnipotent  to  heal  man's  spiritual  disease,  which 
the  most  laborious  investigation  of  the  laboratory  cannot  remedy. 

I.  This  brings  us  to  the  nature  and  kind  of  study  that  should 
especially  engage  the  Christian  ministry  as  before  us  in  our  theme. 

1.  Out  of  the  abundance  of  the  heart  and  head  the  mouth  speaketh. 
The  literary  atmosphere  should  be  that  which  will  best  mould  the 
heart  and  mind  in  sympathy  with  the  worker  and  his  work.  Let  the 
Bible  first  of  all  be  the  minister's  text-book.  Let  its  inspired  truths 
burn  their  way  into  his  own  soul.  Let  the  earnest  zeal  of  Elijah,  the 
prophet  of  fire,  be  joined  with  the  great  cardinal  doctrines  of  the 
Atonement  as  presented  in  the  evangelical  utterances  of  the  royal  pro- 
phet, Isaiah.  Let  the  mental  anguish  and  the  great  burden  of  soul 
that  wrought  so  intensely  in  Job  and  found  their  solution  in  deepest 
humiliation  and  prayer  find,  if  need  be,  a  repetition  in  the  preacher's 
own  history.  Let  the  life  of  the  Immaculate  One  be  his  polar  star. 
Let  his  missionary  tapers  be  lighted  by  the  blazing  fires  of  the  Apostle 
to  the  Gentiles.  Let  him  stand  with  the  Revelator  upon  the  rocky, 
rugged  Patmos  of  his  own  weakness  and  impotency,  amid  the  surging 
tide  of  political  ambition,  and  the  crashing  billows  of  an  angry  sea,  and 
catch  the  inspiration  that  comes  from  the  glory  of  the  upper  sanctuary, 
and  the  Almightiness  of  God.  In  the  variegated  hues  of  the  bow  of 
peace  that  arches  the  crystal  throne,  let  him  read  the  blessed  utter- 
ances:  "I  am  Alpha  and  Omega,  the  beginning  and  the  end,  the  first 
and  the  last,"  and  "  Lo  I  am  with  you  alway,  even  unto  the  end  of  the 
world." 

2.  No  historical  periods  in  the  Christian  Church  afford  better  oppor- 
tunity for  learning  the  true  secret  of  ministerial  success  than  those  that 
record  the  great  revivals  of  Christian  life  and  power.  The  Reforma- 
tion under  Luther  and  its  grand  results  reveal  all  the  spirit  of  the 
heroic  age.  No  student  of  religious  history  can  afford  to  lose  the  in- 
vigorating influence  that  comes  from  those  noble  men  who  made  the 
claims  of  conscience  stronger  than  the  chains  of  Popery  ;  and  wh  o 
among  the  peasantry  of  Germany  planted  and  nourished  an  Evan- 
gelical Christianity  such  as  the  Church  had  not  known  among  the  eccle- 
siastical dignitaries  of  the  Vatican,  and  amid  the  chiselled  splendours 
of  Rome. 

3.  When  Rationalism  and  Scepticism  had  made  their  deatlily  inroads 
into  Germany,  and  Deism  and  Infidelity  had  taken  fast  hold  of  England 
and  the  Established  Church,  that  marvellous  man  of  God,  John 
Wesley,  was  raised  uj^  by  the  Almighty  to  turn  many  from  darkness  to 
light,  and  from  the  power  of  Satan  unto  God.   His  unparalleled  Journal 


EEV.    E     J.   BADGELEY'S   ADDRESS.  349 

should  be  studied  by  every  candidate  for  the  Methodist  ministry.  The 
spu'it  and  activity  that  characterised  his  life  should,  as  far  as  i)0ssible, 
be  incorporated  into  that  of  every  man  called  to  preach  the  same 
precious  faith.  We  are  drifting  too  much  from  the  lines  of  thought 
and  action  that  made  the  fathers  of  Methodism  mighty  men  for  truth 
and  God.  Let  the  schools  take  care  of  science  and  philosophy.  It  is 
for  us  to  win  souls  to  Christ.  Oh,  for  a  mighty  revival  of  the  spirit  of 
our  fathers  I  "We  should  know  more  of  Methodist  biography.  We  can 
gather  a  thousandfold  more  inspiration  from  the  realised  history  of  a 
noble  life,  than  can  be  had  from  the  most  perfect  ideal  ever  limned  by 
human  reason.  It  is  God  in  the  manifestations  of  Himself  in  Christ, 
rather  than  the  God  of  the  schools,  that  commands  our  homage  and 
wins  our  love.  *'  As  often  as  the  spiritual  heart  in  man  wakes  up,  and 
cries  out  for  more  vital  nutriment  than  either  the  market  or  the  schools 
afford,  it  is  to  historical  Christianity  and  its  hidden  power  that  they 
return  "  (Principal  Shairp). 

4.  In  addition,  let  the  ministerial  athlete  wrestle  with  the  great 
problems  of  human  existence  and  destiny,  where  all  his  mental  acqui- 
sitions will  be  required  in  the  conflict ;  strengthen  the  intellectual 
muscles  by  the  heaviest  jjossible  exercise. 

Let  the  Divine  existence,  redemption  in  Christ,  the  freedom  of  the 
will,  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  the  eternal  punishment  of  the  lost, 
and  the  everlasting  bliss  of  the  righteous  dead,  engage  his  thought, 
and  there  will  be  but  little  left  of  this  short  life  in  which  to  indulge  in 
further  research,  no  ground  to  complain  of  the  barrenness  of  the  field 
open  for  investigation,  and  but  few  Alpine  summits  covered  with  trans- 
figuration glory  that  the  minister  of  the  New  Testament  has  not  yet 
been  permitted  to  explore. 

II.  How  shall  this  literary  training  on  the  field  be  accomplished 
most  successfully  ? 

1.  It  would  be  easy  to  draw  up  some  scheme  plausible  in  theory  but 
wholly  impracticable  in  application.  What  we  want  is  the  least 
possible  machinery  with  the  best  possible  results.  When  the  Saviour 
sent  out  His  disciples  they  went  forth  two  and  two.  This  would 
provide  each  with  a  companion  to  cheer  him,  and  a  counsellor  to 
supiilement  his  weakness.  Restless  and  fickle  Peter  needed  the 
trusting  lieart  and  unyielding  faith  of  John.  Paul  is  supplemented 
by  Timothy.  The  fiery  zeal  of  Luther  was  leavened  by  the  mild  and 
heavenly  sweetness  of  Melancthon.  The  clear  and  logical  preacher 
needs  to  be  followed  by  an  earnest  exhorter  to  shake  the  dry  bones 
and  breathe  into  them  the  breath  of  life. 

We  believe  Methodism  has  made  very  grave  mistakes  in  departing 
so  widely  from  the  plan  adoi)ted  by  Christ,  and  which  hkewise  charac- 
terised its  own  earlier  history.  The  elder  and  more  experienced  can 
thus  become  instructors  to  younger  brethren.  They  especially  need 
Buch  help  if  deprived  of  collegiate  or  theological  training.    A  pastor 


50  EDUCATION. 


who  lias  made  himself  a  success  by  following  some  systematic  plan  is 
the  one  best  qualified  to  act  as  guide  to  another.  The  Presiding  Elders 
or  Chairmsu  of  Districts  ought  to  hold  themselves  responsible  for 
oversight  in  directing  the  literary  pursuits  of  younger  men  under  their 
care.  If  need  be,  let  monthly  or  quarterly  examinations  by  written 
questions  and  answers  be  held.  The  benefit  will  be  mutual.  Many  a 
district  superintendent  would  be  profited  by  a  text-book  drill,  in  order 
to  be  able  to  answer  his  own  questions.  The  late  Bishop  Jones,  in 
many  respects  one  of  the  ablest  men  American  Methodism  has  pro- 
duced among  her  many  gifted  sons,  owed  his  influence  and  position  to 
the  oversight  of  a  judicious  presiding  elder  as  much,  perhaps,  as  to 
any  one  cause.  Let  district  superintendents  assume  the  responsi- 
bilities discharged  by  their  predecessors  of  fifty  years  ago,  and  at 
every  round  question  closely  upon  the  last  quarter's  reading,  and  give 
directions  concerning  the  course  for  the  next  quarter.  In  this  way  we 
believe  both  ministry  and  superintendency  would  be  greatly  increased 
in  efficiency  and  usefulness. 

2.  Eead  only  the  best  books.  Get  those  that  have  successfully  sur- 
vived the  influences  of  time,  and  of  those  reviewers  who  find  it  easier 
to  criticise  a  book  than  to  make  one.  Says  Professor  Blackie  :  "  Stick 
to  the  great  books,  the  original  books,  the  fountain-heads  of  great 
ideas  and  noble  passions,  and  you  will  learn  joyfully  to  dispense  with 
the  volumes  of  accessory  talk  by  which  their  virtue  has  been  as  fre- 
quently obscured  as  illuminated."  The  celebrated  Immanuel  Kant, 
whose  thoughts  yet  stir  the  world,  had  but  about  four  hundred  volumes 
in  his  library,  and  never  travelled  thirty  miles  beyond  his  birthplace. 
It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  say  that  he  was  not  a  Methodist  preacher. 
That  modern  curse,  the  *'  Dime  Novel,"  did  not  reach  him. 

3.  Eead  systematically.  "  Eeading,  in  the  case  of  mere  miscellaneous 
readers,  is  like  the  racing  of  some  little  dog  about  the  moor,  snuffing 
everything  and  catching  nothing"  (Blackie). 

4.  Inexperienced  men  do  not  know  what  to  read.  It  needs  as  much 
judgment  in  buying  books  as  in  dealing  on  the  Stock  Exchange.  It 
is  wholly  natural  to  believe  that  everything  we  see  in  newspapers  is 
true,  until  we  learn  that  even  editors  are  not  infallible.  There  is  a  still 
stronger  tendency  to  have  implicit  confidence  in  the  deliberate  utter- 
ances of  the  printed  volume.  Students  in  their  junior  years  are  always 
surprised  when  the  Professor  takes  exceptions  to  the  doctrines  taught 
in  the  text-book.  Too  much  help  cannot  be  given  in  assisting  a  young 
brother  to  furnish  his  library.  The  first  year  I  went  out  under  the 
presiding  elder  I  subscribed  for  the  Methodist  Quarterly  Review.  I 
bought  no  books  except  those  most  strongly  recommended  by  its  able 
editor,  Rev.  Dr.  Whedon.  As  a  result,  I  have  no  books  to  part  with, 
either  by  private  sale  or  by  public  auction.  Saying  nothing  about  the 
contributed  articles,  the  Quarterly  Book  Table  alone  is  worth  ten 
times  the  cost  of  the  Review  as  a  guide  in  furnishing  a  library.     The 


EEV.   E.   J.   BADGELEY's   ADDRESS.  351 

Eoman  Chnrcli  has  an  Index  Lihrorum  rrohibitorum,  a  "  Thou  slialL 
not."  Methodism  ought  in  the  hest  manner  possible  to  assist  in  this 
resj)ect  young  men  in  training  upon  the  Held  and  without  the  help  of 
an  experienced  instructor. 

5.  Let  the  elder  brethren  by  their  own  industry  excite  the  younger 
to  intellectual  activity.  The  influence  of  an  enthusiastic  worker  is 
wonderfully  contagious.  No  boj?^  can  walk  the  streets  of  London,  or  visit 
St.  Paul's,  or  Westminster  Abbey,  and  witness  England's  recognition  of 
her  great  men,  and  not  feel  an  inspiration  to  imitate  their  greatness. 
Spirits  of  the  noble  dead,  wdiose  memory  is  but  feebly  perpetuated  in 
the  marble  tablets  upon  these  hallowed  walls,  let  your  mantle  fall 
upon  your  sons  and  successors  in  the  Gospel  1 

We  have  no  great  favour  for  ministerial  associations  for  intel- 
lectual improvement.  Methodism  does  not  need  to  create  any  new 
machinery.  What  we  do  need  is  a  revival  of  the  spirit  and  practice  of 
our  fathers. 

III.  In  this  we  are  confirmed  by  the  facts  of  history. 

1.  There  was  but  one  University  graduate  in  the  College  of  the 
Apostles,  and  he  was  born  out  of  due  time.  Multitudes  of  churches 
were  founded  in  the  apostolic  age,  whose  origin  may  best  be  accounted 
for  by  supposing  that  they  were  established  by  some  of  the  apostles 
whose  names  are  never  mentioned  in  the  Sacred  Narrative  after  the 
Pentecostal  baptism.  St.  Paul  was  fortunate  in  having  an  amanuensis 
and  chronicler. 

2.  The  great  names  in  Methodist  history  were  almost  invariably  self- 
educated.  During  the  first  half  of  the  present  century,  Clark,  Watson. 
Bunting,  and  Newton,  represent  English  Methodism  in  scholarship, 
theology,  legislative  ability,  and  pulpit  power.  While  on  the  battle 
field  these  devoted  men  found  opportunity  to  qualify  themselves  for 
the  commanding  influence  they  exerted  while  living,  and  who  being 
dead  yet  si^eak. 

3.  In  America,  where  ^Methodism  has  reaped  numerically  its  largest 
results,  the  first  half-century  of  its  history  presents  some  of  its 
grandest  triumphs.  In  her  roll  of  great  names,  not  a  University 
graduate  api^ears  for  about  forty  years. 

And  what  shall  I  say  more  ?  For  the  time  would  fail  me  to  tell  of 
Asbury  and  Whatcoat,  of  Lee  and  Mclvindree,  of  Roberts  and  of 
George,  of  Pickering  also,  and  Garretson  and  Bangs,  of  Soule  and 
Bascom,  of  Cartwright  and  Hidding,  and  of  the  entire  ninety  of  the 
first  delegated  General  Conference  in  1812,  in  the  "  old  John  Street 
Church,"  the  "City  Road  Chapel"  of  American  Methodism,  and  in 
New  York  City,  the  London  of  the  New  Woidd. 

Trusting  in  God,  and  in  the  infinite  capabilities  conferred  upon  them 
through  faith  in  the  Divine  promises,  "  they  subdued  kingdoms, 
■wrought  righteousness,  obtained  promises,  out  of  weakness  were  made 
strong,  turned  to  flight  the  armies  of  the  aliens." 


352  EDUCATION. 

Let  no  Metliodist  minister  be  discouragecl  because  he  may  have 
failed  to  enjoy  the  inestimable  advantages  of  scholastic  training  either 
in  arts  or  theology.  He  is  in  good  company.  Only  let  them 
prove  themselves  worthy  of  companionship  with  those  who  to-day 
enjoy  perennial  bliss  in  the  palace  of  their  Iving  and  God,  and  who 
wait  the  jubilee  of  Methodism  and  of  the  world,  "  when  the  kingdoms 
shall  be  given  to  His  Son  for  an  inheritance,  and  the  uttermost  parts 
of  the  earth  for  a  possession." 

"  Wherefore,  seeing  we  also  are  compassed  about  with  so  great  a 
cloiid  of  witnesses,  let  us  lay  aside  everj^  weight,  and  the  sin  which 
doth  so  easily  beset  us,  and  let  us  run  with  patience  the  race  that  is 
set  before  us." 

Eev.  J.  Dymond  (Bible  Christian  Church  of  Great  Britain),  in  deli- 
vering the  invited  address,  said  :  The  topic  on  which  I  have  to  address 
the  Conference  is  the  education  and  sjpecial  training  of  ministers 
while  engaged  in  ministerial  and  pastoral  work.  The  to]3ic,  therefore, 
recognises  the  ministry  to  be  a  work  ;  and  of  course  ministers  are 
workmen.  So  taught  Jesus  Christ,  for  He  said,  •'  The  workman  is 
worthy  of  his  meat."  So  taught  the  apostle  Paul,  for  he  said,  "  Study 
to  show  thyself  approved  unto  God,  a  workman  that  needeth  not  to  be 
ashamed,  rightly  dividing  the  Word  of  Truth."  Christ  said  He 
would  make  His  disciples,  or  His  apostles,  "  fishers  of  men."  The 
fixst  thing  to  be  done  for  men  by  ministers  is  to  bring  them  under 
Gospel  influence.  Ministers  are  also  said  to  be  leaders  of  the  flock ; 
they  are  shepherds  ;  hence- the  Master  says,  "  Feed  My  sheep."  The 
influence  that  ministers  exert  ujion  men  after  they  come  under  their 
influence  should  not  be  for  their  own  personal  aggrandisement,  but  for 
the  benefit  of  those  who  thus  are  won.  Again,  ministers  are  builders, 
master-builders,  vsdse  master-builders.  Men  must  be  dealt  with  not 
simply  as  units,  but  they  must  be  organised.  "  He  gave  some  apostles, 
some  prophets,  some  pastors  and  teachers,  for  the  perfecting  of  the 
saints,  for  the  work  of  the  ministry,  for  the  edifying  of  the  Body  of 
Christ."  Ministers  are  soldiers ;  they  ought  to  war  a  good  warfare, 
to  fight  the  good  fight  of  faith,  to  lead  on  those  who  are  saved,  to 
organise  a  holy  war  against  the  kingdom  of  darkness.  The  work  is 
manifold  and  complex.  According  to  the  wisdom  of  this  world,  in 
order  for  a  man  to  be  a  good  fisherman,  a  good  shepherd,  a  good 
builder,  a  good  soldier,  he  must  give  himself  to  one  of  these  things, 
and  to  one  only ;  but  a  minister  must  be  ail  these  and  excel  in 
each.  A  workman  must  be  competent,  or  else  the  work  will  not  be 
properly  done — perhaps  not  done  at  all ;  the  great  objects  of  the 
work  will  not  be  realised,  souls  will  not  be  saved,  the  Church  will 
not  be  edified.  It  is  not  every  man  who  can  acquire  competency 
in  the  work  of  the  ministry.  The  first  requisite,  as  has  been 
already  said,  is  the  right  man.     It  does  not  matter  how  much  you 


REV.  J.  dymond's  address.  353 

educate  the  wrong  man,  yon  can  never  make  him  the  right  man. 
Defective  education  in  a  right  naan,  though  a  thing  to  be  regretted, 
will  not  spoil  altogether  the  service  of  the  right  man.  The  right  man 
is  the  right  man;  the  wrong  man  is  the  wrong  man.  Bring  to  beai 
upon  the  wrong  man  all  the  educational  appliances  of  Christendom, 
and  you  will  never  make  him  the  right  man.  There  are  unsuccessful 
ministers  in  the  work :  some  of  these  are  educated,  and  some  of  them 
are  uneducated.  The  former  are  unsuccessful,  not  because  they  are 
not  educated,  but  because  in  each  case  they  are  the  wrong  men.  We 
must  have  men  whose  proper  work  is  the  ministry — that  is  the  first 
reqTiisite.  But  even  with  regard  to  the  right  man  competency  does 
not  come  spontaneously ;  it  must  be  acquired.  Three  things  are 
requisite :  nature,  grace,  and  culture  are  the  trinity  that  should  serve 
at  the  shrine  of  the  adorable  Trinity.  In  the  case  of  the  man  whose 
proper  work  the  ministry  is,  nature  and  grace  combine  to  render  him 
a  fit  instrument  in  the  service  of  the  Lord.  The  third  requisite  is  due 
cultivation  of  the  man's  faculties,  an  educational  preparation  for-  the 
work.  There  must,  therefore,  be  education  and  special  training.  The 
Christian  man  may  be  asked,  "  Can  this  preijaration  be  acquired  in 
the  work  itself?  "  I  do  not  want  to  say  a  single  word  of  disparagement 
of  education  in  schools  and  colleges.  Would  that  the  Church  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  were  sufficiently  rich  in  these  institutions,  and  in  what 
is  necessary  besides,  to  put  every  man  through  such  a  course  !  But  I 
think  the  question  can  be  answered  in  the  affirmative — yes.  In  the  first 
place  it  has  been  done.  There  are  honoured  brethren  here,  and  there 
are  honoured  brethren  in  every  denomination,  undoubtedly,  who  have 
been  eminent  as  servants  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  as  ministers  of  the 
Gospel,  who  have  had  no  special  education,  no  special  training  for  their 
work,  besides  that  which  they  have  given  themselves  in  their  work. 
I  could  point  to  many  in  my  own  denomination.  I  will  only  mention  one 
— an  honoured  name,  not  largely  known  here,  but  known  to  thousands 
— I  daresay  held  in  precious  memory  by  a  hundred  thousand  people  at 
this  very  day.  I  may  call  him  the  Devonshire  Evangelist,  a  man  who 
did  a  gi'eat  deal  more  towards  the  evangelisation  of  his  own  county 
than  any  other  man  who  ever  lived,  especially  in  the  northern  part  of 
that  county.  I  refer  to  the  venerable  James  Thome.  There  were  a 
great  many  others ;  they  knew  how  to  do  their  work,  they  acquired 
knowledge  and  acquired  special  fitness  for  their  work,  but  they  were 
the  right  men — men  to  whose  qualification  both  nature  and  grace  very 
largely  contributed.  Then,  in  the  next  place,  I  think  there  are  ad- 
vantages also.  The  best  preparation  for  work  is  the  work  itself,  and. 
a  man  directly  engaged  in  the  work  of  the  ministry  is  not  liable  to 
those  temptations  that  a  man  in  a  scliool  or  a  college  is  exposed  to. 
He  is  not,  for  instance,  exposed — at  least,  not  so  much — to  the  tempta- 
tion of  educating  his  intellectual  faculties  to  the  neglect  of  bis  moral 
and  spiritual.     He  is  not  so  likely  to  have  an  extinguisher  put  upon 

A  A 


35-i  EDUCATION. 

the  fire  of  his  soul.  It  is  possible  for  a  man  to  go  into  college  -with 
very  much  more  fire  than  he  brings  out  of  it.  Then,  again,  I  think  it 
tends  to  throw  a  man  upon  his  own  resources,  and  also  upon  the  power 
of  God.  It  tends  to  bring  out  what  is  really  in  the  man.  These,  I 
think,  are  some  advantages.  I  know  there  are  disadvantages.  I  know 
there  are  very  great  advantages  on  the  other  side  ;  but  wliat  I  contend 
for  is  this  :  that  in  the  case  of  a  right  man,  if  he  cannot  obtain 
education  in  a  college  before  he  goes  into  the  work,  that  need  not 
be  a  deterrent  to  his  engaging  in  the  work.  Let  him  go  forward, 
putting  his  trust  in  God,  making  a  proper  use  of  time  and  oppor- 
tunities, and  he  will  become  a  successful  minister  of  our  Lord  and 
Saviour  Jesus  Christ.  How  is  this  to  be  done  ?  That  has  been  indi- 
cated to  some  extent  by  the  paper  which  has  been  read.  In  the  first 
place,  the  man  must  do  it  himself.  If  a  man  is  put  into  a  college  he 
must  educate  himself.  If  he  does  not  learn  it  does  not  matter  what 
may  be  his  surroundings ;  the  learning  does  not  go  into  him.  It  is  so  if 
a  man  is  actually  on  the  field.  Still,  a  man  may  receive  a  great  deal  of 
help  and  stimulus  from  his  senior  brethren.  I  would  be  careful,  in  the 
first  place,  to  see  that  every  brother  who  goes  into  the  ministry  has  a 
sufficiency  of  general  education.  I  think  there  should  be  a  certain 
standard  which  every  man  should  pass  as  to  general  education  before 
you  give  him  anything  like  a  special  education  and  training  for  his 
work.  In  the  next  place,  I  would  say  that  any  man  who  comes  into 
the  ministry  should  be  taught  precisely  the  same  things  as  are  taught 
in  colleges.  The  curriculum  given  by  Dr.  Pojie,  I  think,  is  admirable 
both  for  a  man  in  and  a  man  out  of  college.  A  man  that  does  not  go 
to  college  should  have  to  go  through  the  same  kind  of  curriculum  out 
of  it,  and  of  course  that  should  be  done  under  strict  supervision. 
Whilst  a  man  is  on  probation,  what  is  he  but  at  college  ?  He  is  being 
qualified  for  his  work.  Let  there  be,  I  do  not  say  quarterly,  but 
annual  examinations,  and  see  to  it  that  the  young  man  makes  a  certain 
number  of  marks  ;  if  he  does  not,  do  not  allow  him  to  pass  until  next 
year ;  and  take  care  that  no  youug  man  is  received  into  full  connexion 
until  he  has  attained  a  proper  standard  of  education. 

Rev.  Dr.  C.  H.  Payne  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church)  :  Our  friend  Mr. 
Arthur  said  well  this  morning  that  the  most  important  thing  to  do  in  regard 
to  a  special  work  was  to  get  the  right  man  into  it.  The  remark  was  very 
true,  and  may  be  broadened.  The  most  essential  thing  to  be  done  in 
regard  to  the  Christian  ministry  is  to  get  the  right  man  into  the  ministry. 
If  we  could  get  into  every  pulpit  in  Christendom  to-day  a  man  of  the 
highest  qualities,  of  the  greatest  fitness  for  his  work,  the  world's  conver- 
sion would  be  speedily  an  accomplished  fact.  I  think  we  ought  in  this 
Conference  to  enipliasise  the  fact  that  men  need  as  a  preparation  for  the 
work  of  the  ministry  the  liighest  possible  culture.  It  is  too  late  in  the 
day  to  utter  a  word  of  disparagement  against  preparation  for  the  grave 
work  of  the  Christian  ministry.  The  demands  of  this  age  are  different 
from  the  demands  of  previous  ages  ;  and  when  a  young  man  comes 
forward  to-day  professing  to  be  called  to  preach  the  Gospel,  and  pleads  the 


GENERAL    REMARKS.  S55 

example  of  the  fathers  as  a  reason  whj^  he  should  rash  out  into  the  work 
without  any  preparation,  it  seems  to  me  that  it  is  enoug'h  to  make  those 
old  heroes  start  from  their  graves  to  hear  such  an  excuse.  The  fact  is 
that,  notwithstandino;  all  the  allusions  made  to  these  worthy  men  doing  so 
grand  a  work  without  scliolastic  training,  they  were  not  so  destitute  of 
education  as  we  might  suppose.  They  were  heroes  after  their  sort,  and  if 
they  lived  to-day  I  am  quite  sure  almost  every  one  of  them  would  seek 
the  advantages  of  a  first-eJass  education,  and  none  of  our  young  candidates 
for  the  ministry  who  neglect  ample  pr  'paration  would  get  any  encou  age- 
ment  from  the  fathers  whom  they  sometimes  point  to.  But  we  must  also 
emphasise  the  fact  that  combined  with  th:^  highest  intellectual  attainments 
there  must  be  the  deepest  piety,  the  greiite-it  Christ-likeness  ;  and  this  is  a 
thing  that  we  should  especially  guard  in  all  our  schools.  To  substitute 
culture  for  consecration,  Latin  and  Greek  for  tlie  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
will  make  the  poorest  kind  of  minister.  But  there  is  no  need  of  any  such 
substitution  :  we  can  combine  the  two,  and  our  illustrious  founder,  Mr. 
Wesley,  gives  us  a  splendid  illustration  of  the  combination.  We  want 
schools  of  learning  that  are  centres  of  great  spiritual  life  and  power.  We 
want  our  young  men  educated  also,  whether  in  the  schools  or  outside,  to  do 
the  hardest  and  most  heroic  work.  I  do  not  think  we  have  any  place  on 
our  side  of  the  water,  and  I  do  not  believe  you  have  on  yours,  for  kid- 
gloved,  rose-water  young  men  in  the  ministry.  Where  a  man  comes  and 
asks  for  the  best  places  and  the  highest  pay,  there  is  somethmg  wrong  in 
his  education.  VVe  need  a  little  more  of  the  heroic  spirit  of  the  fathers 
thrown  into  our  young  men  as  well  as  our  older  men  of  to-day,  and  it  will 
do  us  great  good  if  we  can  get  it  in  our  institutions  of  learning.  I  want 
to  add  emphasis  to  what  has  already  been  said,  that  our  young  ministers 
should  understand  that  they  must  be  pi  e  lehers  of  the  Gospel,  preachers^ 
and  not  merely  teachers  of  science  or  philosophy;  for  it  is  by  the  "fooHsh- 
ness  of  preaching  "  that  God  is  saving  the  world  to-day,  as  He  has  done 
through  all  the  Christian  centuries.  Preachers,  and  not  simple  readers  of 
essays.  It  is  enough  to  make  one's  heart  sick  to  see  a  man  go  into  a  pulpit 
and  read  a  manuscript  which  is  nothing  but  an  essay  on  modern  nonsense, 
strikinglj^  illustrated  by  his  own  performance.  We  want  men  who  will 
preach,  not  read — who  will  preach  the  truths  of  Christ,  not  the  unsatisfying 
philosophies  of  men.  When  travelling  in  my  own  country  some  time 
since,  I  remember  sitting  down  to  a  meal  where  there  was  no  bread  on  the 
table,  nor  anything  else  that  a  Christian  man  ought  to  eat ;  but  to  atone 
for  the  lack  of  substantial  food  there  were  ten  kinds  of  preserve.  Now, 
that  is  the  kind  of  pabulum  that  our  young  ministers  will  often  be  tempted 
to  give  to  the  people.  No,  friends  ;  we  want  bread,  not  preserve.  The 
world  is  hungry  for  it,  and  I  want  all  our  young  ministers  to  be  prepared 
to  give  the  world  the  bread  of  life.  We  have  nothing  to  fear  from  the 
highest  culture,  for  from  the  beginning,  from  the  days  of  .John  W(?sley  to 
our  own  time,  the  young  men  that  have  come  out  from  our  schools  with 
the  highest  culture  have  usually  been  the  most  devoted  and  the  most 
successful. 

llfiv.  J.  Wenn  (Primitive  Methodist)  :  I  wish  to  say,  Mr.  President,  that 
I  liave  held  the  somewhat  onerous  and  yet  honncra  'Ic  position  of  secretary 
to  the  Probationers'  Examining  Coumiittee  of  our  Connexion  for  the  last 
ten  years,  and  I  wanted  just  to  give  one  or  two  facts,  if  I  could,  respecting 
the  examinations.  In  the  first  place,  we  liavc  not  always  found  that  the 
probationers  who  obtained  the  highest  number  of  marks  were  the  most 
successful  in  the  ministry,  but  I  tlxink  that  we  shall  not  do  right  if  we 
come  to  the  conclusion  from  this  fact  that  education  is  chargeable  with 
that,  for,  as  it  has  been  stated  again  and  again  to-day,  we  not  only  need 
education,  but  we  need  grace.      And  then  there    is   another  thing,  Mr. 

A  A  2 


856  EDUCATION. 

President.  We  have  found  too  great  a  disposition  on  the  part  of  some  of 
our  probationers  to  cease  from  studious  habits  as  soon  as  tlieir  probation 
was  over.  Now,  I  take  it,  that  no  man  who  withdraws  his  neck  from  the 
collar  of  study  as  soon  as  his  probation  has  ended,  will  make  much  of  a 
minister  in  these  times.  I  believe  that  every  minister  should  be  a  lifelong 
student.  The  age  demands  that  from  him  ;  and  if  a  man,  either  from 
mental  inferiority  or  mental  idleness,  refuses  to  go  on  with  the  studies  that 
he  commenced  during  his  pi'obation,  I  think  he  ought,  in  all  fairness,  to 
withdraw  from  the  ministry  altogether.  We  want,  in  this  age,  the  highest 
culture  that  we  can  get  associated  with  the  deepest  piety  we  can  obtain.  I 
would  emphasise  this  point :  thoroughly  sift  all  candidates  for  the  ministry 
ere  they  enter  upon  probation. 

•Rev.'S.  Gr.  Stone,  D.D.  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church  of  Canada),  said  :  I 
take  it,  Mr.  President,  that  the  question  under  discussion  at  the  present 
moment  deals  with  two  classes  of  men — iirst,  with  those  who  have  enjoyed 
the  privileges  of  a  university  or  theological  training  ;  because  I  think  one 
of  the  greatest  calamities  that  can  fall  upon  a  young  man  who  has  had  the 
privilege  of  a  collegiate  education,  and  a  theological  education  following  it, 
is  to  assume  that  when  he  has  received  his  degree  he  has  nothing  more  to 
learn,  and  it  is  of  this  class  of  men  that  I  think  the  Churches  have  most  to 
complain,  if  they  have  to  complain  of  failures  among  men  who  have  been 
privileged  with  such  advantages  as  colleges  and  universities  aiford.  I 
cannot  sympatliise  with  the  remark  that  has  been  -offered  this  afternoon 
that  men  who  have  enjoyed  those  privileges  are  less  willing  to  undertake 
hard  toil  and  endui-e  the  most  severe  privation  than  those  who  have  had 
inferior  advantages.  A  single  illustration  may  suffice  to  impress  this  state- 
ment upon  the  mind  of  this  Conference.  When  William  Taylor  called  for 
volunteers  for  his  South  American  Missions,  volunteers  who  were  to  depend 
upon  their  own  exertions  for  tlieir  own  support,  to  go  to  such  missions 
without  a  dollar  from  the  Missionary  treasury — when  he  called  for  sixteen 
of  such  volunteers,  every  man  that  responded  to  his  call  was  a  B.A.;  and  I 
think  that  this  illustration  sufficiently  vindicates  the  average  theological  or 
collegiate  student  from  the  charge  of  being  unwilling  to  undertake  what 
labour  the  Church  niay  be  pleased  to  impose  upon  him.  Nor  I  do  not 
think  I  am  unduly  magnifying  the  office  of  a  minister  when  I  say  that 
such  demands  are  made  upon  him  as  are  made  upon  no  mere  professions  ; 
and  that  the  education  conferred  upon  him  should  touch  every  faculty  and 
endowment  of  his  nature.  The  claims  made  upon  him  are  vastly  more 
important  than  those  made  upon  other  men.  When  I  speak  thus  of  the 
ministry,  I  do  not  speak  of  it  as  a  mere  profession  ;  I  look  upon  it  as  a 
Divine  vocation,  and  I  pity  the  man  who  sinks  the  vocation  in  the  pro- 
fession, who  becomes  a  mere  professional  preacher.  The  probability  is 
that  he  will  treat  his  congregation  to  such  discourses  as  have  been  indicated 
by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Payne — that  he  will  preach  a  great  deal  about  Plato  and 
Aristotle,  and  very  little  about  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  This  resolution, 
therefore,  has  to  do  with  a  man  who  has  enjoyed  the  privileges  I  have 
stated,  and  has  now  entered  upon  his  work  ;  and  inasmuch  as  his  education 
requires  the  development  of  every  faculty  he  possesses,  one  of  the 
most  important  is  that  he  must  understand  the  material  upon  which  he  has 
to  labour  :  he  must  understand  men  ;  and  some  of  the  most  illustrious 
failures  I  have  become  acquainted  with  in  my  life,  among  men  most  richly 
endowed  by  nature  and  opportunity,  have  been  those  who  have  failed  to 
avail  themselves  of  the  opportunity  to  know  the  men  to  whom  they 
preached.  They  have  delivered  eloquent  sermons  and  in  the  most  masterly 
style,  but  as  well  adapted  to  any  other  congregation  as  to  their  own  ;  as 
well  adapted  to  any  men  in  any  part  of  the  world  as  to  the  men  to  whom 
they  were  preaching.     On   the   other  hand,  multitudes  of  examples  are 


GENERAL  REMARKS.  857 

afforded  us  of  men  who,  without  extensive  trainins^  or  collegiate  culture, 
have  achieved  great  results.  Are  we  to  assume  that  these  men  were  more 
pious  or  more  devout  ?  I  would  not  charge  it  upon  the  men  who  have 
been  so  richly  endowed  by  the  advantages  of  education  that  they  are  less 
pious,  or  that  they  loved  their  Master  less,  or  souls  less  ;  but  the  men  who 
achieved  such  great  results  were  educated  on  a  line  to  which  too  many  pay 
little  attention,  and  upon  which  they  are  scarcely  educated  at  all.  They 
went  down  among  the  people,  became  acquainted  with  the  people,  and 
were  able  to  instruct  the  people  in  those  very  facts  that  were  vital  to  their 
salvation.  Now  I  take  it,  if  there  is  any  endowment  a  minister  needs,  and 
one  that  rises  superior  to  almost  every  other,  it  is  a  capability  for  the  most 
profound  sympathy.  I  do  not  care  what  his  intellectual  attainments  may 
be,  I  do  not  care  after  what  scholarly  manner  he  may  be  able  to  address  a 
congregation  ;  if  he  is  wanting  in  the  capability  of  profound  sympathy  for 
the  humanity  that  comes  under  his  teaching,  he  is  wanting  in  the  highest 
element  of  success  :  and  in  order  to  get  this  capability,  he  must  go  down 
among  the  people  ;  he  must  know  their  conditions  ;  he  must  know  their 
needs  and  their  temptations  ;  and  carry  into  his  pulpit,  not  only  a  heart, 
filled  with  love  for  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  but  a  heart  throbbing  for  the 
salvation  of  men,  and  in  sympathy  with  man,  like  the  heart  of  his  Master. 
Kev.  Dr.  Sutherland  (Methodist  Church  of  Canada)  said  :  I  assume 
there  is  not  a  single  member  of  this  Conference  who  has  a  single  word  to 
say  against  the  widest  and  the  highest  culture  that  the  schools  can  possibly 
give  ;  but  we  are  simply  recognising  here  the  fact  that  there  are  two  kinds 
of  education.  There  is  the  education  which  the  schools  give  to  the  man, 
and  there  is  the  education  which  the  man  gives  to  himself  ;  that  is,  there 
are  college-made  men  and  there  are  self-made  men  ;  and,  in  view  of  the 
past  history  of  IMethodism,  I  think  that  the  Methodist  Church  should  be 
prepared  to  give  about  equal  honour  to  these  two  classes  ;  for  while  the 
man  who,  under  God,  was  the  founder  of  the  Methodist  societies  was  a  man 
of  very  wide  and  high  culture,  some  of  his  mightiest  helpers  and  most 
successful  sons  in  the  Gospel  since  that  day  have  been,  in  an  important 
sense  of  the  word,  self-made  men.  Now  it  is  quite  likely  that  either 
method  has  its  dangers.  Perhaps  the  danger  of  the  school  system  ex- 
clusively is  this  :  the  turning  out  of  men  of  a  certain  uniform  pattern  that 
is  apt  to  destroy  all  individuality.  And  then,  on  the  other  hand,  with 
regard  to  what  we  terra  self-made  men,  there  is  a  danger  that  they  may 
become  one-sided  and  incomplete,  that  in  a  certain  sense — in  one  direction 
at  least — they  may  become  too  pious  ;  being  self-made  thej^  ai-e  pretty  sure 
to  worship  their  maker  :  but  if  we  can  combine  both  these  systems  in  har- 
monious proportions,  then  it  is  likely  we  shall  get  the  class  of  men  needed 
to-day  in  the  ministry  of  the  ]\Iethodist  Church  throughout  the  world.  The 
experience  of  the  past  shows  that  men  can  be  trained  in  the  ministry  so  as 
to  become  pre-eminentlj'^  successful  ministers  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
This  kind  of  training  has  developed  some  of  the  strongest  men  that  the 
various  Methodist  bodies  have  j'et  produced — men  who,  when  they  were 
set  for  the  defence  of  the  Gospel,  scldum  found  anyl'ody  able  to  stand 
before  them,  And  this  need  not  excite  surprise,  for  while  other  men  were 
pondering  theories  of  spiritual  warfare  in  college  halls  or  schools,  the 
Methodist  itinerants  were  testing  their  weapons  in  the  tented  field  amidst 
embattled  foes,  and  thus  tlu'y  learned  to  put  to  immediate  use  all  the  know- 
ledge they  hatl  gathered,  and  to  test  their  theories  in  the  crucible  of 
experience.  This  training  in  the  ministry,  however,  if  it  is  to  be  of  real 
service,  ought  to  be  preceded — and  that  fact  has  been  recognised  here  to- 
(Jiy — bj'  at  least  a  certain  aiiinnnt  of  training  in  the  schools,  so  that  the 
man  may  be  put  fairly  upon  the  highway  of  the  widest  iutellectnal  culture 
befc'Hi  he  is  called  upon  to  engage  in  the  work  at  all.     I  do  not  know  how 


858  EDUCATION. 

it  may  be  in  other  countries,  or  other  branches  of  Methodism.  I  knew  how 
it  is  in  my  own  :  we  are  beginning  to  feel  the  necessity,  nay,  have  felt  it 
for  some  time  past,  of  raising  the  standard  of  educational  requirement 
before  we  receive  probationers  for  our  ministry  at  all.  When  they  have 
this  fair  start  to  begin  with,  the  probability  is  that  they  will  carry  on  a 
system  of  self -training  after  they  have  entered  on  the  work  of  the  min'stry. 
If  I  have  time  I  want  to  say  just  these  two  things  with  regard  to  training 
in  the  ministry.  The  first  is  that  it  should  be  thorough  in  regai'd  to  the 
mastery  of  the  subjects  studied  ;  for  it  is  a  mistake  made  by  some  men 
who  have  never  been  in  a  college,  and  by  a  good  many  who  have  been, 
that  they  spread  themselves  over  such  a  number  of  subjects  that  they  never 
succeed  in  mastering  any.  They  just  get  a  smattering  of  this,  that,  and  the 
other,  which  in  the  end  amounts  to  very  little.  If  we  can  only  induce  our 
young  men  to  master  thoroughly  what  they  do  study,  a  great  and  important 
point  will  be  gained,  and  this  will  by  no  means  lessen  the  effectiveness  of 
their  preaching  in  the  meantime,  for  there  is  a  vast  amount  of  good,  sound, 
honest  Gospel  which  a  man  may  preach  to  the  edification  of  the  people, 
without  mounting  any  special  hobby,  or  dealing  with  the  mysteries  of  reve- 
lation or  the  speculations  of  philosophv.  The  necessity  of  thoroughness 
once  conceded,  let  the  culture  be  as  wide  as  time  and  opportunity  can  pos- 
sibly allow.  It  has  sometimes  been  said  that  we  are  not  very  friendly  to 
the  highest  culture.  This  is  an  entire  mistake  ;  let  our  young  men  dig 
with  the  deepest,  soar  with  the  highest,  and  expand  with  the  widest  thought 
of  the  age  ;  but  let  tliem  keep  out  of  the  mud  of  reckless  speculation  in 
which  so  many  so-called  philosophers  and  scientists  are  floundering  to- 
day. 


Eev.  a.  R.  Winfield  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South) 
handed  in  a  resolution  to  be  submitted  to  the  Business  Committee 
on  the  Temperance  Movement. 

The  Publication  Committee  brought  forward  its  report,  by  Dr. 
Walden,  and  the  following  proposals  were  sanctioned  : — 

I.  That  the  representatives  of  the  several  Methodist  publishing  houses 
in  London  accept  the  responsibility  of  securing  the  copyright  of  the 
memorial  volume  in  En.s^land  and  America,  and  of  publishing,  with  proper 
official  imprints,  a  sufficient  number  of  copies  to  meet  the  demand. 

II.  That  the  volume  be  published  on  the  plan  already  adopted  by  the 
Conference,  namely  :  It  shall  contain  such  matter  as  has-  been  already 
ordered,  with  space  for  correct  list  of  delegates,  historical  introduction,  and 
table  of  contents  :  the  copy  to  be  furnished  by  the  Conference. 

III.  That  two  sets  of  stereotyped  plates  be  prepared — one  for  England 
and  the  other  for  America,  in  order  to  meet  any  future  demand  for  the 
work. 

IV.  The  size  of  the  volume  shall  be  demy  8vo,  of  about  600  pages. 

V.  That  each  member  of  Conference  shall  receive  one  copy  at  5s.  ;  the 
public  to  be  supplied  by  the  book-rooms  at  a  retail  price  of  not  more  than 
8s.  per  copy. 

VI.  That  the  Rev.  Wm.  Arthur,  M.A.,  be  requested  to  write  the  intro- 
duction to  this  official  report  of  the  proceedings  of  the  Conference. 


GENERAL   REMARKS.  359 

VII.  That  the  Revs.  C.  D.  Ward,  D.D.,  J.  M.  Walclen,  LL.D.,  J.  B. 
McFerrin,  D.D.,  G.  S.  Rowe,  and  Mr.  R.  W.  Perks  be  appointed  to  edit 
the  volume. 

VIII.  That  the  brethren  who  furnish  essays  and  papers,  and  also  those 
who  deliver  addresses,  be  requested  to  correct,  if  necessary,  the  reports 
printed  in  the  Methodist  Recorder  (daily),  and  hand  the  same  to  one  of  the 
editors  the  day  after  such  reports  so  apjjear. 

IX.  That  the  delegates  from  each  denomination  named  in  the  Handbook 
of  this  Conference  be  responsible  for  promptly  furnishing  the  editors  with 
correct  statistics  of  their  respective  bodies. 

The  Doxology  having  been  sung  and  the  Benediction  pronounced, 
the  Session  terminated. 


EIGHTH  DAY,   Thursday,  Septemher  15th. 


President— Rev.  G.  Douglas,  LL.D.,  Methodist  Church  of  Canada. 


Subject : 

THE    USE    OF   THE    PRESS  FOR   THE   ADVANCEMENT 

OF   CHRISTIANITY. 


rpHE  CONFEEENCE  resumed  this  morning  at  Ten  o'clock,  under 
-*-  the  presidency  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Douglas  (Methodist  Cliurch 
of  Canada).  Rev.  W.  Griffith  (United  Methodist  Free  Churches) 
led  the  Devotions. 

The  minutes  of  Wednesday's  Sessions  were  confirmed  after  the 
name  of  Mr.  Perks  had  been  added  to  the  Editorial  Committee. 

Rev.  a.  C.  George,  D.D.,  read  the  report  of  the  Business  Com- 
mittee. 

The  first  resolution  submitted  for  consideration  related  to 
Women's  Foreign  Missionary  Societies  in  Great  Britain  and 
America,  and  was  formally  moved  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  George. 

Mr.  H,  J.  Atkinson,  J.P.  (Wesleyan  Methodist),  said  :  I  have  been  asked 
by  the  ladies  to  second  this  resolution,  and  I  rise  to  do  so  with  the  very 
greatest  pleasure,  because  I  have  long  been  intimately  associated  with  some 
ladies  who  have  taken  part  in  this  Missionary  Society  work  on  this  side  of 
the  Atlantic  ;  and  I  have  also  bad  the  pleasure  of  reading  very  much  of 
what  has  been  done  by  the  ladies  on  the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic.  I 
really  am  obliged  to  confess  that  the  Americans  are  far  ahead  of  us  in 
their  organisation.  I  only  wish  that  the  children  of  our  mothers  were  able 
to  conduct  those  "  busy  bees  "  in  the  Avay  tliat  I  have  heard  Mr.  Macdonald 
and  others  who  have  been  over  to  America  tell  us  they  are  conducted  there. 
There  is  only  one  objection  I  have  ever  heard  taken  to  the  ladies'  work  of 
the  Missionary  Societies,  and  that  has  been  taken  by  zealous  officers  of  the 
parent  Missionary  Societies,  who,  two  or  three  of  them — not  more,  so  far 
as  I  know — have  said  that  some  of  the  money  which  would  have  been 
obtained  by  the  parent  society  has  been  diverted  from  it,  and  consequently 
it  would  have  been  as  well  to  have  had  only  one  society.  I  have  carefully 
investigated  that,  and  have  had  large  experience  as  a  district  treasurer,  and 
otherwise,  for  thirty  3'ears,  and  my  experience  is  that  the  ladies  have  been 
able  to    induce  those  who  were   not  already  contributors  to  the  parent 


BUSINESS   PROCEEDINGS.  361 

society  to  subscribe  to  tlieir  society,  and  then  they  soon  fall  a  prey  to  the 
others.  Besides,  a  large  number  of  the  subscribers  are  those  who  think 
they  have  done  their  utmost  for  the  parent  society  ;  and  when  they  have 
thus  done  all  they  can,  the  ladies  persuasively  approach  them  and  say, 
"  Now,  j-ou  must  join  us  as  well."  Therefore,  it  is  a  good  thing  for  the 
parent  societies  that  the  ladies  not  only  educate  fresh  subscribers  for  them, 
but  get  a  little  more  out  of  the  old  subscribers  also.  When  I  referred 
to  this  subject  the  other  day,  I  think  the  greatest  argument  would  have 
been  the  fact  that  when  there  were  so  many  ladies  in  the  gallery  that 
afternoon  the  praises  of  God  were  sung  in  such  a  manner  as  I  think  I  have 
never  heard  before  or  since,  showing  that  it  was  a  good  thing  to  associate 
'  the  ladies  with  us  in  larger  numbers  than  at  the  present  time.  We  pi-aised 
God  on  that  afternoon  in  our  singing  with  a  volume  and  intensity  which  I 
have  never  experieuced  since,  so  the  assistance  of  the  ladies  in  the  Church 
gives  us  more  harmony  and  more  effect  in  the  w"ork  we  do.  The  ladies 
say  it  will  help  them  greatly  to  have  this  resolution  passed,  and  I  am  sure 
it  is  the  least  contribution  that  we  could  give  to  them.  I  know  it  is  much 
more  easy  for  ladies  to  be  religious  than  men,  because,  to  begin  with,  they 
are  more  religious.  I  do  not  know  how  It  is,  and  I  leave  theologians  and 
divines  to  settle  that  point,  but  it  is  a  delightful  thing  to  know  it  is  so,  and 
it  is  a  glorious  thing  to  have  them  as  help-meets  for  all  that  is  good,  aud 
deterring  us  from  doing  anything  that  is  bad. 

Kev.  W.  Arthur  (Wesleyan  Methodist)  :  I  merely  wish  to  say  that  in 
my  view  we  are  only  beginning  to  make  a  proper  employment  of  the 
influence  and  energy  of  women  in  regard  to  our  common  missionary  woi'k, 
and  that  instead  of  discouraging  their  work,  our  wisdom  would  be  to  take 
it  in  hand,  deal  with  it  with  great  care,  and  guide  it  in  every  way  possible. 
I  believe  in  India  alone,  in  the  access  which  by  Divine  Providence  has  been 
given  to  the  interior  of  Hindoo  and  Mohanunt-dan  families — an  access 
which  is  barred  against  men  of  every  kind — in  that  country  alone  there  is 
an  opening  for  the  action  of  Christian  females  large  enough  to  demand  the 
most  serious  sanction  of  this  Conference,  and  the  earnest  prayers  of  the 
brethren  for  the  blessing  of  God  on  the  efforts  of  the  ladies. 

Eev.  J.  M.  Reid,  D.D,  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church)  :  I  would  very 
much  like  to  have  the  Committee  consent  to  the  striking  out  of  the  word 
"  foreign,"  so  that  the  resolution  shall  read  "  Women's  Missionary  Societies." 
My  reasons  could  be  given  at  length,  but  they  are  in  substance  these  :  We 
have  a  large  number  of  heathen  in  our  country.  On  the  Pacific  coast  one 
of  the  grandest  Women's  Missionary  Societies  that  is  in  existence  is  at 
work  ;  and  there  is  on  this  lloor  to-day  a  man  whose  name  will  be  iuniiortal 
for  his  heroic  deeds  in  behalf  of  the  Chinese  for  whom  these  women  are 
working  ;  and  yet  that  resolution  will  not  conmiend  the  Society  that  is 
doing  tills  grand  work  if  the  word  "foreign  "  is  in  it.  I  want  to  bring 
that  Society  into  the  category  of  our  commendation.  There  is  another 
Society  of  a  like  character  in  the  United  States,  and  I  do  not  know  but 
that  there  are  several  Societies.  If  it  is  necessary,  I  will  move  that  the 
resolution  be  amended  by  striking  out  the  word  "  foreign." 

Rev.  J.  M.  Walden  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church)  :.  I  desire  to  second 
that  motion. 

After  some  discussion  as  to  the  phraseology,  the  resolution  was 
agreed  to  iu  the  following  form  : — 

"  That  we  express  our  great  satisfaction  in  the  successful  work  done  by 
the  Women's  Home  and  Foreign  Missionary  Society  in  Great  Britain  and 
America,  not  only  in  raising  money  and  supporting  missionaries,  but  also 
in  arousing  and    employing  the  mental  and  spiritual  energies  of  many 


362  BUSINESS   PROCEEDINGS. 

devout  women,  increasing  greatly  the  aggregate  of  missionary  spirit  and 
zeal  in  the  Church,  and  promising  the  speedier  coming  of  the  kingdom  of 
Christ  in  all  the  earth." 

The  next  resolutions,  having  been  duly  moved  and  seconded, 
were  passed  with  much  cordiality  : — 

Women's  Temperance  Work. 

"  That  the  earnest  efEorts  of  Christian  women  to  promote  the  cause  of 
temperance,  and  to  rescue  those  who  have  fallen  through  strong  drink  from 
the  dreadful  curse  of  drunkenness,  receives  our  heartiest  commendation  ; 
and  we  exhort  the  women  of  Methodism  to  strive  together  in  all  womanly 
ways  for  the  advancement  of  this  great  reform,  and  the  increase  of  sobriety 
and  godliness  amongst  all  classes." 

Bands  of  Hope,  &c, 
"That  we  approve  of  the  formation  of  Bands  of  Hope  and  Juvenile 
Temperance  Societies,  for  the  instruction  of  childhood  and  youth  in  respect 
to  the  great  evils  of  intemperance  ;  and  we  specially  commend  this  work 
not  only  to  Ministers  and  Sunday-school  superintendents,  but  also  and 
earnestly  to  Cliristian  women,  as  a  work  of  the  home  and  the  sanctuary, 
which  they  can,  with  eminent  fitness  and  facility,  perform." 

The  next  resolution  submitted  by  the  Business  Committee  had 
reference  to  the  promotion  of  International  Peace,  and  was  as 
follows  : — 

"  That,  in  view  of  the  essentially  pacific  chai-acter  of  Christianity,  this 
(Ecumenical  Conference  cannot  but  deeply  deplore  the  present  aspect  of  the 
professedly  Christian  world,  so  often  desolated  by  destructive  and  sanguinary 
wars,  and  during  the  time  of  nominal  peace  the  resources  of  the  nation  are  ex- 
Iiausted  in  enormous  preparations  for  war,  which  foment  mutual  jealousy 
and  hatred,  impose  upon  the  people  intolerable  burdens  of  taxation  and 
military  servitude,  and  exercise  in  many  ways  an  influence  most  injvn'ious 
to  the  interests  of  religion  and  moralit3^  The  Conference,  therefore,  com- 
mends to  the  sympathy  and  support  of  the  Churches  all  wise  and  well- 
directed  efforts  to  substitute  arbitration  or  other  forms  of  amicable  and 
pacific  references  in  the  settlement  of  international  difficulties  in  place  of 
an  appeal  to  the  sword,  and  thus  help  to  hasten  the  coming  of  that  reign 
of  peace  so  closely  associated  by  promise  and  prophecy  with  the  ultimate 
triumph  of  Christianity." 

Mr.  Thomas  Snape  (United  JVIethodist  Free  Churches)  moved  the  adoption 
of  this  resolution.  He  said  :  The  present  aspect  of  Christendom  on  this 
question  is  not  at  all  satisfactory.  In  Europe  alone,  it  is  said  that  some- 
thing like  12,000,000  of  men  are  being  constantly  trained  to  arms.  Some- 
thing like  £600,000,000  are  yearly  being  spent  in  promoting  this  system, 
and  national  debts  to  the  amount  of  £3,000,000,000  have  been  accumulated 
bjr  the  various  nations  of  Europe.  The  Churches  have  been  too  much 
accustomed  to  suppose  that  this  expenditure  and  tliis  system  are  of  an 
inevitable  character  ;  that  these  evils  are  so  necessary  that  it  is  impossible 
to  take  any  step  to  obviate  them.  But  before  we  come  to  a  conclusion  of 
that  kind  we  ought  to  consider  whether  there  are  not  other  means  than 
these  which  would  more  satisfactorily  assist  in  settling  international  dis- 
putes than  a  resort  to  brute  force.  I  will  give  you  the  opinion  of  an 
eminent  ex-President  of  the  United  States — I  mean  General  Grant.  He 
said  :  "  Though  I  have  been  trained  as  a  soldier,  and  have  participated  in 


BUSINESS   PROCEEDINGS.  363 

many  battles,  tTiore  never  was  a  time  when,  in  my  opinion,  Pome  way  could 
not  have  been  found  of  preventing  the  drawing  of  the  sword.  I  look  for- 
ward to  an  epoch  when  a  Court,  recognised  by  all  nations,  will  settle 
international  differences  instead  of  keeping  large  standing  armies  as  they 
do  in  Europe."  The  President  succeeding  (jreneral  Grant — ex-President 
Hayes — Secretary  Evarts,  and  the  present  distinguished  President,  General 
Garfield,  have  all  declared  themselves  in  a  like  manner.  Distinguished 
statesmen  of  our  own  country,  whom  I  will  not  quote  because  I  do  not  wish 
to  take  up  your  time,  have  admitted,  with  General  Grant,  that  almost  all 
the  Avars  of  recent  times  might  have  been  prevented  had  there  been 
means  such  as  those  now  suggested  to  stop  them.  On  that  ground  I  ask  the 
Conference,  and  from  the  reception  which  the  resolution  has  met  with 
I  thiidc  I  have  reason  to  ask  with  confidence,  that  they  will  give  it 
support.  There  never  was  a  more  glorious  event  of  an  international  cha- 
racter in  the  history  of  this  country  and  of  the  United  States,  than  the 
arbitration  in  the  Aluhaniu  case  at  Geneva.  The  result  of  that  arbitration 
has  been  declared  by  eminent  men  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic  to  be  such 
as  to  make  it  impossible  for  those  two  countries  ever  to  be  plunged  again 
into  war.  What  a  load  of  suffering,  what  a  vast  amount  of  evil,  would 
have  been  prevented  had  some  pacific  means  been  adopted  by  the  nations 
instead  of  this  dreadful  recourse  to  war,  inasmuch  as  war  punishes  the 
innocent  and  not  the  guilty ;  that  instead  of  settling  the  right  of  the 
question  it  only  settles  the  might ;  that  when  it  is  waged  reason  is 
dethroned,  justice  is  trampled  under  foot,  and  i-eligion  made  a  scandal  to 
the  world.  There  is  no  more  painful  chapter  in  Buckle's  History  of 
Civilisation,  than  the  scandal  which  he  throws  upon  religion  because  of 
the  wars  it  has  caused.  We  ought,  therefore,  to  bring  this  question  much 
more  prominently  before  our  Churches  than  we  have,  and  to  insist  upon 
some  means  being  adopted  by  the  Churches  and  communities  of  which  we 
form  part,  to  bring  nearer  that  time  which  prophecy  declares  shall  come, 
when  men  shall  learn  war  no  more. 

Bishop  Simpson  seconded  the  resolution. 

Eev.  Dr.  RiCtG  (Wesleyan  Methodist)  :  I  am  very  glad  that  this  resolu- 
tion is  before  us  ;  but  I  hope  the  reasons  for  the  course  we  adopt  may  be 
clearly  understood.  I  am  very  thankful  indeed  that  our  present  Govern- 
ment contains  in  it  gentlemen  known  to  be  favourable,  as  far  as  possible, 
to  arbitration,  and  to  be  entirely  unfavourable  to  the  process  of  war  if  it 
can  at  all  be  avoided  ;  but  I  do  not  think  it  strengthens  our  case  to  refer  to 
the  United  States,  because  the  case  of  the  United  States  is  entirely  dis- 
similar from  the  case  of  any  European  Power  whatever.  If  the  United 
States  were  environed  on  all  sides  by  inmiense  military  Powers,  it  is  open 
to  doubt  how  far  it  would  be  possible  for  the  United  States  to  maintain 
itself  by  a  simple  police  force.  Whilst,  therefore,  exceedingly  anxious 
that  all  the  aid  of  this  meeting  should  be  given  in  favour  of  the  principles 
and  sentiments  of  that  resolution,  I  should  not  like  to  see  the  argument 
weakened  by  its  being  supposed  that  our  position  is  parallel  to  that  of  the 
United  States  ;  but  let  evc-rything  be  said  and  done  which  will  strengthen 
the  resolution  and  lead  the  people  of  this  country  and  of  other  countries 
never  to  go  to  the  dire  arbitrament  of  war  if  it  be  jxjssible  by  any  other 
means  whatever  to  accomplish  the  end  that  must  be  accomplished. 

Rev.  Alex.  Reid  (of  New  Zealand)  :  The  thought  has  occurred  to  me 
whether  it  be  not  possible  for  something  to  emanate  from  this  fficunienical 
Council  which  >sha]l  claim  the  attention  of  Christendom  in  this  imj)ortant 
matter.  It  seems  to  me  that  if  the  Church  would  only  rise  to  the  dignity 
of  her  position,  and  stand  forth  as  the  exponent  of  the  principles  enunciated 
by  our  blessed  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  we  might  command  the  attention  of  the 
world,  and   guide   its    movements  in  this  matter.      Suppose   there  were 


564      THE  PRESS  FOR  THE  ADVANCEMENT  OF  CHRISTIANITY. 

unanimity  on  the  part  of  the  Christian  Church  respecting  the  wickedness  of 
war  and  the  antagonism  of  the  whole  of  the  system  to  the  principles  of  the 
Gospel,  and  that  we  were  to  say  so  and  to  stand  by  each  other  in  proclaim- 
ing to  the  nations  of  the  world  that  we  cannot  endure  this  nefarious  system  ; 
and  suppose  we  had  united  and  reiterated  remonstrances  emanating  from 
every  section  of  the  Christian  Church  ;  why,  it  seems  to  me  that  in  one 
year  we  might  put  an  end  to  this  horrible  tragedy  of  blood  that  has  been 
disgracing  the  world  ever  since  Satan  has  had  the  power,  which  it  is  our 
duty  to  deprive  him  of.  I  merely  throw  this  out  as  a  suggestion,  whether 
we  could  do  something  more,  and  invite  co-operation  on  the  part  of  other 
Churches  in  telling  the  Potentates  of  the  world  that  we  are  prepared  to 
stand  by  them  and  save  them  from  the  desolating  curse  of  war. 

The  resolution  was  unanimously  agreed  to. 

The  Conference  then  proceeded  to  the  subject  for  the  day,  viz., 
"The  Use  of  the  Press  for  the  Advancement  of  Christianity." 

Rev.  J.  SwANN  Withington  (United  Methodist  Free  Churches; 
read  the  following  essay  on  Deiwininatioiial  Literature  and  its  Fub- 
llcation. 

This  is  the  literature  day  of  the  Conference.  The  press  is  a  power 
more  pervading,  more  varied  in  its  uses,  more  permanent,  than  any 
other  educational  agency.  It  instructs  all  classes,  dictates  to  all 
classes,  and  is  the  sovereign  of  all  realms.  It  is  so  restless,  so  meddle- 
some, so  all-embracing,  that  it  has  to  do  with  poetry  and  law,  daily 
news  and  national  history,  the  discoveries  of  science,  the  productions 
of  art.  In  every  department  of  human  endeavour  its  aid  is  sought, 
its  approval  earnestly  desired.  Among  man's' inventions  it  remains 
supreme,  and  it  guides  the  creature  who  produced  it.  It  is  dreaded  by 
tyranny  more  than  a  plague,  because  it  opens  to  the  ignorant  and  the 
enslaved  regions  of  light  and  freedom.  Were  it  to  cease  to  act  man 
would  cease  to  advance ;  it  is  as  necessary  to  human  progress  as  soil  to 
the  root,  as  light  to  the  flower.  The  press  may  be — and  we  know  it 
has  been — as  powerful  for  evil  as  for  good.  The  stream  which  is  pure 
in  one  district  may  be  feculent  and  corrupt  in  another ;  speech  may 
blaspheme  as  well  as  praise  ;  but  the  stream  continues  pure  at  the 
spring,  and  the  coarse,  wicked  tongue  may  be  taught  to  send  forth 
serai)hic  lays.  The  press  elevates  itself,  cleanses  itself ;  it  is  its  own 
severe  corrector  and  impartial  judge^  Thomas  Paine  rudely  attacks 
the  Bible,  and  Bishop  Watson  reverently  defends  it. 

Nothing,  not  even  the  living  voice,  has  more  contributed  to  the 
advancement  of  Christianity  than  the  press.  It  has  brought  all  lan- 
guages under  tribute  to  itself,  and  has  given  Divine  truth,  like  a  fresh 
element  of  life,  to  all  countries.  In  the  midst  of  violent  political 
changes,  the  blood  of  war,  the  decay  of  nations,  the  press  has  pre- 
served the  Bible,  the  casket  of  heavenly  jewels ;  extended  the  light  of 
revelation  to  remote  lands  of  darkness  and  sorrow,  giving  to  them  the 


IIEV.   J.    SWANN    WITHINGTON'S   ADDRESS.  3G5 

promise  of  spring,  tlie  beauty  of,  summer ;  making  the  glorious  Gospel 
broad,  high,  and  majestic  as  a  mountain,  in  the  midst  of  the  ruins  of 
vice  ami  error.  "  The  grass  withcreth,  the  flower  fadeth ;  but  the 
Word  of  the  Lord  endureth  for  ever." 

Denominational  literature  is  the  natural  outgrowth  of  denomina- 
tional life.  They  necessarily  go  together.  Every  regiment  has  its 
own  colours.  And  as  fresh  deeds  of  valour  add  to  the  worth  of  the 
colours,  new  stages  of  life,  increased  years,  give  the  mellowed  charm 
and  vcnerableness  of  history  to  the  records  of  distinctive  Churches. 
That  which  might  commence  obscurely  and  without  pretension,  may, 
as  time  goes  on,  and  new  energies  are  developed,  attain  to  great  and 
commanding  dimensions.  In  the  process  many  changes  take  place ; 
but  these  only  strengthen  and  perpetuate  the  good  and  the  useful. 
And,  in  many  instances,  that  which  was  supposed  to  be  ephemeral  has 
proved  to  be  permanent,  Mr.  Wesley,  the  Luther  of  the  Reformation 
of  the  eighteenth  century,  prepared  the  way  for  a  healthy  popular 
literature.  As  it  is  now  admitted  by  the  thoughtful,  his  "  Christian 
Library  "  was  no  mean  accession  to  the  literary  wealth  of  the  country. 
And  as  Dr.  Stevens,  in  his  History  of  llethodism,  quoting  from 
Jackson's  preface  to  Wesley's  works,  observes  :  "  That  the  cheap  and 
useful  literature  of  subsequent  times  has  been  an  imitation,  designedly 
or  not,  of  this  extraordinary  literary  scheme  of  Wesley."  Still  quoting 
from  Jackson,  the  doctor  continues  :  "  Modern  compilers  have  few 
difficulties  to  surmount.  They  can  readily  avail  themselves  of  the  im- 
provements of  science,  and  of  the  appetite  for  knowledge  which  is 
excited  by  the  labours  of  the  schoolmaster.'  Wesley  had  to  create  that 
appetite,  and  he  had  to  create  it  in  a  people  sunk  in  ignorance  and 
addicted  to  brutal  habits.  His  '  Christian  Library  '  was  a  noble  effort 
to  render  available  to  the  spiritual  interest  of  the  people  in  general  the 
scarce  and  valuable  works  of  voluminous  and  learned  authors."  After 
naming  several  of  Mr.  Wesley's  schemes,  and  the  fact  that  "from  his 
press  and  his  sale-room  at  the  Foundry,  as  well  as  from  other  sources, 
were  issued  the  publications  with  which  the  Tract  Society,  instituted 
in  1782,  was  supplied,  and  which  were  scattered  by  his  preachers  and 
people  over  the  United  Kingdom  like  the  leaves  of  autumn,"  the  in- 
dustrious, discriminating  American  waiter  observes :  "  Not  content 
with  books  and  tracts,  Wesley  projected,  in  August,  1777,  the  Arminian 
Mayazine,  and  issued  the  first  numbers  at  the  beginning  of  1778.  It 
was  one  of  the  first  four  religious  magazines  which  sprang  from  the 
resuscitated  religion  of  the  age,  and  which  began  this  species  of 
periodical  publications  in  the  Protestant  world.  Though  nominally 
devoted  to  the  defence  of  the  Arminian  tlieology,  it  was  miscellaneous 
in  its  contents,  and  served  not  only  for  the  jn-omotion  of  religious  lite- 
rature, but  of  general  intelligence.  He  conducted  it  till  his  death,  and 
made  faithful  use  of  it  for  the  diffusion  of  knowledge  among  the  people. 
It  is  now  the  oldest  religious  periodical  in  the  world.     Its  importance 


366       THE  PRESS  FOR  THE  ADVANCEMENT  OF  CHRISTIANITY. 

to  tlie  history  of  Metliodism  is  inesliimable ;  that  history  never  could 
have  been  written  had  not  Wesley  published  this  repertory  of  its  early 
biographies  and  correspondence." 

The  saddle-bag  literature  did  a  good  work  in  town  and  village. 
The  Methodist  preachers  took  into  the  most  obscure  parts  religious 
and  general  intelligence.  By  no  process  could  it  be  ascertained  how 
far  scatteied  was  the  seed,  and  what  the  amount  of  fruit ;  but  this  we 
do  know,  that  by  means  the  most  simple  and  unpretending,  unaided 
by  the  State,  and  without  the  sanction  of  squire  or  parson,  the  ignorant 
were  informed,  the  poor  made  happy  and  contented ;  the  brawling 
drunkard,  and  the  swearing,  Sabbath-breaking  peasant  were  gently 
brought  into  a  state  of  seriousness,  prayer,  faith,  and  holy  living. 
From  the  villages  of  Cornwall,  and  Lincolnshire,  and  Yorkshire,  have 
gone  forth,  from  pious  Methodist  families,  thousands  of  men  and 
women,  full  of  moral  and  mental  health  and  vigour ;  and,  by  steady 
perseverance,  have  secured  positions  of  great  influence  in  our  cities  and 
the  centres  of  industry.  The  blessings  that  have  thus  come  to  Church 
and  Nation,  to  ruler  and  people,  no  one  can  calculate.  Not  only  is  it 
true  that  those  who  sow  reap,  but  the  reapers  are  more  numerous  than 
the  sowers.  From  the  small  comes  the  great,  from  the  obscure  the 
prominent.  Good  done  in  a  village  may  have  a  far-reaching  result, 
extending  to  the  universal.  When  I  was  a  little  boy  I  went  with  my 
venerable  father  to  a  village  near  to  Market  Weighton,  and  there  was 
taken  to  a  cottage,  neat  and  orderly,  where  lived  an  old  couple  who  had 
given  to  the  Christian  ministry  three  or  four  sons.  The  father  was 
tall,  stalwart,  and  upright ;  the  mother  was  of  middle  height,  active, 
cheerful,  dressed  in  the  simple,  comfortable  style  of  the  Methodists  of 
those  days.  She  took  me  by  the  hand,  and  in  a  small  inner  room 
showed  me  the  spot  where  she  used  to  kneel  in  prayer  with  her  boys, 
and  she  called  it  Jacob's  well,  indicating  that  they  were  refreshed  and 
found  rest  there.  From  under  that  humble  roof-tree,  from  the  guiding 
hand  of  that  godly  woman,  came  men  of  sympathy  and  sense,  men  of 
strong  common  sense,  and  one  of  them  of  rare  attainments,  men 
of  power  in  the  ministry,  and  of  fame  co-extensive  with  Methodism — 
the  Jacksons. 

Theology  has  received  from  Methodism  many  books  of  solid  worth 
and  leading  light.  I  need  only  mention  the  concise  and  full,  the  simple 
and  elegant,  the  critical  and  practical  works  of  Wesley ;  the  hymns, 
so  rich  in  thought,  so  sound  in  doctrine,  so  experimental  in  teaching, 
of  Charles  Wesley — a  topic  which  will  be  brought  before  us  this  after- 
noon by  the  many-gifted,  the  distinguished  Dr.  Osborn  ;  the  orthodox, 
the  comprehensive,  the  clearly-defined  Institutes  of  Watson  ;  the  full, 
scholarly,  and  sensible  Commentaries  of  Benson  and  Clarke ;  the  stores 
of  learning,  the  loyalty  to  the  Scriptures,  the  weighty  matter  in  every 
page  of  the  theology  of  Dr.  Pope;  the  discrimination  in  expression, 
and  the  philosphic  in  thought  of  the  books  of  Dr.  Rigg  ;  and  the  system 


EEV.   J.   SWANN    WITHINGTON'S  ADDRESS.  3G7 

of  Christian  truth,  containing  so  much  that  is  suggestive,  so  much  of 
"  compressed  meat,"  in  the  books  of  Dr.  Cooke.  These  works  are 
guide-posts,  showing  the  way  we  ought  to  go.  And  to  do  this  in  our 
day,  when  the  foundations  are  being  disturbed,  when  the  water  of  life 
is  being  polluted  and  diverted,  when  we  are  being  taught  by  men  of 
science,  so  wise  that  no  one  can  understand  them,  and  so  amiable  that 
they  are  always  disagi'eeing  and  contradicting  each  other,  is  to  confer 
on  the  Churches  a  blessing  broad  and  lasting.  Philosophy  now  dictates 
to  godliness ;  speculation  threatens  to  overturn  faith ;  the  dissecting 
knife  and  the  microscope  are  supposed  to  reveal  principles  in  mind 
and  morals  greater  and  older  than  those  found  in  the  Book  of  God,  and 
in  the  teaching  of  the  Son  of  the  Judsean  peasant ;  society  is  in  a 
yeastly  and  unsettled  state,  and  it  is  well  to  have  solid  ground  on 
which  to  build,  a  pure  air  to  breathe,  a  living  faith  to  sustain  us. 

Periodical  denominational  literature  is  so  mixed,  so  miscellaneous, 
that  it  is  very  difficult  to  get  at  all  its  merits,  to  expose  all  its  faults. 
It  is  no  easy  task  for  an  editor  to  give  variety  with  unity,  variety  with 
completeness  of  theme.  In  an  attempt  to  serve  the  best  interests  of  his 
Connexion,  and  please  all  his  readers,  he  may  find  himself  so  seriously 
misunderstood  as  to  be  placed  in  circumstances  of  peril,  which  may 
result  in  his  own  speedy  extinction.  The  more  unrestrained,  the  more 
of  free  action  he  has,  the  better  for  himself  and  for  those  whom  he 
serves.  He  must  be  trusted,  and  he  must  be  trusted  as  a  leader.  As 
far  as  I  am  informed,  and  as  far  as  I  have  experienced,  this  is  usually 
the  case.  And  where  it  is  so,  while  there  may  occasionally  be  a  little 
friction,  which  sometimes  produces  light  as  well  as  heat,  there  is  sure 
to  be  a  quick  return  to  harmonious  action. 

As  we  stand  related  to  one  another,  as  different  Methodist  com- 
munities, the  chief  thing  to  avoid,  as  it  appears  to  me,  is  the  retaining 
and  retailing  of  the  vexatious,  in  fact  or  opinion  ;  and  the  chief  thing 
to  do  is  to  seek  out,  to  create,  to  snatch  oijportunities  for  the  exhibition 
of  brotherly  love.  Is  it  necessary  to  say  that  this  ought  never  to  be 
done  in  disregard  of  truth  and  honour,  or  as  an  unp^-incipled  com- 
promise ?  No  !  we  excel  in  goodness  as  we  seek  to  be  right,  and  we 
are  more  likely  to  be  united  vitally  and  permanently  as  we  are  faithful 
in  our  words  and  manly  in  our  deeds.  Truckling  subserviency  belongs 
to  the  slave,  dignity  and  love  to  the  man  and  the  Christian. 

In  trying  to  improve  our  denominational  literature,  we  must  not  aim 
at  the  impossible.  The  magazines  issued  by  this  and  that  general 
publishing  firm  having  no  distinctive  doctrines  to  maintain,  no  Church 
life  to  defend,  they  have  a  liberty  of  action  and  an  ampler  range  of 
influence  than  we  possess.  They  are  not  confined  to  a  specific  class  of 
topics  ;  they  can  move  without  imi^ediment  in  any  direction  the  popular 
taste  may  go ;  and  their  writers  are  not  indispensably  men  having  re- 
ligious responsibilities.  Besides,  some  of  these  undertakings  arc  purely 
sjieculative  and  commercial,  and  profits  mainly  decide  the  question  of 


308      THE  PRESS  FOR  THE  ADVANCEMENT  OF  CHRISTIANITY. 

success.  I^et  it  not  be  supposed  that  I  am  speaking  in  disparagement 
of  popular  periodical  literature.  Nothing  of  the  kind.  I  am  only 
showing  that  we  are  fettered — a  bondage  to  which  I  do  not  wholly 
object,  as  it  has  to  do,  in  some  respects,  with  moral  conditions.  We 
are  required  courageously,  defiantly,  with  hand  on  the  hilt  of  the  sword, 
ready  to  obey,  to  defend  truths  we  hold  to  be  more  sacred  than  life. 
And  if  no  denominational  literature  existed,  the  universal  Church  would 
need,  in  the  way  of  literary  effort,  help  and  guidance. 

Our  magazines  and  all  our  publications  ought  to  be  cheap.  I  know 
that  high  prices  are  a  great  assistance  to  useful  funds.  But  the  penny 
postage  added  considerably  to  the  revenue.  High  prices  check  circu- 
lation ;  low  prices  must  increase  it  to  such  an  extent  that  the  addi- 
tional expenditure,  for  material  and  carriage,  would  be  a  trifling  item 
when  the  augmented  returns  were  tabulated.  There  is  another  view. 
The  readers  vastly  multij)lied,  the  influence  for  good  would  be  pro- 
portionately great ;  the  hedges  taken  down  and  the  field  extended,  the 
seed  would  be  more  scattered  and  the  fruit  more  plentiful.  By  a 
judicious  and  timely  extension,  Oxford  and  Cambridge  now  embrace  the 
nation,  without  in  the  least  enfeebling  themselves,  or  lowering  the 
standards  of  merit  at  the  centres.  Let  the  poorest,  the  most  illiterate, 
if  at  all  capable  of  reading,  have  within  reach  wholesome  spiritual 
instruction.  There  is  much  of  mental  wealth  among  the  people  un- 
developed, and  no  small  quantity  of  that  which  is  seen  misappropriated. 
Mineral  wealth  has  waited  centuries  for  the  delving  and  boring  miner, 
and  how  fully  the  industry  of  the  toiler  has  been  rewarded  I  So  it 
would  be  if  Christian  knowledge  went  forth  wiLh  her  lamp  of  heavenly 
light,  searching  the  dark  corners,  visiting  the  millions  who  are  perish- 
ing in  darkness  and  misery  for  the  lack  of  knowledge  ;  touching  sleep- 
ing minds  gently  as  the  morning  light  comes  to  flowers,  a  new  order  of 
things  would  appear ;  from  dust  and  decay  resuscitated  life  would 
come ;  from  seeming  rubbish  gems  would  be  gathered.  An  enlightened 
Christianity  has  polished  the  roughest  materials,  and  made  them  as 
"fine  rubies,  smitten  by  the  sun"  (Dante).  Enlarge  the  sphere  of 
your  operations,  that  those  who  are  afar  off  may  come  and  partake  of 
the  blessings  that  you  hold  in  trust. 

Our  literature  ought  to  have  the  best  qualities  possible.  Money  may 
not  be  at  hand  to  secure  first-class  ability  outside  our  own  circles. 
And  if  able  to  buy  in  the  best  market,  I  do  not  know  that  it  would  be 
wise  or  just  to  do  so.  The  views  of  writers  on  cardinal  points  of  doc- 
trine ought  to  be  explicit  and  above  suspicion  before  appearing  in  our 
pages.  I  am  anxious  not  to  be  understood  as  advocating  a  narrow 
and  cramped  course  of  selection  ;  but  prudence  suggests  limits.  There 
are  some  men  who  are  in  what  geologists  call  the  formative  stage,  and 
we  cannot  tell  how  they  may  turn  out  at  last.  They  themselves  do 
not  know  where  they  are,  and  they  do  not  know  whither  they  are 
drifting.     They  cannot  be  safe  guides. 


I 
1 


EEV.    J.    SWANN    WITHIXGTON'S   ADDRESS,  369 

"We  have  to  care  for  the  precious  heritage  bequeatlied  to  ns  by  our 
fathers.  We  have  to  care  for  the  j'ouug  ;  it  is  awfullj-  true  that  their 
moulding  and  their  future  are  in  our  hands.  Have  we  not  sufficient 
worth  among  us  to  serve  our  purpose  ?  I  could  mention  gentlemen  in 
this  Conference  who  could  supply  us  with  the  argumentative,  the 
rhetorical,  the  facetious,  the  serious,  the  colloqniul,  the  philosophic, 
the  poetic,  the  practical,  the  ethical,  the  doctrinal,  who  have  won, 
and  with  much  benefit  to  the  Churches  sustain,  high  positions.  Our 
friends  the  Wesleyaus  have  lately  had  the  most  seriows,  if  not  irre- 
parable, losses  in  their  front  rank.  The  genial  Dr.  Jobson ;  the 
fascinating  Dr.  Punshon  ;  the  vastly-informed,  the  ready  Mr.  Coley ; 
the  racy,  powerful  Mr.  Simpson,  have  ascended  to  a  more  perfect 
state.  But  many  men  of  tlionght  and  action  remain.  Others  are 
coming  up,  and  must  stand  out  in  the  distinctness  of  exceptional  men. 
We  have  plenty  of  material,  if  we  only  knew  how  to  use  it.  Let 
search  be  made  ;  let  the  choicest  be  selected,  and  let  it  be  seen  by 
other  Churches  that  Methotlism  is  not  only  "  Christianity  in  earnest" 
— a  rather  questiona])le  complimeut  from  some  quarters — but  that  it 
shines,  and  does  not  burn  only  ;  that  we  have  among  us,  in  large 
numbers,  the  intellectual  and  the  cultured,  with  j)ower  to  express  their 
sentiments  with  clearness  and  force  ;  that  the  greatly  gifted  are  also 
the  truly  pious.  We  want  the  scholar  and  the  sage,  who  submit  their 
hearts  and  heads  to  Clirist  ;  who  do  not  reason  the  less  conclusively 
because  they  love  and  trust.     If  we  seek  we  shall  find. 

Our  literature  ought  to  be  made  as  attractive  as  i^ossible.  In  style  ; 
sample,  Everett's  Village  Blacksmith — so  full  of  real  life,  so  amusing, 
so  instructive.  In  illustration  ;  this  is  a  picture-loving  age.  The 
author's  pen  and  the  artist's  brush  ought  to  assist  each  other.  They 
have  done  this  in  other  departments  of  thought.  George  Cruikshank 
apd  Charles  Dickens  are  inseparable.  Why  not  have  such  an  alliance 
in  the  literature  of  our  Churches  ?  (I  am  not  speaking  of  topics.)  It  is 
needed.  Why  ?  To  keep  pace  vnth.  popular  literature  ;  to  secure  the 
attention,  and  contribute  to  the  refinement  of  the  tastes  of  the  young  ; 
to  take  from  dangerous  hands  means  which  have  been  almost  ex- 
clusively used  for  comical,  and,  in  many  instances,  corrupt  purposes  ; 
to  give  the  robe  and  the  jewel  to  enthroned  truth.  I  am  happy  to  be 
able  to  cite  a  sample  of  what  I  desire  should  be  done.  Messrs.  Cassell 
and  Co.'s  serials  are  judiciously  conducted,  contain  lessons  of  wisdom, 
sometimes  open  avenues  of  light,  leading  to  the  holy  and  the  abiding  ; 
and  we  know  that  pictorial  illustrations  are  among  their  cliief  charms. 
We  may  have  the  solid  with  the  pleasant — good  food  on  dishes  of  gold. 
Why,  John  Forster,  the  most  original,  I  think,  of  English  essayists, 
was  always  in  pursuit  of  books  with  pictures  in  them.  He  knew  the 
value  of  artistic  suggestion  and  adornment.  Canon  Farrar  and  Dr. 
GeLkie  may  help  us  better  to  understand  the  life  of  Christ ;  certain 
we  are  that  Dore  has  brought  the  Divine  life  before  our  awakened 

£  £ 


370      THE  PRESS  FOR  THE  ADVANCEMENT  OF  CHRISTIANITY. 

sympathy,  to  our  sight,  to  onr  touch ;  his  creations  live  with  us, 
follow  us,  like  Raphael's  cartoon  of  the  punctured  hand  of  the 
Crucified.  We  are  now  on  high  ground,  I  know,  but  would  it  not 
be  wise  to  bring  into  our  service  the  best  talent  available?  The 
Roman  Catholics  know  the  value  of  cultivating  the  beautiful,  and 
Protestantism  would  not  be  a  bit  the  wor^e  for  being  more  artistic. 

Now,  as  regards  denominational  book-publishing  houses,  the  first 
question  that  arises  is,  Are  they  desirable  ?  I  think  they  are.  I  so 
answer,  judging  from  the  past,  believing  also  that  each  denomination 
has  an  accurate  knowledge  of  its  own  affairs,  its  wants,  and  its  funds, 
any  peculiarity  there  may  be  in  its  expression  of  doctrine,  any  pro- 
minent feature  in  its  history.  It  is  a  family,  and  has  its  own  ties  and 
responsibilities.  It  is  a  State,  and  ought  to  have  self-government, 
though  belonging  to  what  I  may  call  the  United  States  of  Methodism. 
Some  are  of  the  opinion  that  private  firms  build  better  vessels  than 
the  Admiralty.  Besides,  it  is  not  well  to  have  a  monopoly,  but  it  is 
well  to  have  friendly  competition.  You  are  very  likely  to  get  the  best 
of  everything  where  there  is  rivalry.  We  are  at  present  distinct 
communities,  and  as  such  have  businesses  of  our  own.  There  will 
some  day,  I  doubt  not,  be  an  organic  union  of  all  the  Methodist  bodies, 
an  event  which  Bishop  Butler,  if  he  were  now  living,  would  put  among 
probabilities  ;  then  we  can  have  our  central  premises  and  branches 
everj'where. 

The  Book-rooms  ought  to  be  so  managed  as  effectually  to  promote 
common  interests.  I  mean  this,  the  denominational  ought  to  be  hon- 
ourably and  cheerfully  subordinated  to  the  general  welfare.  Where 
there  can  be  mutual  assistance  it  should  be  readily  rendered ;  where 
united  action  may  be  required,  to  gain  a  great  object,  there  should  be 
an  instant  sinking  of  the  sectional  and  a  general  fusion  of  energies. 
There  ought  to  be  stout  and  combined  opposition  to  Ritualism, 
Rationalism,  Romanism.  Matters  having  to  do  with  national  educa- 
tion, temperance,  the  closing  of  pubUc-houses  on  the  Sunday,  the 
liberty  of  the  press,  or  "  unlicensed  printing,"  as  the  immortal  Milton 
expressed  it ;  marriage  laws,  the  removal  of  the  legislative  protection 
of  the  great  social  evil,  the  maintenance  of  institutions  and  doctrines 
of  old-fashioned  Methodism,  and  the  sweeping  away,  by  a  strong  hand, 
any  modern  adjuncts  likely  to  mar  its  beauty  or  retard  its  progress ; 
these,  among  other  subjects,  ought  to  secure  united  action  in  our 
literary  and  publishing  schemes.  While  remaining  denominational, 
we  must  be  more  catholic,  broader  in  sj'mpathy,  freer  in  action  ;  the 
tribes  ready  to  meet  and  present  an  unbroken  front  to  a  common  foe. 

It  would  be  a  step  in  the  right  direction  to  have  one  principal 
periodical,  in  addition  to  the  ordinary  magazines  (ordinary,  I  mean,  as 
to  regular  publication),  heartily  recognised  by  all,  receiving  contribu- 
tions from  all,  and  published  quarterly.  And  why  not  have  a  Year- 
Book?    Other  Churches  have  theirs,  and  thus  they  see  where  they 


EEV,   J.   C.   ANTLIFF'S  ADDRESS.  871 

are,  and  compel  others  to  see  what  they  have  done.  The  records 
would  be  comi)rehensive  and  permanent.  We  must  have  it.  It  would 
not  only  indicate  the  vastness  of  our  operations,  but  our  oneness.  If 
England  does  not  produce  it,  America  will,  and  we  would  rather  have 
this  from  our  Western  brethren  than  some  of  the  weather  we  get  from 
them ;  it  would  be  more  pacific.  And  we  must,  if  possible,  have  one 
Hymn-book.  This  would  be  received  by  others  as  a  sure  sign  and  fruit 
of  our  unity.  It  would  bring  us  together  in  public  all  over  the  world 
— the  Chinese  and  the  North  American  Indian,  the  mother  in  England, 
and  the  boy  in  Australia,  would  meet  at  the  throne  of  grace  in  praise. 
And  to  know  this  would  be  helpful  to  prayer  and  trust.  It  would 
preserve  and  strengthen  early  associations,  and  contribute  in  no  small 
degree  to  the  conservation  and  diffusion  of  true  Methodism,  strong, 
spiritual,  joyous. 

One  word  more.  As  we  are  faithful,  loving,  confiding,  as  we  seek  to 
be  right,  and  have  the  courage  of  our  convictions,  by  our  pen-work  and 
publishing  arrangements,  our  extensive  literature  will  be  kept  in  health 
and  power,  will  continue  to  expose  error  and  sustain  truth,  and  will 
give  to  our  Churches  a  wide  and  bright  future. 

Eev.  J.  C.  Antliff  (Primitive  Methodist  Church  of  Canada)  gave  the 
invited  address.  He  said  :  By  the  phrase  "  Denominational  Literature," 
as  employed  on  this  occasion,  I  understand  all  publications  issued  from 
the  press  in  the  interests  of  Methodism,  whether  intended  to  defend  it 
against  the  attacks  of  its  enemies,  to  propagate  its  doctrines  and  usages 
amongst  the  general  public,  or  to  promote  the  moral  and  sj)iritual  well- 
being  of  its  readers  in  general  and  its  adherents  in  particular.  The 
earliest  literature  of  Methodism  was  chiefly  polemical,  and  was  intended 
to  defend  it  from  the  misrepresentation  of  religious  but  mistaken  men, 
the  slanders  of  vile  men,  or  the  heretical  doctrines  of  false  teachers. 
But  at  the  present  the  polemical  has  given  place  to  the  didactic  and 
devotional,  for  the  period  of  attack  has  gone,  and  I  may  perhaps,  in 
passing,  be  allowed  to  suggest  the  inquiry  whether  we  are  not  now 
more  in  danger  from  the  laudation  of  friends  than  the  persecution  of 
foes  ?  Though  Methodism  has  never  made  great  literary  pretensions, 
yet  it  will  be  evident  to  any  one  who  will  take  the  trouble  to  look  over 
a  list  of  its  publications,  that  it  has  been  endeavouring  to  promote  the 
wellbcing  of  men,  not  only  by  the  voice  of  the  preacher,  but  also  by 
the  pen  of  the  author ;  and  from  the  beginning  the  press  has  been 
consecrated  by  it  as  an  ally  in  accomplishing  its  beneficent  purposes. 
Cur  literature  is  an  important  element  in  the  forces  that  make 
Methodism  such  a  power  for  good  in  the  world,  and  this  will  be  per- 
ceived at  once  if  we  imagine  the  condition  of  our  Churches  without  it. 
Though  I  purpose  to  call  attention  chiefly  to  periodical  literature,  I 
cannot  resist  the  temptation  to  say  a  few  words  relative  to  Methodist 
publications  of  a  more  substantial  and  permanent  character.    It  is  a 

BB  2 


872      THE  PRESS  FOR  THE  ADVANCEMENT  OF  CHRISTIANITY. 

significant  fact  that  Methodism  has  been  so  prolific  in  the  issue  of 
Commentaries  on  the  Holy  Scriptures,  which  indicates  that  our  people 
have  been  students  of  the  Word,  and  that  while  they  have  had  a  zeal 
of  God,  it  has  been  according  to  knowledge.  The  various  systems  of 
Theology  issued  from  the  Methodist  press  have,  in  not  a  few  instances, 
found  a  place  in  the  libraries  of  divines  outside  the  pale  of  our  own 
Church,  some  of  whom  have  borne  high  and  ungrudging  testimony  to 
their  worth.  But  the  literature  of  Methodism  is  specially  rich  in  books 
tending  to  develop  and  strengthen  the  religious  life.  What  shall  we 
say  of  its  hymns,  sung  to-day  in  more  languages  than  were  spoken  on 
the  day  of  Pentecost,  and  in  every  country  under  heaven ;  hymns 
prized  alike  by  lisping  childhood  and  tottering  age,  by  the  savage 
merging  into  civilisation,  and  the  most  refined  and  cultured  of  the  race ; 
hymns  containing  the  purest  Scriptural  sentiment  in  the  most  charming 
numbers  ?  How  many  have  been  encouraged 'and  strengthened  in  the 
Christian  warfare  by  these  hymns,  and  how  many  have  died  singing 
in  their  glowing  words  their-  final  triumph  I  So  that  the  hymns  of  the 
Wesleys  have  been  both  a  battle-cry  and  a  psean.  But  for  Christian 
biography,  Methodism  has  long  been  justly  famous,  and  this  form  of 
literature  is  recognised  by  all  as  peculiarly  helpful  in  the  promotion  of 
experimental  religion.  The  thrilhng  stories  of  the  heroism  of  Methodist 
preachers  has  inspired  multitudes  with  admiration  for  courage  in  its 
highest  manifestation,  and  strengthened  many  a  faltering  one  in  noble 
resolve  and  daring  action.  The  memoi'ies  of  its  saintly  men  and 
women,  many  of  whom  belonged  to  the  poorer  classes,  have  been 
helpful  in  enkindling  a  noble  enthusiasm  in  the  l)OSom  of  their  com- 
peers that  has  redeemed  their  lives  from  dreariness  and  drudgery, 
and  has  illuminated  their  humble  cottages  "  with  a  light  that  never 
shone  o'er  land  or  sea,"  while  the  records  of  its  death-bed  triumphs — 
for,  as  Wesley  said,  "  Our  people  die  well "  —has  encouraged  many  a 
Mr.  Feeblemind  in  the  prospect  of  crossing  the  river,  and  filled  his 
mouth  with  singing  as  he  passed  away  to  the  Celestial  City. 

And  much  as  I  admire  the  erudite  and  philDSophical  systems  of 
theology  published  by  Methodist  authors,  I  am  not  sure  that,  after  all, 
its  "  short  and  simple  annals  of  the  poor  "  have  not  been  more  service- 
able in  turning  men  from  darkness  to  light,  and  also  in  confirming  the 
faith  of  the  disciples  in  the  eternal  verities  of  religion ;  for  while  a 
logical  argument  may  not  be  understood,  a  holy  life  cannot  be  mis- 
understood. But  let  me  leave  this  more  general  view  of  denominational 
literature  to  call  attention  specially  to  the  particular  branch — periodical 
hterature,  which  is  chiefly  composed  of  popular  magazines ;  for  I  do 
not  refer  now  to  the  quarterly  reviews  which  are  pubUshed  mainly  in 
the  interests  of  the  more  cultured  of  our  people.  Most  of  the  several 
branches  of  Methodism  issue  their  monthly  periodicals,  and  I  think  the 
time  of  this  Conference  may  be  well  spent  in  considering  how  this 
literature  may  be  brought  to  the  highest  degree  of  perfection  in  respect 


REV.   J.   C.   ANTLIFF'S   ADDRESS.  373 

to  its  qualitj',  and  how  the  largest  circulation  may  be  secured.  All  will 
admit  that  our  periodicals  should  be  of  the  best  possible  character  as 
to  their  contents,  and  to  compass  this  end  our  best  writers  should 
supply  the  respective  editors  with  articles  hkely  to  both  interest  and 
instruct,  articles  pointed,  pithy,  and  pious.  Those  who  have  had  any 
experience  in  editorial  work  will  bear  me  out  in  the  statement  that  it 
is  not  always  the  persons  most  capable  of  writing  that  are  most  eager 
to  see  their  productions  in  print.  There  are  those  who  could  render 
the  highest  service  to  the  readers  of  our  periodicals,  who  are  apparently 
indifferent  to  this  phase  of  Christian  work  —  for  Christian  work 
assuredly  it  is.  If  necessary,  payment,  and  hberal  payment,  should 
be  made  to  writers,  yet  it  seems  only  reasonable  that  gifted  brethren 
should  be  possessed  of  enough  of  the  denominational  esprit  de  corps  to 
contribute  articles  to  their  own  periodicals,  rather  than  to  private  pub- 
lishing firms  because  a  few  more  shillings  or  dollars  would  thereby  be 
secured.  Let  our  denominational  literature,  then,  be  of  such  a  cha- 
racter that  it  may  fairly  compete  in  quality  with  the  issues  from  the 
secular  press.  But  it  appears  to  me  that  the  ablest  writers  should 
contribute  not  only  on  the  ground  of  a  denominational  sentiment,  but 
because  they  may  thereby  accomplish  in  a  larger  measure  than  they 
could  by  viva  voce  preaching  of  the  Word,  the  great  end  of  their 
ministry — the  salvation  of  souls.  Who  can  tell  into  how  many  hands 
a  magazine  may  come  ?  And  who  knows  the  influence  an  article  may 
have  on  the  minds  of  its  readers  ? 

A  minister  in  America,  who  for  many  years  has  been  eminently 
successful  in  his  pastoral  work,  some  years  ago  wrote  a  tract  Some 
time  after  its  publication  he  stated  that  he  had  received  so  many 
letters  from  those  converted  by  reading  this  tract,  that  he  believed  he 
had  been  manifold  more  successful  in  saving  men  by  that  single  tract 
than  by  the  whole  of  his  pastoral  'work.  And  so  the  periodical  press 
opens  a  most  extensive  field  of  Christian  usefulness,  and  therefore  able 
labourers  will  do  well  to  cultivate  it  assiduously.  But  further,  I  plead 
for  the  more  systematic  and  earnest  endeavour  ou  the  part  of 
preachers  and  Church  oflicials  to  increase  the  circulation  of  this  class 
of  denominational  literature.  There  is  a  possibiHty  that,  as  the 
salaries  of  ministers  increase,  and  the  amount  of  profit  realised  by 
the  sale  of  books  becomes  comparatively  insignificant,  that  this  sale  of 
denominational  literature  may  be  treated  with  indifference,  and 
perhaps  there  is  also  danger  on  the  score  of  the  feeling  that  it  is 
not  very  respectable  to  perform  the  duties  of  the  book  stewardship. 
We  contend,  however,  that  though  "  respectabiUty  "  is  good,  usefulness 
is  better.  The  duty  of  the  Methodist  preacher  is  to  do  good  by  every 
means  in  his  power,  and  when  dignity  and  duty  come  into  coUision, 
dignity  must  go  to  the  wall.  Perhaps  a  minister  may  feel  that  in 
urging  his  people  to  take  the  conncxional  periodicals,  mercenary 
motives  may  be  attributed  to  him ;  if  so,  he  may  devote  the  profits 


874      THE   PRESS  FOR  THE  ADVANCEMENT  OF  CHRISTIANITY. 

to  some  charitable  purpose,  and  let  it  be  known  that  such  is  his 
practice.  But  the  great  point  is  to  get  the  literature  into  the  homes 
of  the  people  constituting  our  societies  and  congregations  ;  and  if  a 
minister  will  not  perform  this  work  himself,  he  might  get  an  earnest 
and  active  layman  to  undertake  it.  Perhaps  it  is  impracticable  for 
Methodists  to  adopt  the  plan  which  has  been  found  to  answer  so 
admirably  by  certain  societies.  I  refer  to  the  employment  of  col- 
porteurs. But  if  the  plan  were  tried,  it  might  be  found  that  the 
employment  of  an  earnest  and  godly  man  who  could  hold  services  on 
the  village  greens  or  at  the  street  corners,  and  at  the  same  time 
dispose  of  Methodist  literature,  and  also  introduce  it  into  the  homes 
of  those  who  dwell  in  sj)arsely-populated  districts,  would  pay  in  every 
sense.  The  importance  of  disseminating  denominational  literature  has 
in  some  measure  been  already  indicated,  but  we  would  invite  further 
consideration  to  its  beneficial  results.  And  we  remark,  first  of  all, 
people  will  read.  Now  what  shall  they  read  '?  If  we  do  not  introduce 
good  reading  into  Methodist  homes,  it  is  not  improbable  that  others 
■  will  introduce  reading  that  is  not  good.  Especially  are  the 
young  in  danger  from  bad  literature.  And  the  class  of  reading  the 
young  indulge  in  will  have  a  plastic  power  on  their  character.  How 
important,  then,  that  it  should  tend  to  godliness  and  to  attach  them 
to  Methodism !  I  have  liope  of  the  family  that  reads  and  prizes 
its  own  denominational  literature;  but  if  parents  speak  disparagingly 
of  it,  and  introduce  other  serials  in  preference,  it  does  not  require  a 
prophet  to  foretell  the  results.  And  further,  the  importance  of  dis- 
seminating denominational  literature  will  appear  if  we  bear  in  mind 
that  it  will  be  carrying  on  its  silent  ministry  of  mercy  in  the  absence 
of  the  living  teacher.  When  the  itinerant  leaves  the  village  he  leaves 
the  periodical  behind  him,  and  during  succeeding  days  it  is  testifpng 
for  truth  and  righteousness,  and  acting  like  a  good  colleague  in  making 
and  deepening  religious  impressions.  Mr.  Wesley  wisely  insisted  on 
his  assistants  filling  their  saddle-bags  with  Methodist  literature. 
Mahomet  sought  to  gain  his  end  by  putting  swords  into  the  hands 
of  his  followers ;  but  Mr.  Wesley  endeavoured  to  gain  his  by  putting 
sermons  into  the  hands  of  his  people.  For  the  moral  and  spiritual 
results,  then,  that  may  be  secured,  let  attention  be  paid  to  this  matter. 
Nothing  has  been  said  relative  to  the  importance  of  the  publication  of 
denominational  literature  as  regards  the  profits  secured  by  the  several 
Connexions  for  the  benevolent  projects  of  the  Chm-ch.  While  this  is  a 
matter  of  some  importance,  it  is  not  by  any  means  of  primary  impor- 
tance. The  important  matter  is  to  compass  moral  and  spiritual  ends 
rather  than  to  secure  large  profits.  And  we  hold  that  the  latter  should 
be  carefully  and  constantly  subordinated  to  the  former, 

Eev.  Db.  Newman  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church)  :  I  was  delighted  to 
hear  the  essays,  and  especially  the  first,  the  sentiments  so  clearly  stated 


GEXERAL   KEMAKKS.  3/0 

with  such  felicity,  and  the  practical  geniifs  that  seemed  to  be  embodied 
therein.  I  rejoice  in  the  literature  created  for  the  Church  on  this  side  of 
the  Atlantic,  and  I  take  pleasure  in  saying  that  we  on  the  other  side  have 
consecrated  the  pen  for  the  creation  of  a  literature  for  our  people.  And 
while  I  join  with  my  friend  in  saying,  "  All  hail  to  Pope  and  Eigg  and 
Arthur  "  o4i  this  side,  I  want  to  add  to  that  brilliant  galaxy  Abel  Stevens, 
whose  magnificent  Church  history  is  read  on  this  side  as  well  as  on  the 
other;  and  then  Dr,  Whedon,  who  is  the  author  in  part,  and  the  editor  in 
all,  of  a  commentary  that  ranks  with  Lange,  and  Olshausen,  and  Adam 
Clarke.  Then  Vincent,  who  has  created  a  Sunday-school  literature  for  our 
side  of  the  water,  if  not  yours.  Then  as  the  essayist  was  kind  enough  to 
refer  to  distinguished  brethren  present,  I  may  also  mention  these  three 
bishops  who  are  here — Simpson,  Peck,  and  this  young  and  talented  Bishop 
who  is  the  Astronomer  of  American  literature.  And  I  do  not  forget  as  I 
look  to  the  brethren  of  the  South,  Bledsoe,  whose  Theodicy  reads  like  a 
production  of  Plato.  More  than  two  millions  of  dollars  are  invested  by 
American  Methodism  in  our  publishing  interests,  and  we  take  care  to 
educate  the  intellect  as  we  take  care  to  educate  the  heart.  Then  I  say  the 
mission  of  the  pen  has  not  yet  been  accomplished,  and  it  is  the  duty  of  the 
Church  to  provide  such  books  for  the  Church  as  shall  create  a  wholesome 
religious  sentiniL-nt  that  shall  be  a  power,  whether  on  this  side  of  the 
Atlantic  or  the  other. 

Ekv.  Dr.  McFkrkin  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South) :  I  should  like 
to  put  in  a  name  or  two  from  the  South.  We  have  our  Dr.  Summers  there. 
He  has  written  a  learned  commentary  on  the  Scriptures,  and  many  other 
books  not  only  in  theology  but  in  practical  life.  To  bu  sure  he  is  an 
Engli6>hman.  We  had  him  among  us  in  America,  we  have  naturalised 
him,  and  the  two  coudiined  make  him  a  first-class  editor  and  conductor  of 
the  great  Quarterly  liivuir,  which  we  think  is  equal  to  any  published  in 
the  English  language.  May  I  say,  sir,  that  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  South,  we  have  a  large  publishing  house  ;  we  have  a  large 
catalogue  of  capital  books — first-class  Methodist  books  ;  we  have  also  a 
large  amount  of  Sunday-school  literature.  We  have  our  Dr.  Cunnyngham, 
who  is  conducting  that  department  of  literature,  and  is  making  it  a  grand 
success.  Altogether  we  are  attempting  to  do,  and  I  think  we  are  accom- 
plishing, great  good,  in  the  literary  work  of  Methodist  progress  in  the  far 
South,  from  whence  some  of  us  come.  There  is  one  evil  some  of  us  think 
is  now  threatening  the  Church,  and  that  is  the  multiplication  of  second  or 
third  or  fourth  class  publications.  A  great  many  people  in  our  country 
think  they  can  edit  a  paper  when  they  can  do  nothing  else,  and  when  a 
man  cannot  travel  oircuit  any  longer  he  thinks  he  must  go  and  edit  a 
paper.  He  enlists  the  sympathy  and  endorsement  of  a  quarterly  or  an 
annual  Conference,  and  then  he  claims  to  be  our  Church  organ.  The  next 
thing  he  does  is  to  preach  some  heresy  :  he  says  he  is  not  responsible  to 
any  body,  that  his  publication  is  an  individual  enterprise,  and  then  he 
disseminates  bad  doctrine,  or  bad  sentiment,  or  erroneous  views,  among  the 
people  that  are  very  hard  to  correct.  I  think  that  every  annual  Conference 
ought  to  take  special  pains  not  to  sanction,  not  to  endorse,  any  publication 
whatever  that  is  not  sound  in  its  Christian  sentiments,  nor  sound  in  its 
Methodistical  views.  I  desire  to  make  these  statements,  that  while  the 
brethren  are  thinking  of  the  great  pul)lisliing  intorests  on  this  side,  and  the 
great  publishing  interests  at  New  York  and  Cincinnati,  they  may  not  forget 
that  we  have  at  Nashville  and  Tonnessee  grand  institutions  for  the  dis- 
semination of  Methodist  doctrines  throughout  the  world. 

Rev.  J.  Wenn  (Primitive  Methodist)  ':  I  did  not  apprehend  that  our  di-s- 
cussion  this  morning  would  (hift  into  a  kind  of  advertisement  of  book 
establishments  and  authors.     I  tiiink  wc  have  gone  as  far  as  we  need  in  that 


376      THE  PEESS  FOR  THE  ADVANCEMENT  OF  CHRISTIANITY. 

direction.  I  believe  that  the  gentlemen  who  have  been  named  as  authors 
are  quite  able  to  take  care  of  themselves.  There  was  a  sentence  in  the 
address  to  which  we  listened  to  which  I  think  we  should  now  refer.  The 
speaker  stated  that  our  object  should  be  to  ascertain  the  best  method  of 
getting  up  our  publications,  and  then  the  best  method  of  getting  them  into 
circulation.  Now,  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  our  people  nowadays  are 
all  readers.  This  was  not  so  a  hundred  years  ago,  but  it  is  so  to-day  ;  and  the 
question  I  think  should  be  asked,  What  do  our  people  read  as  a  rule  ?  Now, 
I  am  very  glad  to  know  that  our  denominational  literature  is  very  extensively 
read,  but  I  have  the  feeling — and  my  observation  tends  to  confirm  it— that 
to  a  very  large  extent  light  novel-reading  is  creeping  into  Methodist 
families,  and  that  light  novel-reading  is  taking  the  place  to  a  large  extent 
that  our  denominational  literatui'e  once  occupied.  I  do  not  complain  alto- 
gether about  novel-reading  ;  I  think  novel-reading  may  be  a  good  in  some 
respects.  I  think  it  may  be  a  good  in  this  respect,  that  perhaps  it  may  in- 
duce a  taste  for  reading  in  some  persons  who  otherwise  would  not  read  at 
all,  and  that  they  may  be  led  on  from  reading  a  novel  to  the  reading  of 
something  better.  But  the  question,  I  think,  is,  Could  not  all  denominational 
literature,  and  especially  our  magazines,  be  a  little  improved  in  the  direction 
of  instruction  ?  My  own  feeling  is,  with  regard  to  some  of  our  own . 
m.agazines,  that  they  are  a  little  too  sketchy  and  a  little  too  patchy.  I 
recollect  that  many  years  ago  our  large  magazine  contained  a  brief  and  sen- 
tentious history  of  the  Christian  Church,  which  I  consider  was  of  consider- 
able use  to  me*  and  I  think  of  considerable  use  to  many  others  of  my  age 
and  circumstances.  I  should  like  to  ask  whether  we  could  not  improve  our 
magazines  by  introducing  some  such  subject  as  Church  history  from  month 
to  month,  and  tliereby  not  only  interest  but  instruct  vast  numbers  of  our 
people  in  a  subject  Avhich  it  was  Lamented  yesterday,  or  the  day  before,  they 
were  considerably  ignorant  of  ?  There  might  be  other  subjects  taken  up 
and  treated  consecutively,  which  would  interest  and  instruct  at  the  same 
time,  and  be  made  a  very  great  blessing  to  our  people.  I  simply  suggest 
that  :  I  do  not  know  that  there  is  any  Methodist  organisation  at  present 
which  is  carrying  out  the  plan,  but  if  not,  I  should  say  it  might  surely  be 
tried  by  some  one  of  them,  and  then  we  should  see  with  what  success  the 
plan  would  be  followed. 

Rev.  H.  GriLMORE  (Primitive  Methodist)  :  I  ask  myself  this  question 
when  I  look  at  the  subject  we  have  under  discussion  this  morning.  What 
is  the  aim  we  should  seek  by  establishing  denominational  literature  ? 
That  question  has  been  answered  by  the  readers  of  the  papei"s — ^we  should 
seek  by  the  establishment  of  denominational  literature,  not  merely  to  diffuse 
the  peculiar  tenets  held  by  the  Methodist  Church,  l)ut  to  evangelise  the 
masses.  And  now  the  question  with  me  is  this.  Presuming  that  the  end 
is  kept  in  view,  how  are  we  to  disseminate  our  magazines  or  periodicals 
among  the  masses  ?  My  friend,  Mr.  Wenn,  has  just  stated  that  this  is  a 
reading  age,  and  that  he  is  afraid  that  a  very  great  deal  of  the  reading  of 
this  time  is  confined  to  light  literature,  and  that  is  a  bad  thing  and  a  tiling 
to  be  feared.  Now,  I  do  not  know  that  the  reading  of  light  literature  is 
such  a  serious  evil.  It  may  be  an  evil,  and  it  may  be  a  good.  In  what  is 
called  light  literature  or  novels,  there  is  always  the  presentation  of  an  ideal, 
and  the  ideal  may  either  be  of  a  low  or  a  high  order.  Now,  in  Christian 
light  literature,  the  presentation  of  the  ideal  will  always  be  of  a  high  order  ; 
and  it  strikes  me  if  we  were  able  to  circulate  our  denominational  literature 
among  the  masses,  we  should  be  able  to  displace  much  of  the  vicious  lite- 
rature that  the  masses  now  read.  In  order  to  do  that,  what  is  required  ? 
Not  that  we  shall  make  our  denominational  literature,  as  has  been  suggested 
by  Mr.  Wenn,  full  of  dry  reading,  that  you  shall  have  Church  histories,  and 
that  you  shall  have  metaphysical  disquisitions  in  regard  to  particular  forms 


GENERAL   REMARKS.  377 

of  religious  thought ;  but  that  you  should  make  your  magaxinc  literature 
light  and  popular  and  cheap  ;  that  it  should  be  open  to  the  trade,  and  that 
efforts  should  be  made  to  have  it  as  cheap  as  possible,  so  that  the  common 
people  might  be  able  to  get  it,  and  substitute  it  for  the  very  vicious  htera- 
ture  that  is  now  so  readily  obtained.  It  strikes  me  that  if  there  was  less 
regard  shown  by  our  book  establishments  to  the  making  of  money  by  our 
periodical  publications,  and  if  there  was  more  regard  paid  to  the  evange- 
lisation of  the  masses,  and  our  periodical  literature  was  published  cheaply 
and  in  a  taking  form,  we  should  then  accomplish  the  great  end  we  set  be- 
fore ourselves  of  leavening  the  minds  of  the  masses  with  the  truth  as  it  is 
in  Christ,  and  that  truth  may  be  taught  not  alone  in  the  severe  and  marked 
forms  to  which  my  friend  referred,  but  in  forms  the  people  would  be  glad 
to  receive. 

Rev.  R.  Abercrombie  (United  Methodist  Free  Churches)  :  I  quite  agree 
with  the  last  speaker  that  we  ought  not  indiscriminately  to  condemn  novels. 
John  Wesley,  to  whose  authority  we  often  appeal  ia  this  Conference,  and 
who  was  a  man  who  thought  for  himself — and  in  that  respect  a  man  who 
thinks  for  himself  is  the  best  disciple  of  John  Wesley — John  Wesley  pub- 
lished a  novel  called  Henry,  Earl  of  Moreland.  It  was  true  he  took  the 
liberty — he  was  a  man  who  assumed  great  liberty,  and  used  it  well — of 
altering  it ;  but  still  he  published  it,  because  he  thought  it  would  be  for 
the  advantage  of  Methodists  to  read  it,  and  I  tliink  it  would  be  for  the 
advantage  of  all  Methodists  nowadays  to  read  that  beautiful  story.  Now, 
I  do  not  think  that  the  great  thing  that  Methodism  has  done  has  been  its 
literature  ;  while  I  am  quite  ready  to  admit  a  good  deal  that  has  been  said, 
still  I  do  not  think  that  the  great  mark  that  Methodism  has  made  in  the 
world  has  been  through  its  literature.  The  books  that  are  most  read  now- 
adays, and  tlio  books  which  exert  an  influence  upon  the  greatest  multitude 
of  minds,  are,  after  all,  not  chieliy  Methodist  books.  It  would  be  very  easy 
for  me  to  mention  what  these  books  are  ;  but  that  would  be  hardly  pertinent 
to  the  subject  of  the  present  Session.  I  should  like,  however,  to  assign  one 
or  two  reasons  why  it  has  so  happened  tliat  the  literature  of  Methcxlism  is 
not  the  chief  thing  that  it  has  done  for  the  welfare  of  mankind.  First, 
Methodism  is  new.  Just  as  it  has  been  said  that  American  literature  cannot 
be  expected  as  yet  to  equal  the  literature  of  the  nations  of  Europe,  because 
America  is  new  ;  so  let  us  remember  that,  compared  with  many  Churches, 
Methodism  is  a  new  Church,  not  as  yet  an  antique  Church.  As  flowers 
and  ivy  often  grow  about  old  ruins,  so  hallowed  associations  gather  round 
old  countries  and  institutions,  and  lend  a  charm  to  their  literature  ;  but 
there  cannot  as  yet  be  the  charm  of  antiquity  about  jMethodist  literature. 
Then,  in  the  second  place,  we  Methodists  have  not  got  the  official  positions 
affording  ample  leisure  which  such  an  institution  as  the  Churcli  Establish- 
ment of  this  country  has.  And  then,  again,  in  the  third  place,  I  remember 
what  the  first  speaker  said,  that  the  press  was  dreaded  by  tyrannj-  more 
than  the  plague,  and  he  said  afterwards,  "  We  are  fettered."  To  a  very 
large  extent  liteiature  is  good  in  proportion  to  its  freedom  ;  and  while  I 
quite  agree  that  we  caimot  allow  unlimited  freedom,  yet  I  say  we  ought  to 
allow  as  much  latitude  as  we  can  consistently  with  the  truth,  if  we  are  to 
have  a  really  good  and  influential  press.  We  ought  to  be  latitudinarians  as 
far  as  we  can,  consistently  with  tlie  truth  ;  and,  in  my  judgment,  latitudi- 
narianism  is  far  better  than  platitudiuarianism,  and  far  more  likely  to 
promote  a  healthy  and  influential  press. 

Rev.  E.  E.  Jenkins  (Wesleyan  Metliodist)  :  This  subject  affects  me,  sir, 
in  this  way — I  can  only  speak  for  the  literature  on  this  side  of  the  water. 
I  must  allow  my  brethren  from  America  to  tell  us,  if  they  have  time,  what 
the  evils  of  a  vicious  literature  are  on  their  side.  One  of  the  greatest 
obstacles  which  we,  as  ministers,  have  to  encounter,  is  the  silent,  insidious 


378      THE  PRESS  FOR  THE  ADVANCEMENT  OF  CHRISTIANITY. 

circulation  of  the  most  vicious  literature  that  ever  discredited  learning.  We 
may  talk  about  dram-drinking  and  secret  drinking  ;  I  will  undertake  to  say 
that  secret  reading  of  wicked  books  is  as  bad,  as  productive  of  evil,  as 
secret  dram-drinking,  because  it  does  not  carry  with  it  its  own  condemna- 
tion. I  do  not  know  how  we  are  to  meet  it.  When  we  visit  our  homes  in 
our  pastoral  labour,  we  find  books  which,  if  read  by  the  parents,  would  be 
utterly  discountenanced  and  forbidden  ;  but  there  they  go  into  the  hands  of 
our  children,  and  we  know  it  not.  Silently  and  secretly  their  principles  are 
sapped,  their  virgin  minds  are,  if  not  corrupted,  stained  somewhat,  and  they 
are  weakened,  I  say,  in  moral  prowess  for  the  resistance  of  those  tempta- 
tions to  which  the  purest  are  exposed.  I  do  not  think  we  can  meet  novel- 
writing  and  novel-circulation  by  rival  novels.  I  only  speak  for  myself, 
but  I  utterly  condemn  religious  novels.  I  utterly  condemn  bringing  the 
Holy  Ghost,  and  making  Him  one  of  the  dramatis  jjersonce  of  a  novel ;  and  if 
we  think  that  our  young  people  will  read  religious  novels  in  preference  to 
novels  that  I  might  name,  we  are  mistaken.  We  may  put  them  into  our 
magazines,  and  they  may  possibly  attract  the  attention  of  pious  people,  and 
people  who  dare  not  go  outside  the  religious  novel  ;  but  I  maintain  that  we 
encourage  thereby  an  unhealthj-  literature.  We  cannot  compete  with  novel- 
writers,  but  we  can  preach  against  them  ;  we  can  make  it  pail  of  our  public 
teaching.  I  do  not  say  that  preachers  should  read  all  the  novels  that  come 
out,  but  it  is  of  infinite  importance  to  the  success  of  our  ministry,  and  the 
preservation  of  our  Churches,  that  we  should  denounce  a  corrupt  literature  ; 
which  I  AV'ill  undertake  to  sav  is  as  dangerous  as  the  literature  which  was 
prevalent  in  John  Wesley's  Ca  's,  when  Fiekling  and  Smollett  were  authors. 
Of  Sir  AValter  Scott's  novels  I  am  not  going  to  speak  either  this  way  or 
that,  except  that  they  are  innocent,  and  pure,  and  noble,  and  useful  in  com- 
parison with  some  of  the  most  respectable  and  widely  circulated  tales  that 
you  will  find  on  our  book-stalls  and  at  our  railway  stations.  And  then 
there  are  those  vile  productions  from  France,  put  into  vile  English,  I  am 
thankful  to  say,  because  they  cannot  live.  I  denounce  it,  sir,  because  these 
things  pander  to  vice  ;  they  are  not  fair  contributions  to  literature  ;  they  do 
not  build  up  a  literature,  but  they  are  prepared,  like  a  cheapened  alcoholic 
beverage,  simply  for  sale,  and  for  the  ruin  which  they  effect. 


Eev.  C.  K.  Marshall,  D.D.  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South), 
read  an  essay  ou  The  Newspaper,  and  the  Use  to  he  made  of  it  by  the 
Church. 

The  duty  assigned  us  for  this  hour  is  such  that  its  performance 
has  awakened  no  little  solicitude. 

The  theme  is  stated  thus:  "' The  Newspaper,  and  the  Use  to  be 
made  of  it  by  the  Church," 

Tlie  subject  is  world-wide  in  its  comprehensiveness,  and  grows  in 
importance  with  every  passing  year.  We  are,  in  a  necessarily  limited 
time,  to  discuss  the  general  utility,  disclose  the  possible  capacity,  and 
show,  if  we  can,  the  further  and  better  methods  of  employing  the 
religious  newspaper  to  meet  the  necessities  of  the  Christian  Church 
in  this  responsible  age. 

The  value  of  the  wide  sea  as  a  means  of  transportation,  a  source  of 
enrichment,  health,  diversion,  knowledge,  food,  and  the  means  of 
universal  civilisation,  is  not  more  patent  to  the  solid  business  classes 


EEV.  c.  K.  Marshall's  address.  379 

than  for  mucli  the  same  reasons  is  the  periodical  press — the  news- 
paper. Nor  are  they  wholly  wanting  in  some  features  of  resemblance. 
For  we  resort  to  the  newspaper  for  wealth,  food,  diversion,  learning, 
health,  soul-refreshment,  and,  in  some  sense,  for  transportation,  while, 
as  a  civilising  and  Christological  teacher,  it  is  everywhere  felt  to  be 
indispensable. 

Within  the  memory  of  not  very  old  men,  the  entire  commerce  of  the 
ocean  was  carried  on  in  sailing  vessels.  Steam  now  holds  the  trident 
of  the  seas ;  and  yet  it  was  once  demonstrated  by  an  eminent  ]Pnglish 
scientist  that  a  steamer  could  never  cross  the  Atlantic  ocean,  because  it 
could  not  carry  coals  enough  to  make  the  voyage.  But  a  steamer  from 
New  York  landed  at  Liverpool  the  same  week  with  a  good  freight,  a 
fair  list  of  passengers,  and  coals  enough  in  the  bunker  to  cremate  a 
whole  academy  of  speculative  scientists. 

The  triumph  of  the  steamer  spread  a  panic  among  sailing  vessels  in 
a  thousand  ports.  For  a  time  they  felt  that  every  sailing  bottom 
"was  in  danger  of  being  driven  from  the  high  seas,  and  that  the 
empire  of  Neptune  would  fall  into  u'reparable  disgrace.  So  with  the 
printing  press.  Other  generations  did  valuable  work  with  the  old- 
fashioned  Franklin  press.  They  sympathised  and  kept  abreast  with 
the  immemorial  sailing  bottoms  of  travel  and  trade  upon  the  sea,  and 
were  in  their  turn  startled,  and  trembled  for  their  craft,  when  the  steam 
press  was  found  to  be  completely  successful.  However,  like  the 
masters  of  sailing  vessels  who  had  accepted  the  situation,  and  adopted 
steam  motors,  they  early  learned  that  progress  and  power  went  hand 
in  hand,  that  evolution  was  not  destruction.  Hence  they  were  soon 
found  at  the  front  with  all  the  modern  improvements  of  the  steam 
press.  Instead  of  working  off  a  few  hundred  sheets  per  hour,  they 
throw  off  20,000  copies,  and  even  a  greater  number,  and  they  are 
cut,  pasted  and  folded  as  fast  as  they  are  printed.  On  one  occasion 
the  New  York  Herald  issued  a  septuple  edition,  requiring  twenty-three 
tons  of  white  paj^er ;  and  it  is  reported  that  the  Chicago  Times  has 
exceeded  that  performance.  There  are  papers  published  in  this 
metropohs  that  issue  about  a  quarter  of  a  million  copies  daily. 

Thus  we  have  a  printing  press,  not  hundred-handed,  but  myriad- 
handed — knowing  no  day,  no  night,  no  rest,  no  death — the  giant  of 
giants,  yet  the  servant  of  servants.  An  invention  of  little  less  impor- 
tance to  mankind  than  the  finding  of  a  new  continent  by  the  Genoese 
sailor.  For  if  one  discovered  a  hitherto  unknown  land,  the  other 
furnished  the  essential  illumination  which  has  redeemed  it  from  super- 
stition, l)arbarism,  and  barrenness,  making  it  at  once  the  home  of  the 
exile,  the  granary  of  the  world,  and  the  bulwark  of  the  Apostolic 
Protestant  Church. 

Men  resort  more  and  more  to  the  sea  in  search  of  all  that  is  costly 
and  desirable.  In  like  manner  do  they  go  more  and  more  to  the  news- 
paper for  inexhaustible  riches,  for  stores  of  mental  and  spiritual  food, 


880      THE  PRESS  FOR  THE  ADVANCEMENT  OF  CHRISTIANITY. 

religious  edification,  comfort,  and  for  inspiring  thought.  The  salt  sea 
and  the  newspaper  sea  have  alike  been  so  rapidlj'  and  similarly  utilised, 
that  now  they  diffuse  their  benign  influences  alike  over  the  habitations 
of  all  civilised  men. 

Nor  has  the  Church  been  an  idle  spectator  of  the  march  of  this  army 
of  iron-handed  workers.  She  has  been  among  the  first  to  tecognise 
their  powers  and  harness  them  to  her  Christianising  enterprises. 

Mr.  Wesley  had  a  quick  and  clear  perception  of  the  marvellous 
capacity  of  the  press,  and,  to  the  full  extent  of  its  availability  at  the 
time,  employed  it  in  his  peerless  mission  as  no  other  man  had  ever 
done.  He  was  early  in  the  field  of  periodical  literature,  and  circulated 
a  periodical  of  rare  excellence  and  great  usefulness.  It  still  flourishes. 
In  speaking  of  this  and  kindred  facts  concerning  that  apostolic  man, 
your  great  evangelical  orator,  Punshou, — the  Chalmers  of  the  Wesleyan 
pulpit,  whose  absence  from  this  body  we  mourn  as  if  Sirius  had  gone 
from  the  sky, — has,  with  inimitable  force  and  beauty,  said  that,  "  So 
far  as  we  can  ascertain,  the  first  man  to  write  for  the  million,  and  to 
publish  so  cheaply  as  to  make  his  works  accessible,  was  John  Wesley. 
Those  who  rejoice  in  the  cheap  press,  in  the  cheap  serial,  in  the  science 
made  easy,  which,  if  he  so  choose,  keep  the  working  man  of  the  present 
day  abreast  of  the  highest  thought  and  culture  6i  the  age,  ought  never 
to  forget  the  deep  debt  of  obligation  which  is  owed  to  him  who  first 
ventured  into  what  was  then  a  hazardous  and  unprofitable  field.  The 
man  who  climbs  by  a  trodden  road  up  the  steeps  of  Parnassus,  or 
drinks  the  waters  of  Helicon,  will  surely  think  gratefuUy  of  him  whose 
toil  made  the  climbing  easy,  and  cleared  the  pathway  to  the 
spring." 

Following  his  inspiring  example,  the  Church  in  England  has  been 
constantly  supplied  with  a  type  of  periodical  literature  inferior  in  no 
respect  to  the  best  productions  of  the  teeming  press  in  any  part  of  the 
world. 

Nor  has  the  American  Church  been  behind  your  most  enterprising 
workers  in  taxing  the  efficiency  of  this  powerful  engine  to  spread 
Scriptural  holiness  over  the  world.  It  has  filled  the  deserts  and 
solitary  places  with  its  weekly  harbingers.  Cities,  plains,  lakes,  and 
rivers  alike  rejoice  in  their  visitations.  It  may  be  deemed  a  safe  con- 
jecture to  say  that  300,000  weekly  newspapers  are  published  in  the 
interests  of  Methodism  on  the  Western  continent. 

What  now  can  be  said  that  has  not  a  thousand  times  before  been 
well  said  in  elucidation  of  that  right-hand  of  the  pulpit — the  religious 
newspajjer  ? 

Now  were  we  to  go  to  the  offices  of  shipbuilders,  or  the  docks  of  the 
great  seaports,  and  open  a  discussion  on  the  admitted  superiority  of 
steamers  over  the  old  style  of  sailing  bottoms,  we  doubt  if  busy  men 
would  pause  to  hear  the  monotonous  repetition.  But  were  we  to  offer 
them  a  plan  by  which  they  could  greatly  increase  their  business,  shorten 


REV,    C.    K.    MARSHALL  S   ADD?iE?S  381 

the  time  of  trips  from  shore  to  shore,  and  add  to  th.c  facility  and  com- 
fort of  triivellinff,  then  ■we  might  hope  for  a  respectful  hearing. 

And  that  suggests  precisely  our  object  and  aim  in  this  brief  paper. 
The  Church  Newspaper  has  done  hitherto  a  noble  work.  But  has  it 
not  undeveloped  capabilities  ?  Can  it  not  be  made  to  accomplish  a 
hundredfold  more  than  it  has  ever  yet  acliieved?  There  are  millions 
of  peoiile  in  our  Christian  lands  who  know  the  Church  newspaper  only 
by  the  hearing  of  the  ear.  Their  eyes  have  never  glistened,  nor  their 
hearts  throbbed,  over  its  luminous  and  instructive  pages.  And  there 
are  millions  more  to  whom  it  might  be  made  an  instrument  of  the 
greatest  usefulness,  the  higliest  thought,  perhaps  the  noblest  life. 

May  we  not  then  take  one  more  step  in  advance,  and  place  the 
Church  Press  upon  a  higher  plane,  give  it  a  broader  commission,  and 
invest  it  with  a  power  for  a  far  greater  amount  of  work  than  it  has 
ever  performed  for  tlie  Church  ?  This  seems  demanded  by  the  state 
of  the  social  compact,  the  sjiirit  of  missions,  the  claims  of  tlic  Gospel, 
and  the  peculiar  adaptation  of  the  press  in  the  hands  of  IMethodism  for 
the  boundless  fields  of  its  ministration,  its  world-wide  parish  f 

We  endow  orphanages,  hospitals,  charitable  institutions,  lecture- 
ships, colleges  and  universities.  Thereby  learning  is  lifted  to  a  realm 
of  the  utmost  enlargement  and  conservation ;  while  free  yet  thorough 
education  is  amply  provided ;  the  sick,  from  generation  to  generation, 
cared  for ;  orphans  are  furnished  homes ;  the  rising  generation  trained 
to  usefulness,  and  thousands  who  perhaps  had  been  lost  to  society  and 
the  ranks  of  scholarship  haA^e  been  and  are  being  trained  up  in  the 
path  of  usefulness,  honour,  and  exalted  worth. 

Permit  us  then  to  ask  :  Why  not  in  the  same  manner  endotv  a  Church 
Newspaper  ? 

If  it  has  been  found,  after  centuries  of  the  most  rigid  tests,  that 
well-endowed  colleges  and  universities  have  proved  great  public  and 
even  national  blessings,  then  we  claim  for  a  well-endowed  Church 
Newsi^aper  the  same  line  of  defence,  the  same  grounds  of  confidence, 
the  same  assurances  of  well-being  and  well-doing.  And  more,  we 
claim  an  apin'eciative  audience  incomparably  greater  than  that  of  the 
proudest  seats  of  learning,  —  a  probable  usefulness  immeasurably 
superior,  with  an  ability  to  teach  truths  infinitely  more  valuable  than 
the  curriculum  of  material  science  or  classic  lore.  For  it  is  far  greater 
and  better  for  a  man  to  know  that  "  being  justified  by  faith  he  has 
peace  with  God  through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,"  than  to  understand  all 
mysteries  and  all  knowledge,  and  be  able  to  herald  them  to  a  listening 
and  astonished  world  in  the  manifold  "  tongues  of  men  and  of  angels." 
That  is  the  chief  end  and  aim  of  a  Churcli  newspaper.  It  is  the  po'or 
man's  library,  the  rich  man's  monitor,  the  honest  counsellor  of  the 
young,  the  companion  of  the  aged,  the  consoler  of  the  troubled,  the 
comforter  of  the  sorrowing,  the  recorder  of  blessed  spiritual  births,  and 
still  more  blessed  spiritual  deaths.     It  is  the  defender  of  the  doctrines 


382      THE  PRESS  FOR  THE  ADVANCEMENT  OF  CHRISTIANITY. 

of  the  Church,  and  of  the  Holy  Bible,  as  God's  Word  ;  the  preacher  of 
glad  tidings,  and  the  encyclopaedia  of  vital  and  saving  truth.  There  is 
probably  not  a  member  of  this  august  assembly  who  would  pass  a 
week  satisfactorily  without  his  favourite  Church  newspaper.  Yet 
thousands  of  our  worthy  lay  members  are  not  able  to  pay  for  such  a 
paper,  while  hundreds  of  thousands  have  not  seen  and  learned  to  prize 
so  great  a  treasure.  Consider,  too,  that  Church  wor^k,  worthy  enter- 
prises, often  langaish  for  the  want  of  concert  of  action  among  the 
members,  and  this  for  the  want  of  information,  and  also  for  lack  of 
zeal — and  all  for  the  need  of  a  religious  newspaper.  Give  the  Church 
membership  a  complete  newspaper  education  on  the  momentous 
undertakings  of  the  Church,  and  you  will  soon  enlist  them  zealously 
in  the  success  of  every  good  word  and  work.  Such  a  paper  would  be  to 
them  a  source  of  light,  a  prompter  to  action,  a  bond  of  attachment,  a 
help  in  domestic  government,  a  source  of  unfailing  satisfaction  to  the 
children  of  the  family,  and  an  angel  ministering  at  its  altars. 

What  an  instrumentality!  What  a  mission!  Can  any  endowed 
institution,  any  college,  any  university  as  such,  achieve  a  grander 
work,  or,  indispensable  as  they  are,  contribute  more  to  the  amelioration 
of  society,  the  formation  of  character,  the  maintenance  of  order,  the 
suppression  of  vice,  the  conservation  of  rights,  and  the  dissemination 
of  those  essential  truths  which  constitute  the  base,  and  largely  enter 
into  the  fibre  and  grain  of  the  superstructure,  of  our  Christian  civilisa- 
tion? 

Why  not,  then,  endow  a  Church  Newspaper  ?  May  it  not  be  as  noble, 
praiseworthy,  and  useful  in  its  special  field  of  operations,  as  any 
endowed  institution,  whether  lectureship  or  university  ?  Would  it  not 
be  even  more  beneficent,  and  far  more  a  true  work  of  philanthropy  ? 
Would  not  its  vital  influeuces  sound  greater  depths,  and  soar  to  loftier 
summits,  and  wing  their  way  over  broader  fields  of  human  wants  and 
religious  needs  ? 

Besides,  the  cause  of  education  has  occupied  the  thoughts  and  shared 
the  splendid  bounty  of  the  wealthy  and  benevolent  to  such  an  extent, 
within  a  short  period,  that  to  carry  the  donations  of  the  fast-coming 
years  to  the  same  treasury,  thus  piling  Ossa  upon  Pelion,  is  not,  it 
would  seem,  to  diversify  the  liberality  of  such  generous  spirits.  For, 
could  they  see  other  agencies  of  usefulness  open  for  endowment,  they 
would  be  only  too  hapjiy  to  encourage  and  build  up.  Within  con- 
siderably less  than  twenty  years  the  sum  of  19,500,000  dollars  has  been 
given  in  America  to  the  cause  of  education,  and  nearly  all  of  it  for  en- 
dowing new,  or  increasing  the  foundations  of  old,  institutions  of  learning. 
At  that  rate,  within  the  next  quarter  of  a  century,  we  may  conclude 
that  not  far  from  25,000,000  dollare  more  will  search  for  worthy  objects 
of  bestowment  in  America  alone.  The  age  opens  no  other  field  of 
equal  importance  for  the  permanent  investment  of  true  philanthropists 
and  faitlif ul  Christians. 


REV.    C.    K.    MARSHALL'S   ADDRESS.  383 

Not  the  Universities  of  Edinburgh,  Oxford,  Yale,  Harvard,  the  Hopkins, 
the  Vanderbilt,  or  Brown,  will  stand  more  cuduringly  as  monuments  of 
exalted  worth,  princely  wisdom,  and  liberality,  than  will  the  Endowed 
Church  Newspapers  of  the  not  distant  years,  on  whose  bright  margins 
we  are  treacling  to-day.  And  not  to  a  few  scores  of  young  men,  from 
year  to  j'^car,  will  the  bounty  impart  its  benefactions,  but  to  ten  hundred 
thousand  glad  recipients  will  come  the  weekly  newspaper  as  a  richly- 
laden  argosy  of  sentiment,  and  thought,  and  knowledge — refining, 
culturing,  stimulating,  and  insphing  the  souls  of  their  innumerable 
readers.  The  foundation  once  estabhshed,  its  capital  would  swell  from 
year  to  year,  by  the  gifts  of  Christian  philanthropists,  until  the  weekly 
issue  of  the  press  would  sweep  over  the  bosom  of  the  Church  into  the 
highways  and  byways,  the  cellars  and  garrets,  the  thatched  hovels 
and  marble  halls,  the  fishing  smacks  and  the  palatial  steamers,  the 
abodes  of  fashion  and  the  shoi^s  of  labour,  almost  as  the  fluttering 
wavelets  of  the  sea. 

True,  but  few  such  endowed  papers  would  be  needed  by  the  Church. 
But,  think  for  a  moment,  what  could  be  accomplished  by  the  London 
Watchman,  or  the  Methodist  Recorder,  the  New  York  Christian  Advocate, 
the  Christian  Advocate  at  Nashville,  or  the  organ  of  any  member  of  the 
family  of  OEcamenical  Methodism,  if  either  or  each  of  them  had  a 
yearly  income  from  a  permanent  endowment  amounting  to  20,000 
dollars,  or  50,000  dollars,  or  100,000  dollars,  or  200,000  dollars.  What 
ability  they  would  command !  What  a  corps  of  writers  employ  I 
What  facilities  control  I  What  results  attain  I  Of  readers  what  a 
multitude  1 

We  can  imagine  no  other  possible  way  by  which  we  can  accomplish, 
but  with  the  Church  newspaper,  the  great  work  the  spirit  of  the  times 
demands  at  our  hands.  Our  existing  Church  papers  are  too  costly  to 
admit  of  but  a  mere  fraction  of  the  subscribers  and  readers  we  ought 
to  reach.  It  is  not  enough  to  put  a  religious  paper  into  the  hands  of 
every  tenth,  twentieth,  or  thirtieth  of  the  devout  and  circumspect 
members  of  the  Church — every  family  should  have  it.  Everybody  who 
will  take,  read,  and  seek  to  profit  by  it  should  be  supplied  with  it.  It 
should  be  circulated  in  hamlet,  city,  agricultural,  mining,  and  manu- 
facturing districts,  where  the  fields  are  now  white  and  ready  for  the 
harvest. 

It  is  also  of  the  most  urgent  moment  that  a  Church  keep  not  only 
her  doctrines,  but  her  essential  usages,  modes  of  teaching,  forms  of 
■worship,  methods  of  co-operation,  laws,  rules,  government,  under 
the  watchful  guardianship  of  the  most  scrupulous  conservatism  ;  for 
these,  like  the  Magna  Charta  of  a  mighty  realm,  often  carry  the 
solemn  significance  of  constitutional  bonds  and  Sjtatutory  law,  through 
all  the  ramifications  of  Church  life.  In  order  to  this  work,  it  is  not 
only  requisite  to  repeat  sentimental  promptings  to  religious  observances 
which  often  fiU  so  large  a  space    in    Church    periodicals,   but  there 


884      THE  PRESS  FOR  THE  ADVANCEMENT  OF  CHRISTIANITY. 

should  be  an  equipment  and  force   ready    and  competent  to  defend 
the  whole  field  of  thought,  and  doctrine,  and  fact. 

A  well-endowed  newspaper  could  commund  the  highest  talent  and 
the  most  accomplished  pens,  lay  and  clerical,  male  and  female.  Great 
magazines,  quarterlies  and  monthlies,  furnish  their  readers  with  light, 
the  oil  of  which  costs  something.  The  same  is  true  also  of  great 
political,  scientific,  and  economic  journals  in  London,  Paris,  Berlin, 
and  New  York.  But  hasty  contributions,  thrown  off  in  idle  hours,  for 
Church  periodicals,  hold  the  criterion  of  ability  at  too  low  and  too 
cheap  a  standard.  The  labourer  is  worthy  of  his  hire.  The  scholarly 
few  who  can  pay  for  costly  quarterlies,  enjoy  the  latest  utterances,  the 
aj)test  discussions  ;  but  the  multitude  miss  the  great  thoughts  of  the 
hour  in  their  fresh  originality,  force,  and  beauty.  Not  that  an  endowed 
newspaper  can  take  the  place  of  the  richly-freighted  magazines ;  but  if 
it  fall  below  them,  as  in  elaborateness  it  must,  it  will  rise  above  them, 
and  the  present  Church  newspai^ers,  in  the  ever-widening  field  of  its 
circulation  and  the  number  of  its  readers. 

On  the  Western  continent  the  secular  newspaper  has,  to  some 
extent,  assumed  the  ofiice  of  religious  advocate  and  teacher  to  meet 
the  growing  demand  for  cheap  religious  literature ;  and  one  edition 
in  each  week  may  be  denominated  semi-religious.  Look  at  the  com- 
mercial and  political  papers  of  Boston,  New  York,  Chicago,  St.  Louis, 
and  San  Francisco,  with  their  weekly  sermons,  not  one  or  two,  but 
often  four  and  five  able  discourses,  besides  many  other  religious  and 
ecclesiastical  articles.  These  papers  confront  the  Church  i)apers  of 
to-day  as  cheaper,  more  varied  in  information,  of  greater  usefulness, 
and  withal,  in  a  grand  display  of  ]3ulpit  eloquence,  all  which  is  carefully 
reported  and  resi:)ectfully  handled. 

These  journals  send  able  rexjorters  to  Christian  assemblages,  synods, 
conventions,  councils,  conferences,  and  fill  whole  columns  with  full 
and  comxjrehensive  notes  of  all  their  proceedings,  many  days  ahead  of 
the  ordinary  weekly  Church  papers.  Here,  before  you,  is  an  example, 
and  the  daily  reports  of  the  doings  in  this  Conference  fitly  illustrate 
English  enterprise  in  this  line  of  journahstic  activity.  Here  is  a  fair 
show  of  competition,  often  limited,  it  is  true,  to  generalities ;  but 
thousands  cannot  pay  so  high  a  price  for  the  items  and  details  of 
Church  interest  as  is  often  charged  for  the  Church  paper.  Think  of  a 
commei-cial  journal  issuing  an  edition  of  100,000  copies  on  Monday 
morning  full  of  the  cream  of  the  Sabbath  jDulpit,  representing  all 
Christian  denominations,  having  a  probable  reading  of  three  persons 
for  each  copy.  And  think  of  a  political  journal  like  the  Chicarjo  Times, 
receiving  the  Revised  Version  of  the  New  Testament  by  telegraph 
from  New  York,  nearly  a  thousand  miles  distant,  putting  it  in  type 
almost  without  a  fault,  and  showering  the  "lightning  edition,"  like  the 
countless  snowflakes  of  a  winter's  day,  all  over  the  American  continent, 
before  the  Church  papers  had  read  the   Sermon  on  the  Mount,  and 


EEV.    C.    K.    MARSHALL  S   ADDRESS.  S85 

nearly  all  the  work  of  a  single  niglit !  Thousands  would  not  for  months 
have  seen  that  New  Version  but  for  this  masterly  stroke  of  enterprise. 
Tn  London  there  are  at  least  two  daily  journals  which  issue  an  edition 
of  sometliing  like  200,000  copies.  Consider  also  the  fact  that  in  Paris 
a  paper  is  published  at  the  rate  of  nearly  200,000  daily,  with  a 
growing  demand  for  its  teeming  and  demoralising  contents.  We  refer 
to  these  instances  to  illustrate  the  i:)ower  and  possibilities  of  energy 
and  enterprise,  with  the  steam  press  in  hand  to  execute  their  purposes. 
We  are  not,  howe-ver,  unmindful  that  secular  papers  are  well  endowed 
in  the  growing  demands  of  commerce,  manufactures,  and  art — the  ad- 
vertisements of  business,  the  growth  of  i)opulations,  and  zeal  in  politics 
on  the  one  hand,  and  the  meretriciousness  of  prayerless  and  sco£&ng 
impiety  on  the  other.     Pounds  for  Caesar,  pennies  for  Christ. 

As  at  present  organised  and  conducted,  the  ordinary  Church  news- 
paper toils  under  gi-eat  and  fearf-ul  disadvantages.  Our  endeavour  is, 
if  possible,  to  open  a  new  and  practical  way  in  which  its  highest 
eflBciency  may  be  realised  by  the  Church.  Hence  we  propose  the  plan 
of  a  fixed  endowment  for  the  great  central  organs. 

Of  course,  these  suggestions  must  be  criticised,  and  possibly  opposed. 
But  gems  are  polished  and  their  worth  disclosed  by  attrition.  The 
march  of  science,  the  onward  movements  of  civilisation,  are  against 
the  wind  and  tide.  The  healing  art  fights  a  daily  battle.  Telegraphy 
won  its  spurs  amidst  lightning  and  thunder.  The  proud  old  sailing 
ships  decried  the  fleet  steamer.  The  side-wheel  steamer  laughed  at  the 
screw-propeller.  And  after  a  little,  the  motor  of  to-day  will  reluctantly 
surrender  its  laurels  to  the  coming  ship  which  will  glide  out  of  your  port 
on  Monday,  with  the  early  sunbeams  flashing  from  her  flag  at  the  fore- 
mast, and  scatter  its  delighted  passengers  among  their  homes  in  New 
York  on  the  following  Saturday  nigLb.  In  like  manner  the  endowed 
newspaper  may  lead,  but  the  old  style  craft  will  ever  find  ample  room 
for  labour,  a  supporting  patronage,  and  a  widening  field  of  usefulness. 

The  history  of  the  Christian  press  is,  after  all,  simply  wonderful. 
Its  nimble  fingers  have  surprised  mankind,  and  filled  no  mean  place  in 
pushing  forward  the  diversified  interests  and  developing  the  resources 
of  the  times.  Its  future,  however,  will  transcend  the  utmost  grasps  of 
our  imp.ginations,  as  the  youthful  efforts  of  Apollo  were  eclipsed  by 
the  greater  achievements  oi  his  riper  years. 

Beautiful  and  fragrant  flowers  rose  from  their  slumbers  to  adorn  the 
bosom  of  Delos,  and  the  walls  of  Troy  rose  up  from  the  earth  under 
the  inspiration  of  his  lyre,  while  his  arrow  executed  the  sentence  of 
death  on  the  devouring  Dragon.  But  the  flowers  were  not  so  fragrant 
nor  so  fruitful  as  have  been  the  innumerable  blossoms  and  cheering 
fruits,  springing  up  in  desolate  places,  under  the  heroic  labour  of  the 
Christian  press.  Nor  have  its  brave  arrows  merely  laid  jirone  in  the 
dust  one  fearful  monster;  but  it  has  chased  whole  broods  of  hissincr 
and  loathsome  reptiles  do^vn  to  Lethean  depths.     Not  the  walls  of  one 

C  C 


886      THE  PRESS  FOR  THE  ADVANCEMENT  OF  CHRISTIANITY. 

primal  city  have  its  stirring  notes  lifted  from  the  ground ;  hut  it  has 
inspired  the  builders  of  God's  own  temple,  "  whose  living  stones  are 
built  up  a  spiritual  house  ; "  and  it  has  helped  to  girdle  the  world  with 
the  ramparts,  walls,  and  palaces  of  Zion — the  crowning  glory  of  modern 
times.  These  have  been  its  aims  and  toils,  and,  while  much  remains 
to  be  accomplished,  we  may  humbly  rejoice  in  its  past  success. 

But  now,  it  seems,  the  demands  upon  the  Christian  press  having 
greatly  multiplied,  a  still  nobler  work  is  required  at  its  mighty  hands 
along  the  same  line  of  effort,  greatly  increased,  greatly  widened,  greatly 
accelerated,  aiming  at  similar  results  upon  a  more  elevated  plane  ;  the 
eneigies  of  the  Church  must  be  put  forth  to  meet  the  growing  emer- 
gencies. The  youthful  hands  of  the  mythical  lyrist  performed  well 
their  task,  but  in  maturer  years  he  lighted  up  the  heavens.  Then  was 
manhood's  day.  Is  not  the  day  of  our  maturity  sufficiently  near  to 
justify  the  assumption  of  a  higher  sphere  of  action  as  light-dispensers 
to  the  world  ? 

The  religious  newspaper  is  the  harbinger,  advocate,  and  exponent 
of  Christianity. 

And  Christianity  is  the  light  and  life  of  the  world.  Well  endowed, 
wisely  conducted,  and  ever  attended  with  the  benediction  of  the  Great 
Head  of  the  Church,  eternity  alone  may  disclose  the  extent  of  its 
elevating  power  and  usefulness.  And  those  whose  benefactions  may 
endow  and  give  efficiency  and  permanence  to  such  institutions,  will 
leave  legacies  to  posterity  more  nobly  monumental  than  the  Taj  Mahal 
of  Agra,  or  the  marbles  of  Westminster  ;  and  equally,  if  not  more,  useful 
to  mankind  than  any  endowed  college  or  university  in  existence. 

Such  an  offering  to  God  and  humanity,  whether  the  bestowment  of 
one  generous  hand,  or  the  contribution  of  many,  would  go  down  to 
the  coming  ages  with  an  anthem  of  triumph  on  its  lips  that  would 
swell  to  higher  Doxologies  with  each  revolving  year  for  ages.  Like  the 
glorious  patriarch  of  Uz,  it  would  truthfully  declare  with  each  passing 
day,  "When  the  ear  heard  me,  then  it  blessed  me;  and  when  the 
eye  saw  me,  it  gave  witness  to  me.  The  blessing  of  Him  that  was 
ready  to  perish  came  upon  me,  and  I  caused  the  widow's  heart  to 
sing  for  joy,  I  was  eyes  to  the  blind,  and  feet  was  I  to  the  lame.  Unto 
me  men  gave  ear,  and  waited  and  kept  silence  at  my  counsel.  They 
waited  for  me  as  for  the  rain,  and  they  opened  their  mouth  as  for  the 
latter  rain,  and  the  cause  that  I  understood  not  I  searched  out."  And 
these  will  be  the  precious  products  of  money  wisely  invested  and  thus 
devoted  to  Christ.  Such  will  prove  to  be  the  gracious  results  from 
generation  to  generation.  If  we  may  judge  the  future  by  the  educa- 
tional endowments  of  the  past,  one  might  almost  anticipate  that  to 
state  the  theory  of  so  u.seful  an  agency  were  to  secure  the  necessary 
funds  for  its  establishment.  For  true  men  '*  shall  bring  their  silver 
and  their  gold  with  them  unto  the  name  of  the  Lord  our  God,  and  to 
the  Holy  One  of  Israel." 


EEV.    n.   W.    HOLLAND'S   ADDRESS.  387 

Concerning  the  details  for  carrying  out  the  plan  of  an  endowed 
ncwsijaper,  this  is  not  the  j)lace,  uor  have  we  the  time  at  present,  to 
speak.  We  may,  however,  hastilj'^  glance  at  a  few  particulars  deemed 
essential.  1.  We  shall  need  large  sums  of  money  well  invested.  One 
solitary  hand  may  fix  the  foundation ;  or  many  contribute  to  it  as 
needs  will  arise.  2.  A  paper  of  so  large  a  circulation  as  is  suggested 
would  have  a  large  revenue  from  advertisements.  3.  At  least  two 
and  a  half  shillings  (fifty  cents)  should  be  paid  for  it.  4.  Pastors  of 
churches,  as  at  present,  should  not  be  taxed  to  act  as  its  agents. 
Every  church  would  have  a  Committee  on  religious  literature.  It 
should  be  their  duty  to  collect  subscribers  and  funds,  and  arrange  to 
supply  the  destitute  and  poor  with  coj)ies.  5.  Not  a  paper  should  be 
sent  to  any  committee  till  paid  for.  G.  There  is  no  reason  why  500,000 
copies  per  week,  by  any  one  endowed  paper,  and  even  a  larger  number, 
may  not  be  thus  circulated,  if  the  Church  resolves  to  do  it. 

Thus  we  shall  be  able  to  carry  into  practice  the  tlieory  so  ably 
developed  by  a  great  sainted  Scottish  divine,  of  "  the  expulsive  i)ower 
of  a  new  affection  "  as  a  religious  force ;  and  drive  from  the  Church 
periodicals  the  hastily-steeped  tea  of  religious  literature  on  the  one 
hand,  the  vile  and  polluting  nostrums  of  a  mercenary  press  on  the 
other,  and  furnish  a  pure,  life-inspiring  beverage,  alike  nourishing  to 
the  young,  and  invigorating  to  those  of  maturer  years. 

We  have  thus,  as  briefly  as  possible,  and  with  the  plainest  and  most 
practical  form  of  utterance,  endeavoured  to  illustrate  the  "  Use  to  be 
made  of  the  Newspaper  by  the  Church."  With  the  blessing  of  its 
Great  Head  upon  the  plan  suggested,  we  see  no  reason  why  it  might 
not  be  made  a  hundredfold  more  efficient  than  the  Church  press  has 
hitherto  proved  to  be.  And  it  would  greatly  facilitate  the  ushering  in 
of  a  more  glorious  day  than  has  yet  dawned  upon  our  lost  race. 

Eev.  H.  W.  Holland  (Wesleyan  Methodist),  who  delivered  the  invited 
address,  said :  The  subject  assigned  to  me  does  not  conceal  a  conspiracy  <  n 
the  part  of  the  Methodist  Churches  to  interfere  with  the  freedom  of  the 
press.  No  greater  calamity  could  happen  to  mankind  or  to  religion  than 
the  destruction  of  the  liberty  of  journalism  by  any  ecclesiasticjil  power 
whatever.  We  rejoice  in  the  freedom  of  the  press,  and  shall  still  more 
rejoice  when  it  is  established  in  every  nation  under  heaven.  Even  in  those 
instances  in  which  a  free  press  has  been  against  religion,  its  opposition  has 
been  overruled  for  good.  When  their  bright  shields  have  been  raised 
against  us,  they  have  only  served  to  reflect  back  the  light  of  Christianity 
into  those  depths  of  darkness  which  had  not  been  fully  searched  before.  Let 
a  free  press  take  its  course  in  the  free  intellectual  life  of  nations,  for  every 
new  development  and  combination  of  human  nature  only  tends  to  make 
more  clear  how  thoroughly  Christianity  is  prepared  for  every  possibility  of 
human  existence.  We  are  not  "  the  shadow  clothed  from  head  to  foot, 
which  keeps  the  keys  of  all  the  deeds."    We  behave  in  the  self-sustaining 

CC  2 


38b      THE  PRESS  FOR  THE  ADVANCEMENT  OF  CHRISTIANITY. 

and  self-propagating  power  of  the  Christian  religion,  and  have  no  doubt  it 
will  hold  its  own  in  spite  of  all  tyranny  and  in  spite  of  every  abuse  of  human 
freedom. 

Some  religious  people  are  unreasonable  in  their  expectations  with  regard 
to  the  secular  press.  They  are  an.xious  that  the  secular  journals  should 
do  a  religious  work  which  their  proprietors  never  started  them  to  do.  The 
answer  to  such  is  plain— become  proprietors  yourselves,  and  then  you  can  do 
what  you  like  with  your  own  papers. 

That  the  Churches  can  make  good  use  of  the  newspapers  of  their  own,  and 
still  leave  the  secular  journals  plenty  of  work,  there  can  be  no  reasonable 
doubt.  While  we  desiderate  in  secular  journals  the  presence  of  positive 
Christianity,  at  least  as  religious  news,  we  think  it  imperative  on  the 
Churches  to  maintain  papers  which  are  mainly  devoted  to  religion.  It 
should  be  the  work  of  the  Church  journal  not  only  to  uphold  the  Christian 
faith,  but  to  take  a  Christian  view  of  all  that  concerns  the  welfare  and 
happiness  of  man.  Whilst  it  is  certain  that  there  are  fixed  truths  and 
obligations  in  which  all  parts  of  the  universal  Church  are  equally  con- 
cerned, it  is  also  a  fact  that  the  Church  works  in  divisions  ;  and  so  it  comes 
to  pass  that  the  common  welfare  of  our  common  Christianity  is  on  the  whole 
effectively  served  by  denominational  journalism,  and  especially  when  it  is 
conducted  in  the  catholic  and  cultured  spirit  of  a  Christian  intelligence. 
The  Church  newspaper,  rightly  managed,  is  a  second  pulpit,  saying  many 
things  which  much  need  to  be  said,  and  yet  would  hardly  be  fitting  utter- 
ances for  the  minister  in  his  Sabbath  sermon. 

The  Christian  journal  can  do  much  in  the  way  of  direct  religious  teaching 
and  persuasion,  and  especially  in  those  practical  questions  of  Church 
administration  and  progress  which  need  to  be  so  frequently  expounded, 
directed,  and  enforced.  The  denominational  journalist  is  called  upon  to 
defend  Christian  truth,  not  only  by  expounding  new  errors  of  which  the 
multitude  know  very  little,  but  by  continually  freshening  and  reproducing 
the  great  essentials  of  religion.  The  old  truth  is  new  to  each  new  generation, 
and  for  their  sakes  should  be  restated  and  upheld. 

The  religious  newspaper  should  be  the  ftiithful  record  of  the  work  of  the 
Church  in  general,  and  especially  of  that  Church  for  the  sake  of  which  it 
exists.  The  recital  of  good  deeds  and  good  sayings,  the  weekly  statement  of 
what  God  is  doing  among  men,  furnishes  a  good  example  to  active  churches, 
and  ought  to  stimulate  those  that  slumber.  Yet  may  it  not  be  said  of 
some  Church  journals  that  they  are  too  lavish  in  their  praises  of  their  own 
Churches  and  their  own  men,  and  that  they  are  too  narrowly  religious  ?  In 
their  anxiety  to  avoid  novelties  they  become  very  tame,  and  occasionally 
fall  into  small  talk  in  their  eagerness  to  avoid  tall  talk.  It  would  be  better 
for  some  of  them  if  they  had  less  monotony  in  their  religious  news,  and  a 
more  lively  and  widely  Christian  view  of  things  in  general. 

We  have  studied  the  science  of  government  to  very  little  purpose  if  we  do 
not  know  that  the  wholesome  virtues  of  Christian  citizenship,  such  as  the 
sanctity  of  domestic  life,  industry,  integrity,  truthfulness,  purity,  and  the 


GENERAL  REMARKS.  S89 

enactment  and  observance  of  just  laws,  are  equally  necessary  for  all  nations, 
no  niattt  r  what  their  forms  of  government  may  be.  It  is  the  duty  of  the 
Church  newspaper  to  cherish  these  virtues  alike  under  the  Irish  liarp,  the 
British  ensign,  the  Russian  eagle,  and  last,  not  least,  under  the  Stars  ami 
Stripes.  The  Christian  ethics  of  politics  are  the  exclusive  right  of  no 
political  party  or  nation.  They  are  the  common  property  of  all  political 
parties,  of  all  nations,  and  of  all  men. 

The  science  of  political  economy  may  also  be  fairly  sustained  and 
illustrated  by  the  denominational  journalists  ;  but  against  that  hard  and 
heartless  school  of  political  economy  which  treats  the  working  classes  as  mere 
machines  it  is  his  duty  to  protest.  Mere  political  economy  can  never  be 
sufficient  for  the  government  of  men,  because  it  has  no  bowels  of  com- 
passion. The  religious  newspaper  must  step  in  here  to  soften  and  sweeten 
the  relations  of  capital  and  labour  by  the  influence  and  authority  of 
Christianity. 

Surely  the  Churches  ought  to  be  able  to  provide  a  good  family  newspaper 
for  their  average  people — a  paper  which  would  keep  them  fairly  abreast  with 
things  which  they  are  concerned  to  know,  which  would  both  create  and 
satisfy  the  thirst  for  general  knowledge  in  science,  literature,  and  art,  and  be 
alike  a  guide  to  the  young  and  a  solace  to  the  old. 

What  are  we  to-day  but  a  very  large  gathering  of  all  the  branches  of  the 
Methodist  family  from  the  ends  of  the  £arth  ?  And  what  will  the  Methodist 
newspapers  already  in  existence  say  in  regard  to  this  great  CEcumenical  Con- 
ference ?  Surely  they  will  preach  peace,  kindness,  progress,  and  fraternal 
union. 

Our  separate  histories  have  not  been  without  their  scenes  of  grief  and 
sorrow;  but  God  brings  us  together  in  peace  and  love  to-day,  because  God 
is  greater  than  history;  and  so  we  all  delight  to  take  the  old  advice  : — 

Let  bygones  be  bygones  ;  remember  how  deeply 

To  heaven's  forbearance  we  all  are  in  debt ; 
They  value  God's  infinite  goodness  too  cheaply 

Who  heed  not  the  precept,  forgive  and  forget." 

What  military  commander  could  win  a  victory  if,  whenever  he  went  into 
action,  he  ordered  all  the  wounded  to  be  carried  to  the  front  ?  The  various 
divisions  of  the  Methodist  army  are  congratulating  each  other  that  wounded 
feelings  are  going  to  the  rear.  The  Wesley  banner  waves  over  us  all,  and 
our  denominational  journals  may  well  call  us  to  turn  our  swords  against  the 
common  foe,  and  at  the  same  time  tell  us  to  form  a  closer  front  to  prevent 
the  enemy  from  getting  in  between  the  divisions. 

Rev.  Otis  Gibson,  D.  D.  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church):  Mr.  President,— 
It  seenas  to  me  that  right  in  the  line  of  the  papers  that  have  been  read,  the 
Church  generally  labours  under  a  great  disadvantage,  and  it  is  in  this,  that 
the  secular  daily  press  of  the  day  is  largely  in  the  hands  of  ungodly  men. 
I  speak  especially  of  our  own  country,  America.  No  small  part  of  this 
press  is  in  the  hands  of  men  who  despise  the  Gospel  and  defy  God,  and  by 


39U      THE  PRESS  FOR  THE  ADVANCEMENT  OF  CHRISTIANITY. 

their  subtle  influences  sometimes,  and  by  their  gibes  and  jeers  at  other 
times,  and  by  tlieir  jokes  and  sarcasms  at  the  expense  of  Christianity  at  all 
times,  are  educating  more  people  in  America  than  all  the  pulpits  and  all  the 
Christian  press  put  together.  That  is  my  sentiment,  my  belief,  my  opinion. 
The  daily  press  goes  everywhere.  "We  are  asking  constantly.  How  can 
we  reach  the  masses  ?  Infidelitj^  has  found  out  how — by  the  daily  press. 
The  Christian  family  reads  the  Christian  newspaper  ;  but  all  the  families 
read  the  daily  newspaper.  Now,  I  do  not  suppose  that  the  Church,  as  a 
Church,  could,  perhaps,  endow  a  daily  paper  and  put  it  out  as  a  Christian 
religious  paper  ;  but,  Mr.  President,  in  this  matter  infidelity  has  shown 
herself  wiser  than  the  children  of  light.  She  has  seized  with  a  bold  and 
reckless  hand  the  reins  of  the  secular  press,  and  is  guiding  it  on  to 
antagonise  the  Gospel  and  ruin  the  world.  Now  what  I  would  pro- 
pose is  this,  that  Christian  men  of  large  wealth  should  quietly — it 
need  not  be  known  or  heralded  to  the  world — take  up  the  idea  men- 
tioned in  the  invited  address.  Let  them  become  proprietors  of  the 
secular  press  :  let  our  men  of  wealth  buy  up  the  Times,  for  instance,  and 
the  New  York  Herald,  and  control  them,  and  let  the  paper  always  condemn 
sin,  and  always  and  everj-where  speak  with  respect  of  the  Christian 
religion,  and  the  work  of  the  Christian  Church.  Let  such  a  paper  as 
that  be  established,  not  all  the  time  preaciiing  the  Gospel,  but  all  the  time 
respectful  to  the  Gospel,  all  the  time  condemning  sin,  and  yet  all  the  time 
the  cheapest  paper  that  people  can  anywhere  procure,  all  the  time  having 
the  most  interesting  and  freshest  news  in  the  world,  and  you  will  command 
the  attention  of  the  people,  and  educate  tlie  masses  as  the  Ciiurch  has 
never  dreamed  of  educating  them.  We  have  schools  and  colleges,  and 
■universities,  and  to-day  in  this  line  the  Church  holds  the  balance  of  power 
in  the  world,  thank  God ;  but  in  the  direction  of  the  press  we  haA'^e  lost 
ground,  and  it  is  time  we  studied  this  question,  and  examined  this  ques- 
tion, and  tried  to  see  and  know  if  there  is  not  a  chance  for  us  to  exercise 
more  power  in  it.  We  are  a  providential  people,  from  the  beginning  we 
have  been  a  providential  people,  and  it  seems  to  me  that  here  is  a  pro- 
vidential opening,  and  I  would  like  it  to  go  forth  as  the  voice  of  this  Con- 
ference, and  with  no  uncertain  sound,  that  in  some  way  or  other  we  will 
control  and  command,  more  than  we  have  before,  the  daily  secular  press  of 
the  world.  In  all  our  great  commercial  centres,  this  is  a  A^ery  important 
matter.  In  our  country  we  have  heard  that  the  Sunday  sermons,  that  is, 
sermons  preached  in  a  Christian  pulpit,  are  published  on  Monday  morning ; 
but  more  often  seimons  are  published  on  Sundaj'  morning,  written  by 
some  godless  Bohemian  in  his  office,  and  it  is  not  always  the  best  kind  of 
Christian  pabulum  that  comes  to  Christian  people  under  such  circum- 
stances. Let  the  Church  wrest  back  from  infidelity  the  reins  of  the  secular 
press,  and  guide  this  chariot  of  power  along  in  lines  parallel  with  the 
Gospel  of  Christ  and  the  salvation  of  men. 

Rev.  Benjamin  St.  James  Fry,  D.  D.  (M.  E.  Church)  :  It  seems  to 
me  that  the  question  of  the  endowed  newspaper  has  been  so  completely 
answered  by  Dr.  Gibson,  that  it  need  not  occupy  any  ftirther  time  in  this 
discussion.  But  I  wish  to  saj'  that  the  scope  of  the  religious  journal  can 
only  be  properly  understood  by  considering  its  audience.  It  is,  as  one  of 
the  speakers  has  said,  a  second  pulpit,  but  it  is  something  more  than  a 
pulpit.  Take,  for  instance,  a  weekly  religious  paper  that  has  16,000 
subscribers.  It  goes  into  12,000  homes,  and  has  perhaps  three  readers  in 
each  home.  These  readers  are  the  editor's  audience.  He  has  the  old 
Christians,  the  old  men  and  old  women  who  cannot  get  to  Church  every 
Sunday  on  account  of  physical  weakness.  The  editor  gets  among  his 
hearers  the  women  in  feeble  health,  tiie  mother  so  burdened  with  family 
cares  that  she  needs  stay  away  from  the  sanctuary.     And  he  gets  the 


GENERAL   REMARKS.  391 

children,  whom  the  minister  especially  desires  among  his  audience,  but  so 
often  fails  to  secure.  I  am  sure  that  when  you  look  upon  religious 
journalism  from  this  point  of  view  you  will  see  how  important  a  field  the 
editor  has,  and  what  opportunities  for  securing  the  spiritual  welfare  of  his 
readers.  I  think  that  on  our  side  of  the  Atlantic  we  have  considered  our 
papers  too  much  as  mere  organs  for  the  preachers.  And  we  have  perhaps 
given  too  much  attention  to  agricultural  and  household  departments.  The 
reason  is,  that  our  farmers  who  largely  support  our  papers  are  often  unable 
to  take  more  than  one  paper  ;  and  as  we  desire  they  shall  take  ours,  we  aim 
to  supply  in  some  measure  the  need  for  the  secular  journal,  that  it  may  not 
become  a  rival.  But  the  older  religious  journal  should  break  away  from  this 
custom,  and  give  us  the  ideal  religious  weekly  journal.  The  religinus  ^tress  is 
wielding  great  power  in  the  Church,  and  exerts  great  spiritual  influence. 
It  is  a  powerful  agency  in  securing  support  for  the  benevolent  activities  of 
the  Church,  and  in  this  way  is  building  up  the  kingdom  of  our  Savioin-. 
Our  ministers  are  beginning  to  see  this  more  clearly,  and  are  giving  us  a 
more  hearty  support  than  in  the  past. 

]Mr.  C.  Shaw  (Methodist  New  Connexion)  :  It  has  been  stated  by  the 
speaker  who  has  just  sat  down  that  we  are  a  providential  people.  It 
strikes  me  that  with  respect  to  this  great  question  now  before  us  we  have 
lost  our  providential  guidance.  If  Mr.  Wesley  had  been  living  in  this  day, 
seeing  that  the  newspaper  is  the  great  factor  it  is  in  leavening  our  social 
and  political  life,  I  believe  that  his  sagacity  would  have  led  him  to  use  it, 
and  to  use  it  with  much  greater  power  than  it  is  being  used  with  to-day. 
He  would  most  certainly  have  regarded  with  very  serious  concern,  this  great 
power  which  is  now  in  our  midst,  but  in  respect  of  which  we  have  been 
very  indilferent.  In  fact,  sir,  there  has  been  a  feeling  of  hostility  cherished 
against  the  newspaper  for  too  inany  years  by  us  as  Methodist  people.  I 
remember  hearing  a  story — I  cannot  guarantee  its  historical  certainty — of  a 
Wesleyan  minister,  Mr.  McNicoll.  On  one  occasion,  when  he  was  leaving 
London  by  coach,  before  he  left  he  bought  a  newspaper.  The  brother  who 
accompanied  him  to  the  coach  was  very  much  astonished  that  a  Wesleyan 
minister  should  buy  a  newspaper,  and  he  asked  him  the  reason  for  making 
such  a  questionable  purchase,  when  Mr.  McNicoll,  with  a  great  deal  of 
sagacity  and  reverence,  replied,  that  he  wanted  to  see  what  God  was  doing 
with  the  world.  Now,  it  so  happens  that  the /newspaper  of  this  day  is 
most  broadly  revealing  what  God  is  doing  to  tlu  world.  It  is  the  news- 
paper that  is  leading  the  thought  of  to-day,  that  will  lead  the  thought  of 
days  to  come  ;  and  therefore  we  should  not  hesitate  to  see  it  and  to  seek 
to  control  it,  so  that  we  may  follow  it  in  all  those  large  channels  of  useful- 
ness which  it  is  opening  up  to  us  as  a  Methodist  community.  And  then, 
sir,  the  newspaper  must  be  broadly  in  sympathy  with  every  progressive 
and  every  free  development  of  human  society,  and  we  must  not  stand  aside 
lest  the  newspaper  should  go  too  rapidly  forward.  We  have  heard  de- 
nunciation in  this  Conference  of  the  brutality  of  a  majority.  Sir,  the  news- 
paper will  educate  the  majority  as  against  the  refined  tyranny  of  the  few. 
The  newspaper  will  contemplate  the  vast  interests  of  the  many,  and  will 
seek  to  place  them  on  a  basis  of  righteousness,  on  a  basis  of  freedom,  and 
on  a  basis  of  useful  development  in  all  directions.  I  hope  therefore,  sir, 
that  with  our  great  power,  commanding,  as  we  believe,  by  our  faith,  the 
power  of  God,  we  shall  bring  this  power  of  God  into  union  with  this 
miirhtiest  of  hiuuan  powers  in  our  midst  to-day;  so  that  our  newspaper 
literature  may  be  sanctified,  and  stjind  in  the  van  of  freedoni,  and  advocate 
such  great  (}uestions  as  that  wliich  has  been  brought  before  us  in  respect  to 
international  peace.  That  question,  and  other  related  questions,  can  be  best 
explained,  and  best  expounded,  and  best  enforced,  by  a  religious  newspaper. 

Bisuop  J.  P.  TilOMPciON  (Methodist  Episcopal  Zion  Church)  :   Mr.  Preai- 


392      THE  PRESS  FOR  THE  ADVANCEMENT  OF  CHRISTIANITY. 

dent,  I  v.'as  boi-n  in  "  Virginn,"  and  I  ijhould  like  to  say  to  the  people  who 
are  talking,  as  my  mother  used  to  say  to  me — that  while  others  were  speak- 
ing I  ought  always  to  keep  quiet.  I  do  not  wish  to  take  up  time,  but  I 
should  like  to  have  twenty  minutes.  I  am  not  very  swift  in  talking.  People 
in  this  country  read  at  lightning  speed.  I  used  to  teach  the  children  to 
count  time — one,  two,  three,  when  I  taught  a  common  school.  .  I  want  to 
say  to  these  dear  brethren  that  I  am  one  of  the  grandsons  of  our  father, 
John  Wesley,  born  in  1832,  of  the  Spirit  of  God.  I  have  remained  in  the 
Church,  thank  God,  with  all  my  imperfections,  from  that  day  until  now.  I 
was  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  Winchester,  Virginia, 
brought  from  darkness  to  light,  under  Dr.  Sheer's  preaching,  and  I  awoke 
to  a  new  life.  I  remained  there  until  I  joined  the  African  Metliodist 
Episcopal  Zion  Connexion  in  1837,  and  I  have  not  been  out  since.  I 
also  want  to  say,  as  I  said  on  board  the  City  of  Berlin,  that  I  was  between 
two  sections,  and  the  grandson  of  Mr.  Wesley,  in  Metliodism.  Plere  is  the 
North  and  here  is  the  South — what  we  call  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
North,  and  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South.  I  should  like  to  see  a 
broader  spread  of  true  charity  among  all  Methodists  of  all  names.  Next, 
I  claim  for  myself  and  my  people  the  right  to  remain  in  the  Connexion 
of  my  choice,  without  angels  or  men  directing  me  to  take  any  particular 
course,  or  saying  that  we  should  join  this  Church,  or  that  Church  ;  we 
fnllnw  the  example  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  or  the  other  Church,  of  our 
choice. 

Tlie  President  :  Will  the  Bishop  allow  me  to  remind  him  that  the 
question  is  "  The  newspaper,  and  the  use  to  be  made  of  it  by  the  Church  "  ? 

Bishop  Thompson  :  That  is  just  what  I  am  getting  at.  Though  we  are 
small,  we  are  not  "  the  least  among  the  thousands  of  Judah."  We  have  a 
paper,  and  are  trying  to  make  the  best  of  it,  in  Concord,  N.  C. ;  we  have  a 
book-room  in  New  York,  and  are  trying  to. make  the  best  of  it  ;  we  have  it 
located  in  Thompson  Street.  We  had  15,000  members  before  the  war.  It 
pleased  God  to  emancipate  the  people  in  the  South  ;  we  established  a 
paper  in  Concord,  North  Carolina.  We  started  several  ;  three  or  four  in 
Philadelphia ;  and  we  failed,  being  poor,  yet  we  struggled  on  and  paddled 
our  own  canoe.  We  have  been  doing  the  best  we  could,  and  now,  sir,  down 
in  the  South  we  are  labouring,  and  struggling,  and  toiling.  With  the  help 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  North  and  South,  we  hope  to  save  our 
people  from  the  Romish  doctrine. 

Rev.  a.  C.  George,  D.D.  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church)  :  I  am  sorry 
that  my  friend  Bishop  Thompson  was  interrupted  in  approaching  the  main 
feature  of  his  speech.  I  knew  that  he  would  get  to  it  after  a  while.  It 
reminded  me  of  a  coloured  man  I  once  met  in  Missouri — a  very  bright 
fellow.  I  asked  him  if  he  knew  how  to  read.  He  replied,  "Yes,  sah  ;  I 
mostly  knows  my  letters,  but  I  ain't  learned  their  names  yet."  There  is 
an  initial  stage  of  knowledge  on  this  subject  that  is,  nevertheless,  impor- 
tant. That  bright  man  did  learn  the  names  of  the  letters. afterwards,  and 
became  a  very  useful  man  in  the  connnunity  in  which  he  lived.  I  want  to 
say  a  word  or  two  in  regard  to  our  relation  with  the  secular  press.  As  it 
respects  our  Church  newspapers,  I  will,  however,  indulge  in  this  pre- 
liminary remark  :  that  I  think  everything  in  the  shape  of  a  tariff  for  any 
purpose,  however  godly,  should  be  taken  off  from  a  Church  newspaper,  and 
tliat  the  newspaper  should  be  furnished  to  the  people  at  as  low  a  price  as 
it  can  be  published  at.  I  am  opposed  to  the  suggestion  of  my  distinguished 
friend,  the  essayist,  that  these  papers  should  be  endowed,  for  I  fear  that  an 
endowed  nev/spaper  would  be  able  to  carry  along  a  very  stupid  editor  and 
a  stupid  editorial  management.  Religious  newspapers  increase  their  circu- 
lation, and  year  after  year  are  increasing  their  influence  among  the  people. 
It  is  a  possible  thing,  however,  for  a  secular  newspaper  to  be  made  too 


REV.   DR.    OSBORN'S   ADDRESS.  393 

good.  If  we  carried  out  tlie  idea  tliat  lias  been  mentioned  with  regard  to 
the  New  York  Herald  it  would  not  be  the  New  York  Herald  h)iig  ;  another 
paper  would  speedily  be  started  to  fill  the  place  which  it  tilled.  A  seculai- 
daily  journal  must  be  a  newspaper  telling  its  readers  everything  going  on 
in  this  world — that  is  its  business — good  or  bad.  Now  we  ought  to  see 
that  such  a  journal  does  tell  its  readers  all  the  good  things  which  are  going 
on  in  the  world.  Let  me  nuntion  an  instance  in  point.  We  had  a  Sunday- 
school  Convention,  which  was  narrowly  reported  in  one  of  the  leading 
secular  journals,  and  I  said  to  the  editor,  "  There  was  a  convention  of 
scientists  and  sceptics  a  little  while  ago,  and  j^ou  gave  them  three  columns  to 
our  one."  "  Well,"  he  said,  "  it  served  j'ou  exactly  right.  I  stiuled  with  a 
very  good  report  of  your  convention,  and  I  sent  the  newsboys  to  the  do«r 
of  the  liall  to  sell  my  papers,  and  they  sokl  about  one  hundred  copies  ;  at 
the  infidel  convention  we  sold  a  thousand  extra  copies  every  morning." 
Now  I  suppose  the  fact  is  that  the  men  who  publish  these  papers  publish 
them  to  make  money  by  them  ;  and  the  very  first  thing  we  have  to  do  is  to 
see  that  they  are  bought.  I  do  not  think  that  at  this  time  it  could 
be  regarded  as  a  startling  thing  for  a  minister  to  purchase  a  secular 
newspaper  in  this  country  or  any  other  country  ;  he  must  do  so  if  he  is  to 
understand  what  is  going  on  in  tlie  world.  Tlaen  we  ought  to  see  that 
matter  is  furnished  for  the  secular  journals  such  as  we  would  like  to  have 
read  in  our  families.  It  is  possible  for  us  to  exert  a  very  powerful 
influence  in  this  direction.  The  men  who  publish  secular  papers  desire  to 
make  good  papers  of  them — acceptable  papers.  I  believe  most  ministers 
like  to  be  told  occasionally,  in  a  quiet,  modest  way,  when  tliey  preach  good 
sermons.  I  do.  Perhaps  it  is  because  it  so  seldom  happens,  that  I 
appreciate  it  the  more  Avhen  I  do  hear  it.  Well,  newspaper  editors  and 
publishers  like  to  know  that  they  print  papers  which  are  acceptaljle  to  the 
people.  They  like  to  know  that  they  are  welcomed  into  our  families; 
they  like  to  know  when  they  publish  something  specially  pleasing,  and  we 
should  take  pains  to  let  them  know  it.  I  nuiy  say  that  my  relation  to 
secular  journals  has  always  been  very  gratifying  to  me,  and  I  never 
manifested  a  willingness  to  work  on  those  papers  for  nothing,  witliout 
finding  a  ready  place  in  newspaper  type. 

The  Doxology  having  been  sung,  the  President  pronounced  the 
Benediction,  and  the  Conference  adjourned. 


In  the  Afternoon  the  Conference  reassembled  at  Half-past  Two 
o'clock,  Dr.  Douglas  presiding.  After  Devotional  Exercise,  the 
Eev.  Dr.  Osborn  read  an  essay  on  MetJiodist  Hymnology. 

He  said :  My  topic,  dear  friends  and  brethren,  would  scarcely  be 
exhausted  iu  as  many  hours  as  I  have  minutes  allowed  me.  I  have, 
therefore,  this  advantage,  that  no  one  can  expect  me  to  do  full  justice 
to  it.  I  can  but  skim  the  surface  of  it,  leaving  others  to  explore  the 
length  and  breadth  if  they  should  be  so  disposed.  I  have  another 
advantage  iu  the  fact  that  I  have  not  to  speak  of  anj^thing  done  J// 
Methodism,  but  only  of  something  done  for  it.  I  do  not  narrate  any 
accomplished  labour,  or  propound  any  plans  of  new  -s/ovk,  but  simply 
speak  of  a  work  of   God  wrought  for   us ;    a  distiu,{uishing   favour 


394      THE  PRESS  FOR  THE  ADVANCEMENT  OF  CHRISTIANITY. 

bestowed  on  one  of  the  tribes  of  the  siairitual  Israel  by  Him  who  does 
not  need  either  man's  work  or  His  own  gifts ;  so  that  here  there  will 
be  no  temptation  arising  to  praise  ourselves  in  any  degree.  A  famous 
person  is  said  to  have  written  under  his  own  picture,  "  Utrecht  planted 
me,  Louvain  watered,  Rome  gave  the  increase,"  and  another  wrote 
under  it  a  second  inscription  "  Here,  then,  God  had  nothing  to  do,  and 
did  nothing."  But  we  should  write  under  the  picture  of  our  great 
poet-preachers  the  full  apostolic  text ;  and  if  we  say,  "  Epworth  planted, 
Oxford  watered,"  we  should  add,  "  and  God  gave  the  increase ;  but 
neither  is  he  that  planteth  anything,  neither  he  that  watereth,  but  God 
that  giveth  the  increase."  Born  in  a  house  full  of  poets ;  well  drilled 
in  Virgil,  Horace,  and  Homer  ;  then  led  into  the  wildernesses  of  America, 
to  learn  German,  French,  and  Spanish,  and  many  still  harder  lessons 
concerning  himself,  John  Wesley  was  brought  to  London  to  join  his 
brother  Charles,  who  had  undergone  a  similar  discipline,  and  to  find 
the  best  opportunities  of  usefulness  for  both  of  them. 

Little  Britain  has  been  invested  with  a  factitious  interest  by  a  famous 
American  writer.  But  for  me  the  once  obscure  and  dingy  street  has 
become  of  greater  real  interest  than  any  of  the  seven  cities  that  con- 
tended for  the  honour  of  giving  birth  to  Homer,  or  all  of  them  together. 
For  there  Charles  Wesley  found  peace,  and  the  fountain  of  sacred  song 
within  him  was  unsealed,  to  be  closed  up  no  more  to  all  eternity.  John 
had  long  before  been  a  poet,  and  in  the  preceding  two  years  had  pub- 
lished two  collections  of  Psalms  and  Hymns ;  one  in  Charleston  and 
one  in  London.  But  when  he,  too,  had,  three  days  after  his  brother, 
tasted  that  the  Lord  was  gracious,  and  entered  into  the  rest  of  faith, 
his  poetry  reflected  the  influence  of  the  new  birth.  Henceforth  the 
two  brothers  co-ojjerated  both  as  authors  or  editors,  and  as  author  and 
editor,  as  they  had  never  done  before ;  acting,  whether  singly  or 
together,  for  the  good  of  mankind.  The  total  number  of  their  poetical 
publications  is  fifty-four,  making  on  an  average  one  every  year  from 
the  time  of  John's  return  to  London  till  his  decease. 

If  the  history  of  Methodism  may  not  be  read  in  these  publications,  it 
may  at  least  be  largely  illustrated  from  them ;  and  its  character  as  a 
revival  of  experimental  and  practical  godliness  clearly  exhibited  and 
strongly  defended. 

Before  his  conversion  Charles  had  published  nothing ;  and,  though 
John  had  been  six  years  an  author  and  editor,  there  is  no  evidence 
that  he  had  composed  any  valuable  hymns.  But  afterwards  he  wrote 
much,  though  slowly.  His  modesty,  however,  has  made  it  difficult  to 
distinguish  his  productions  from  those  of  his  brother.  He  used  both 
his  own  verses  and  his  brother's  to  confirm  and  illustrate  his  views  at 
every  opportunity,  so  that  some  publications  contained  both  prose  and 
verse.  In  addition  to  their  separate  publications,  hymns  were  added 
at  the  end  of  a  sermon,  a  tract,  a  new  number  of  the  Journal,  an  appeal, 
as  the  case  might  be,  and  so  the  battle  of  the  faith  was  fought  with 


REV.   DR.   OSBORN'S  ADDRESS.  395 

additional  weapons.  His  first  publication,  a  collection  of  Forms  of 
Prayer,  was  reissued  after  his  conversion,  with  hymns  attached.  The 
spirit  of  holy  joy  and  deep  devotion  was  beautifully  exhibited  in  the 
follo\ving  Morning  Hymn : — 

♦*  Jesus,  Thy  light  again  I  view, 

Again  Thy  mercy's  beams  I  see, 
And  all  within  me  wakes  anew 

To  pant  for  Thy  immensity. 
Again  my  thoughts  to  Thee  aspire, 
In  fervent  flames  of  strong  desire. 

•*  But,  oh  !  what  offering  shall  I  give 
To  Thee,  the  Lord  of  earth  and  skies  ? 

My  spirit,  soul,  and  fle^h  receive, 
A  holy,  living  sacrifice. 

Small  as  it  is,  'tis  all  my  store  ; 

More  shouldst  Thou  have  if  I  had  more. 

•*  Thou  hast  my  flesh,  thy  hallow'd  shrine, 

Devoted  solely  to  Thy  will  ; 
Here  let  Thy  light  for  ever  shine  ; 

This  house  still  let  Thy  presence  fill ; 
O  Source  of  Life — live,  dwell,  and  move 
In  me,  till  all  my  life  be  love  1 

*  0,  never  in  these  veils  of  shame, 

Sad  fruits  of  sin,  my  glorying  be  I 
Clothe  with  salvation,  through  Thy  name, 

My  soul,  and  let  me  put  on  Thee  I 
Be  living  faith  my  costly  dress, 
And  my  best  robe  Thy  righteousness. 

**  Send  down  Thy  likeness  from  above, 
And  let  this  my  adorning  be  ; 
Clothe  me  with  wisdom,  patience,  love, 

With  lowliness  and  purity  ; 
Than  gold  and  pearls  more  precious  far, 
And  brighter  than  the  morning  star. 

"Lord,  arm  me  with  Thy  Spirit's  might, 
Since  I  am  call'd  by  Thy  great  name  ; 

In  Thee  let  all  my  thoughts  unite. 
Of  all  my  works  be  Thou  the  aim  ; 

Thy  love  attend  me  all  my  days, 

And  my  sole  business  be  Thy  praise  I " 

The  brothers,  as  they  went  on  -wTiting,  thought  of  nothing  but 
expressing  their  own  feelings  and  supplying  their  own  wants.  They 
poured  out  their  souls  in  joy  and  in  sorrow,  and  sang  not  now  as 
a  task,  but  spontaneously  by  night  and  by  day. 


396      THE  PRESS  FOR  THE  IDYANCKMENT  OF  CHRISTIANITY. 

They  taught  their  converts  the  same  lesson,  and  singing  becanae  a 
far  more  general  practice  than  it  had  been.  In  churches  and  chapels, 
by  the  wayside,  and  in  the  field,  in  the  shop,  and  in  the  kitchen,  and  in 
the  parlour,  on  foot  and  on  horseback,  men  learned  to  sing.  On  the 
bed  of  death  and  around  it;  and  then,  of  course,  around  the  grave 
they  sang.  These  poet-preachers  and  preacher-poets  supplied  their 
people  with  matter  for  song,  the  sense  of  pardoning  mercy  opened  their 
lips  ;  and  the  priests  being  clothed  with  salvation,  it  was  quite  natural 
and  in  order  that  the  saints  shouted  aloud  for  joy.  It  was  thus  from 
the  beginning  of  the  Gospel.  St.  Paul  bids  the  Ephesians  to  be  filled 
with  the  Spirit,  speaking  to  themselves  in  psalms  and  hymns  and 
spiritual  songs,  singing  and  making  melody  in  their  hearts.  St.  Jerome 
tells  us  that  in  his  time  you  could  not  go  into  the  fields  but  you  might 
hear  the  ploughman  at  his  hallelujahs,  the  mower  at  his  hymns,  and 
the  vine-dresser  singing  David's  Psalms.  St.  Chrysostom  pleads  that 
men  should  be  careful  to  teach  their  wives  and  children  to  sing  at  their 
ordinary  work,  and  especially  at  meals,  such  Divine  songs  being  an 
excellent  antidote  against  temptations  ;  for  (says  he)  as  "  the  devil  is 
never  more  ready  to  ensnare  us  than  at  meals,  either  by  intemperance, 
ease,  or  immoderate  mirth,  therefore,  both  before  and  at  meals,  we 
should  fortify  ourselves  with  psalms  ;  nay,  and  when  we  rise  from  the 
table  with  our  wives  and  children,  we  should  again  sing  hymns  to  God." 
It  was  so  in  Wicklyffe's  days,  whose  disciples  are  said  to  have  been 
called  Lollards,  from  their  constant  singing.  It  was  so  at  the  Reforma- 
tion, when,  after  the  first  metrical  psalm  had  been  sung  at  St.  AnthoUn's, 
"VVatling  Street,  at  five  o'clock  in  the  morning,  on  a  given  day  in 
September,  1559,  the  practice  spread  so  fast  and  so  far  that  Bishop 
Jewell  writes  only  six  months  afterwards,  "Religion  is  now  somewhat 
more  estabhshed  than  it  was.  For  as  soon  as  they  had  once  commenced 
singing  in  public,  in  only  one  little  church  in  London,  immediately  not 
only  the  churches  in  the  neighbourhood,  but  even  in  towns  far  distant, 
began  to  vie  with  each  other  in  the  same  practice.  You  may  now  see 
at  Paul's  Cross  sometimes  six  thousand  persons,  old  and  young  of  both 
sexes,  all  singing  together,  and  praising  God.  This  sadly  annoys  the 
mass  priests  and  the  devil.  For  they  perceive  that  by  these  means 
the  sacred  doctrines  sink  more  deeply  into  the  minds  of  men,  and  their 
kingdom  is  weakened  and  shaken  at  almost  every  note."  In  these  days 
of  universal  singing  in  churches  as  well  as  in  chapels,  and  when  music 
is  taught  in  almost  every  elementary  school,  we  can  scarcely  form  an 
idea  of  the  value  of  singing  as  an  evangelistic  agency,  or  of  its  power 
as  a  testimony  to  the  truth  in  the  early  days  of  Methodism.  Then,  to 
sing  out  of  a  place  of  worship  was  an  impropriety,  if  not  an  offence, 
while  within  doors  in  some  places  the  exercise  was  left  to  a  few,  and 
coldly  and  perfunctorily  performed.  But  the  Wesleys  claimed  the  right 
for  all,  and  urged  the  duty  upon  all.  "  Sing  all ;  sing  lustily,  and  with 
a  good  courage,  not  as  if  you  were  either  half  dead  or  half  asleejj ;  sing 


KEY.    DR.    OSRORN'S   ADDRESS.  397 

modestly,  do  not  bawl;  sing  skilfully,  keeinng  time  and  tune;  sing 
spiritually,  as  if  you  saw  the  Lord  before  you."  Such  were  the  pitliy 
advices  of  John  Wesley.  Charles  took  another  line.  He  vindicated 
the  practice  in  the  followang  lines,  written,  it  is  said,  on  the  occasion  of 
his  having  been  interrupted  in  preaching  by  the  singing  of  some  sailors, 
to  whom  he  promised  that  if  they  would  listen  to  the  sormon,  and  come 
again  next  day,  he  would  give  them  a  song  to  their  own  Luue  ; — 

"  Listed  into  the  cause  of  sin. 

Why  should  a  good  be  evil  ? 
Mnsic,  alas  !  too  long-  has  been 

Press'd  to  obey  the  devil. 
Drunken,  or  lewd,  or  light  the  lay 

Flow'd  to  the  soul's  undoing, 
Wiflened  and  strewed  with  flowers  the  way 

Down  to  eternal  ruin. 

"  Who  on  the  part  of  God  will  rise, 

Innocent  sound  recover. 
Fly  on  the  prey  and  take  the  prize, 

Plunder  the  carnal  lover  : 
Strip  him  of  every  moving  strain. 

Every  melting  measure. 
Music  in  virtue's  cause  retain, 

Rescue  the  holy  pleasure  / 

Come,  let  us  try  if  Jesus's  love 

Will  not  as  well  inspire  us  : 
This  is  the  theme  of  those  above. 

This  upon  earth  shall  fire  us. 
Say,  if  your  hearts  are  tuned  to  sing", 

Is  there  a  subject  greater  ? 
Harmony  all  its  strains  may  bring, 

Jesus's  name  is  sweeter. 

"  Jesus  the  soul  of  music  is  ; 

His  is  the  noblest  passion — 
Jesus's  name  is  life  and  peace. 

Harmony  and  salvation  ; 
Jesus's  name  the  dead  can  raise. 

Show  us  our  sins  forgiven  ; 
Fill  us  with  all  the  life  of  grace, 

Can-y  us  up  to  heaveru 

"  Who  hath  a  right  like  us  to  sing, 

Us  whom  His  mercy  raises  ? 
Merry  our  hearts,  for  Christ  is  King, 

Cheerful  are  all  our  faces : 
Who  of  His  love  doth  once  partake 

He  evermore  rejoices  ; 
Melody  with  our  hearts  we  make, 

Melody  with  our  voices. 


S98      THE  PRESS  FOR  THE  ADVANCEMENT  OF  CHRISTIANITY. 

"  He  that  a  sprinkled  conscience  hath, 

He  that  in  God  is  merry, 
Let  him  sing  psalms,  the  Spirit  saith, 

Joyful  and  never  weary  ; 
Offer  the  sacrifice  of  praise, 

Joyful  and  never  ceasing  ; 
Spiritual  songs  and  anthems  raise, 

Worship,  and  thanks,  and  blessing', 

"Then  let  us  in  His  praises  join, 

Triumph  in  His  salvation, 
Glory  ascribe  to  love  Divine, 

Worship  and  adoration  ; 
Heaven  already  is  begun  ; 

Open'd  in  each  believer  ; 
Only  believe,  and  still  sing  on, 

Heaven  is  ours  for  ever." 

Having  thus  settled  the  question  of  singing,  he  teaches  us  to  pray 
how  to  sing  rightly,  in  the  following  lines  : — 

"  To  magnify  Thy  awful  name, 
To  spread  the  honours  of  the  Lamb, 

Let  us  our  voices  raise  ; 
Our  souls'  and  bodies'  powers  unite, 
Regardless  of  our  own  delight, 

And  dead  to  human  praise. 

"  Still  let  us  on  our  guard  be  found. 
And  watch  against  the  power  of  sound 

With  sacred  jealousy; 
Lest  haply  sense  should  damp  our  zeal, 
And  music's  charms  bewitch  and  steal 

Our  hearts  away  from  Thee. 

«  That  hurrying  strife  far  off  remove, 
That  noisy  burst  of  selfish  love, 

Which  swells  the  formal  song  ; 
The  joy  from  out  our  hearts  arise, 
And  speak  and  sparkle  in  our  eyes. 

And  vibrate  on  our  tongue. 

"  Thee  let  us  praise,  our  common  Lord, 
And  sweetly  join  with  one  accord 

Thy  goodness  to  proclaim  : 
Jesus,  Thyself  in  us  reveal, 
And  all  our  faculties  shall  feel 

Thy  harmonising  name. 

"With  calmly -reverential  joy, 

O  let  us  all  our  lives  employ 

In  setting  forth  Thy  love  j 


EEV.   DE.   OSBORN'S  ADDRESS.  399 

And  raise  in  death  our  triumph  higher, 
And  sing  with  all  the  heavenly  choir, 
That  endless  song  above  1 " 

The  revival  of  Methodism  might  have  been  expected  to  be  a  revival 
of  singing,  on  the  general  grounds  of  analogy,  as  it  was  a  revival  of 
religion.  But  the  revival  would  not  have  spread  so  far  or  lasted  so 
long  if  that  which  was  sung  had  been  of  inferior  quality.  But  the 
Psalms  and  Hymns  and  Spiritual  Songs  with  which  God  provided  us 
through  the  Wesleys  were  well  adapted  to  sustain  the  revival  in  per- 
manence. They  laid  a  deep  foundation  in  catholic  doctrine,  and 
embodied  saving  truth  in  almost  every  verse.  They  exhibited  Christ 
in  all  His  offices ;  and  celebrated  His  praise  in,  every  department  and 
aspect  of  the  work  of  redemption.  They  invoked  the  Holy  Spirit  as 
the  ever-present  Teacher,  Guide,  and  Life  of  the  Church.  They 
unfolded  and  applied  the  promises,  they  illustrated  the  precepts,  they 
allegorised  the  histories,  and  paraphrased  the  prayers  of  Scripture. 
They  eschewed  matters  of  small  moment,  and  dealt  with  abiding  and 
everlasting  realities.  And  they  did  all  this  in  a  style  worthy  of  their 
subjects — grave,  perspicuous,  manly.  The  Wesleys  learned  the  happy 
art  of  being  deep  without  obscurity,  tender  without  feebleness,  and 
bold  without  irreverence.  Their  devotional  language  does  not  suggest 
painful  associations,  or  encourage  unbecoming  familiarities  with  the 
Most  High.  All  states  of  mind,  and  almost  all  exercises  of  mind  are 
portrayed  in  their  pages,  so  that  they  may  be  as  helpful  in  private  as  in 
the  assembly.  And  all  truth  being  presented  not  in  an  abstract  form, 
but  in  combination  with  experience,  instruction  and  edification  go 
hand  in  hand,  and  the  formulary  of  devotion  becomes  a  vade  mecum  of 
instruction.  The  advantage  of  this  method  in  the  case  of  the  unlettered 
is  inestimable,  but  it  is  not  confined  to  them,  for  quickened  affections 
lead  to  quickened  perceptions,  and  firmer  retention  of  truth  in  all 
classes  of  society. 

So  we  have  sung  on,  we  and  our  fathers,  for  a  hundred  and  forty 
years.  But  suppose  we  had  been  confined  to  Watts  and  Doddridge, 
to  Tate  and  Brady,  or,  to  go  farther  back,  to  Patrick  and  Barton,  or, 
farther  back  stUl,  to  Sternhold  and  Hopkins,  where  would  Methodism 
have  been  ?  We  may  imagine — no,  I  think  we  hardly  could  imagine— 
its  existing  and  spreading  :  where  should  we  be  ?  I  think  we  should 
hardly  know  ourselves,  without  its  hymns.  God  might  have  con- 
verted the  Wesleys  and  made  them  powerful  preachers,  without 
enduiug  them  with  the  gifts  of  song  and  music.  There  have  been 
myriads  of  believers  who  lived  and  died  without  "Jesu,  lover  of  my 
soul,"  or  "  Now  I  have  found  the  ground  wherein  ;  "  but  what  should 
WQ  have  done  without  them  ?  and  what  should  we  do  now  without 
them  ?  What  should  wc  do  at  night  without  "  Safe  in  Thy  arms  I  lay 
me  down  "  ?    What  should  we  do  at  the  class  without  "  Help  us  to 


400      THE  PRESS  FOR  THE  ADVANCEMENT  OF  CHRISTIANITY. 

help  each  other,  Lord  "  ?  "What  should  we  do  at  the  sick  bed  ■withoT:(t 
"  Come  on,  my  partners  in  distress "  ?  What  at  funerals,  without 
"  Come,  let  us  join  our  friends  above,"  and  the  rest  ?  And  how  shall 
we  sufficiently  praise  the  Giver  of  all  good  for  these  invaluable  helps 
in  the  way  to  heaven  ? 

Let  us,  then,  hold  fast  to  them,  and  not  allow  them  to  be  superseded 
by  inferior  compositions.  Let  us  cultivate  good  taste  by  the  study  of 
good  models,  and  teach  our  children  and  people  everywhere  to  do  so. 
Good  theology,  good  poetry,  good  sense,  and  good  taste  are  no 
hindrances  to  religion,  as  the  experience  of  one  hundred  and  forty 
years  has  shown.  Nor  are  poor  poetry,  doggerel  hymns,  and  wretched 
music  at  all  conducive  to  the  spread  of  the  Gospel.  Surely  the  future 
is  not  to  be  so  much  worse  than  the  past,  that  those  things  which  have 
been  so  great  a  help  are  now  to  be  regarded  as  a  hindrance. 

Rev.  James  M.  Buckley,  D.  D.  (M.  E.  Church) :  If  I  had  been 
assigned  an  essay,  I  should  read ;  being  invited  to  make  an  address, 
I  shall  speak,  though  I  shall  lose  the  privilege  of  presenting  many 
pages  of  manuscript  to  the  Publishing  Committee  to  read,  enjoyed  by 
some  of  my  predecessors.  We  are  told  in  the  New  Testament  that 
after  our  Divine  Lord  established  the  Holy  Communion,  the  disciples 
sang  a  hymn  and  went  out  into  the  Mount  of  Olives.  The  record 
omits  the  hymn ;  tradition  does  not  tell  us  what  it  was ;  fancy  finds 
no  place  for  its  flights.  If  we  had  that  hymn  the  whole  Church 
would  be  liturgical,  for  it  would  be  sung  at  every  communion  service. 
But  we  not  only  know  that  our  Methodist  fathers  sang,  but  we  know 
what  they  sang.  The  best  description  of  Methodist  hymnology  is 
Wesley's  preface  to  the  Hymn-book.  A  recent  writer  has  spoken 
disparagingly  of  that  preface,  calling  it  a  singularly  egotistical  produc- 
tion. Had  he  remembered  that  Mr.  Wesley's  hymns  had  been 
mutilated,  and  the  mutilation  charged  upon  Wesley,  he  would  have 
seen  some  reason  for  it  on  the  occasion  of  a  formal  publication 
of  the  hymn-book.  In  the  introduction  Wesley  says,  "  They  con- 
tain all  the  important  truths  of  our  most  holy  religion,  wliether 
speculative  or  practical ; "  that  "  this  book  is,  in  effect,  a  little 
body  of  experimental  and  practical  divinity;  "  that  "in  these  hymns 
there  is  no  doggerel ;  no  botches ;  nothing  put  in  to  patch  up  the 
rhyme ;  no  feeble  expletives.  Here  is  nothing  turgid  or  bombast ; " 
that  "here  are  no  cant  expressions;  "  that  there  is  the  spirit  of 
poetry  "  such  as  cannot  be  acquired  by  art  and  labour,  but  must  be  the 
gift  of  nature."  Also,  "  that  which  is  of  infinitely  more  moment  than  the 
sjoirit  of  poetry,"  namely,  "  the  spirit  of  piety  ;  "  and  closes  with  the 
simple  majesty  of  an  apostle  as  follows  :  "  When  Poetry  thus  keeps  its 
place  as  the  handmaid  of  Piety,  it  shall  attain,  not  a  poor,  perishable 
wreath,  but  a  crown  that  fadeth  not  away."  I  hold  that  these  obser- 
vations, from   the  point  of  view  suggested,  are  abundantly  justified. 


REV.   DR.    BUCKLEY'S  ADDRESS.  401 

There  have  been  poets  in  all  ages  — poets  of  ha-ture,  poets  of  humanity, 
and  poets  of  religion.     Poets  of  religion  must  sing  of  nature,  for  "  The 
heavens  declare  the  glory  of   God,  and  the  firmament   showeth  His 
handiwork."     They  must  sing  of  humanity,  for  religion  from  its  very 
derivation  implies  a  man  bound  to  God.     And  the  Christian  poet  must 
sing  of  the  stupendous  facts  of  revelation.    These  are  generally  blended, 
but  we  find  that  some  religious  poets  are  rather  poets  of  nature,  others 
poets  of  humanity,  and  others  poets   of   spiritual  religion.     The  cir- 
cumstances under  which   Methodism   arose  determined  the  predomi- 
nancy of  the  practical  and  experimental  over  the  doctrinal,  or  rather 
over  the  purely  natural,  (for  they  were  forced   into  doctrinal  discus 
sions  which,  however,  always  presented  them  from  the  standpoint  of 
Christian  experience),  which  was  characteristic  of  the  entire  hymno- 
logy.     Now,  a  critical  analysis  of  Methodist  hymnology  shows,  in  the 
first   place,    that  it  was  deeply  emotional.     Many  of  the  hymns,  as 
illustrated   before  us   this  afternoon,    seem  to  have  been  written  in 
tears,  sometimes  of  love,  and  at  other  times  of  joy  or  sorrow.    Neither 
Jeremiah  nor  David   had  more  pathos    than   Charles   Wesley,  John 
Bakewell,  and  John  Wesley,  especially  in  certain  translations.     James 
Montgomerj'  may  be  added,  not  specially  remarkable  for  pathos,  but 
occasionally  pouring  it  forth  as  from  a  full  heart.     In  the  next  place 
they   were   intensely  personal.      That  was   alleged  as  a   great  fault. 
When  it  can  be  proved  that  David  was  not  personal,  that  Paul  and  all 
the  New  Testament  writers  were  not  personal,  then  it  will  be  time 
enough  to  defend  our  hymns  against  a  charge  which  is  the  crowning 
merit  of  the  hymns  of  Isaac  Watts — the  only  name  to  be  mentioned 
in  comparison  with  that  of  Charles  Wesley ;  the  productions  of  the 
best  hymnists  of  the  middle  ages ;  of  Montgomery,  Thomas  Olivers 
and   of  the  best  writers    of   our  times.      These  hymns,    too,   had   a 
remarkable  blending  of  reverence  and  boldness  not  often  found,  and 
almost  alwaj^s,  when  found,  connected  with  a  substratum  of  belief  in 
Arminian  theology.     Some  of  the  Socinian  hymns  appear  to  be  very 
reverent  ;  but  close  inspection  shows  under  them  all  a  tone  of  seK- 
assertion,  growing  naturally  out  of  their  whole  scheme  of  religion.     On 
the  other    hand,   the  Calvinistic  hymns  are  so   regardful   of   Divine 
Sovereignty  as  to  dwarf  and  destroy  them.     Take  the  suthme  hymn 
of  Dr.  Watts  :— 

"  Eternal  Power  1  whose  high  abode  ^ 

Becomes  the  grandeur  of  a  God." 


How  does  it  end  ? 


♦'  God  is  in  heaven  and  men  below, 
Be  short  our  tunes,  our  words  be  fe^  ; 
A  solemn  reverence  checks  our  songs, 
And  praise  sits  silent  on  our  tonguea." 

D  D 


402      THE  PRESS  FOR  THE  ADVANCEMENT  OF  CHRISTIANITY. 

Compare  with    this    Charles  Wesley's  hymn   on  the  same  subject, 
beginning : — 

*•  0  Thou,  whom  all  Thy  saints  adore, 
We  now  with  all  Thy  saints  agree  ] 
We  bow  our  inmost  souls  before 
Thy  glorious,  awful  majesty." 

Now  when  he  says, 

"  Tremble  our  hearts  to  find  Thee  nigh,'* 
he  also  says, 

"  To  Thee  our  trembling  hearts  aspire  ;" 

and  then,  having  seen  the  pUlar  and  the  flame  of  fire,  he  exclaims ; — 

"  Still  let  it  on  the  assemblage  stay. 
And  all  the  house  with  glory  fill ; 
To  Canaan's  bounds  jwint  out  the  way, 
And  lead  us  to  the  holy  hill." 

He  closes  with  a  sublime  reference  to  the  heavenly  "  Assembly  of  the 
Church  of  the  first-born,"  where  we  are  to  sing  God's  everlasting  love. 
I  ask,  what  feelings  under  those  circumstances  were  engendered  before 
"Mount  Sinai,  which  is  in  Arabia"?  But  Wesley  was  singing  of  the 
innumerable  company  of  the  general  "Assembly  of  the  Church  of  the 
first-born  ;"  and,  while  he  revered,  he  also  felt  within  him  the  Divine 
aspiration  which  God  had  given  him,  and  dared  to  express  it.  Again, 
these  hymns  were,  many  of  them,  argumentative,  sparks  struck  out  in 
the  midst  of  the  battle.  The  marvellous  thing  in  Charles  Wesley  is 
that  he  should  turn  from  pathos  that  melted  the  heart  at  once,  to  an 
argumentative  hymn  that  sent  the  "  Unitarian  fiend  back  to  his  own 
hell,"  to  a  character  which  showed  that  his  soul  was  at  white  heat. 
Then  these  hym^is  were  wonderfully  ex|>erimental.  They  were  required 
by  a  new  exjperience,  and  they  marvellously  expressed  it.  Further- 
more, these  hymns  were  introspective — a  very  dangerous  thing.  Woe 
to  the  man  who  spends  his  time  in  considering  his  own  feelings,  who 
writes  a  diary,  and  states  that  on  Monday  he  found  himself  intensely 
peevish,  and  on  Tuesday  very  dogged  and  very  obstinate.  He  is  a 
dangerous  man  to  live  with,  and  a  dangerous  man  to  be  in  the  Church 
of  Christ.  Our  introspective  hymns  began  in  that  way ;  but  how  were 
they  modified  ?  Because  they  appealed  to  common  experience.  When 
a  man  looked  into  his  own  soul  to  see  if  he  could  truthfully  sing  the 
hymns,  he  went  to  the  prayer  and  class  meetings  and  found  others 
having  the  same  experience,  and  with  them  singing,  he  was  drawn 
away  from  himself  to  Christ,  the  source  of  his  hopes.  These  hymns, 
in  addition  to  the  introspective,  were  hteral,  as  distinguished  from  being 
truly  figurative.  Some  of  the  hymns  in  Charles  Wesley's  fourteen 
volumes  would  have  done  no  credit  to  the  Methodist  denomination  if 
we  had  put  them  in  our  books  for  promiscuous  use.  Charles  Wesley 
was  occasionally  inclined  to  go  a  little  too  far  in  that  direction — 


KEY.    DR.    BUCKLEY'S   ADDRESa  403 

"  Jesu,  lover  of  my  soul, 
Let  me  to  Thy  bosom  fly,"  . 

is  jiTst  as  far  as  we  can  safely  go.  Eead  some  of  the  old  Moravian 
hymus,  and  see  how  much  further  they  can  go.  These  hymns  were 
pervaded  by  a  subtle  yet  self-revealing  unction,  which  gave  them  much 
power.  Lastly,  they  had  strong  common  sense.  If  one  hymn  is  a 
little  mystical,  the  same  author  gave  us  one  to  bring  us  back  into 
active  life — "  Son  of  the  Carpenter,  receive,"  for  example.  These  are 
the  characteristics  of  Methodist  hymns.  What  have  they  done  for 
unity  of  doctrine  ?  It  is  still  true  now,  as  Bishop  Simpson  mentioned 
in  his  sermon,  that  they  have  conserved  unity  of  doctrine.  Though 
preachers  have  sometimes  gone  a  httle  astray,  the  hymns  have  brought 
the  people  back.  Then,  what  have  they  done  for  refinement?  No 
Methodist  can  know  and  love  our  hymns  and  remain  utterly  coarse. 
What  have  they  done  to  give  us  a  forcible  spiritual  vocabulary  ?  That 
many  a  man  who  never  had  a  University  training  speaks  better  than 
some  who  have  had  such  a  training,  is  to  be  attributed  to  the  influence 
of  these  lij'mns  upon  his  style,  to  which  many  here  and  elsewhere  ca^n 
testify.  Then,  what  have  these  hymns  done  to  enkindle,  sustain, 
and  express  emotion  ?  Now,  we  can  see  why  no  great  poets  have 
arisen  in  Methodism  since  its  early  days.  There  be  many  that 
are  called  poets ;  but  no  really  great  poet  has  arisen  to  furnish 
hymns  to  Methodism  subsequent  to  Charles  Wesley  and  his  col- 
leagues. Why  ?  The  whole  field  has  been  gone  over  by  a  master. 
Many  practical  questions  now  absorb  the  energies  of  the  Church  which 
were  unknown  to  the  fathers.  The  atmosphere  is  less  stimulating, 
as  army  life  is  more  stimulating,  than  the  quiet  pursuits  of  commerce 
and  agriculture,  after  opposing  forces  are  withdrawn.  The  right  to 
exist  in  working  our  own  way  is  granted.  Why  ?  Because  Methodism 
is  not  so  exclusive  nor  so  excluded  as  formerly,  and  assimilates  the 
growths  from  other  vineyards.  Tliis  shows  what  the  future  of 
Methodist  hymnology  will  be.  The  hymns  of  Charles  Wesley  and  the 
other  early  Methodist  composers  must  be  the  foundation.  Methodism 
will  go  on  producing  once  in  a  great  while  a  new  hymn,  which  will  be 
assimilated,  and  assimilate  hymns  from  other  creeds.  That  is  to  be 
the  future  of  Methodist  hymnology,  the  basis  of  which  we  receive  from 
the  fathers,  with  such  additions  from  time  to  time  as  circumstances 
may  require.  Are  there  then  no  perils  ?  Surely  there  are.  The  first 
is  choir  singing,  whenever  it  suppresses  congi-egational  singing.  The 
next  peril  is  the  substitution  of  doggerel  hymns  in  prayer-meetings  : — 

"  Oh,  you  must  be  a  lover  of  the  Lord. 
Or  you  won't  go  to  heaven  when  you  die  : " 

— hymns  of  that  class.  The  third  and  last  is  the  substitution  of  a 
regular  service  of  hymns  that  do  not  contain  our  distinctive  doctrine, 
nor  describe    our    experience.      Mark  this :    Methodism    dies  when 

D  D  2 


404      THE  PRESS  FOR  THE  ADVANCEMENT  OF  CHRISTIANITY. 

Methodists  do  not  sing;  or,  singing,   do  not  sing  their  doctrine  and 
their  experience. 

Mr.  Macdonald  :  I  rise  to  move  a  resohition,  which  will  he  seconded 
by  General  Fisk.  I  have  a  feeling  that  Ave  who  have  been  working  upon 
so  many  different  lines,  having  found  at  last  a  common  platform,  might 
with  great  propriety  find  a  common  hymnal,  but  though  we  sing  the  same 
hymns,  we  have  them  differently  arranged.  I  have  thought  much  upon 
this  subject,  and  longed  for  its  accomplishment,  and  in  speaking  to  a 
Presbyterian  before  I  left  my  own  home,  as  to  my  pin-pose  in  bringing 
this  matter  before  the  Conference,  he  said  to  me,  "  Why  not  have  a 
common  hymnal  for  the  whole  Church  throughout  the  whole  world  ?"  I 
think  a  common  hymnal  desirable,  so  that  when  brethren  come  from  this 
side  to  America,  and  when  they  enter  the  churches  in  America,  they  may 
feel  at  least  that  there  is  one  bond  which  binds  them  together,  and  tliat 
when  the  brethren  come  from  America  to  England  they  may  feel  not  only 
that  we  sing  the  same  hymns,  but  we  have  a  book  with  tlie  same  arrange- 
ment. The  advantages  in  the  mission-field,  where  three  or  four  branches 
of  the  Methodist  Church  are  labouring  side  by  side,  in  having  one  common 
hymnal  are  so  great  that  I  will  not  take  time  to  refer  to  them.  If  there  is 
not  some  one  thing  in  which  we  might  all  agree,  we  who  have  come  from 
such  great  distances,  if  there  is  not  some  one  outgrowth  of  this  great 
Ecumenical  Council  which  will  make  us,  to  a  greater  extent  than  we  have 
ever  been  before,  one,  then  I  think  to  that  extent  this  Council  will  be  a 
failure.  I  want  to  see  something  more  grow  out  of  it  than  the  mere 
meeting  together  and  shaking  hands,  or  than  the  production  of  that  volume 
which  I  am  free  to  say,  with  the  many  excellent  papers  that  have  been 
read,  will  make  a  very  handsome  contribution  to  our  literature.  I  want  to 
feel  that  whenever  we  sing  God's  praises,  here  or  anywhere  else,  at  any 
,  time,  either  at  the  family  altar  or  at  God's  house,  we  may  be  reminded  oi 
this  great  Ql^cumenical  Council  where  we  have  dwelt  so  lovingly  and 
happily  together.  There  are  objections,  I  know,  on  the  part  of  some ; 
one  is,  that  manuals  have  been  recently  issued,  but  all  that  has  been  care- 
fullj'  considered  in  the  spirit  of  the  resolution,  which,  I  trust,  will 
commend  itself  to  the  judgment  of  this  Conference.  "  Resolved,  that  the 
spirit  of  brotherly  love  which  has  been  manifested  throughout  the  various 
meetings  of  this  Ecumenical  Conference,  is  evidence  of  the  feeling  of 
unity  existing  among  all  branches  of  the  great  Methodist  family,  and,  with 
a  view  of  strengthening  this  bond  and  drawing  it  still  more  closely 
together,  this  Conference  is  of  opinion  that  the  adoption  by  the  Methodist 
Church  throughout  the  world  of  a  common  hymnal,  would  greatly  tend  to 
secure  this  most  desirable  end,  would  furnish  a  lasting  remembrance  of 
this  happy  gathering,  would  pave  the  way  for  closer  and  more  intimate 
relations,  and  do  this  without  tlie  sacrifice  of  any  principle,  and  furnish  an 
example  well  worthy  of  imitation  by  all  the  Churches.  That  this  resolu- 
tion be  referred  to  the  Business  Committee,  to  report  upon  the  best 
method  of  bringing  it  about,  in  having  it  submitted  to  the  various 
Churches,  and  having  reference  to  the  time  needed  for  the  disposal  of 
hymn-books,  specially  in  tliose  Churches  which  have  but  recently  adopted 
revised  hymnals."  The  resolution  will  be  seconded  by  General  Clinton  B. 
risk. 

General  C.  B.  Fisk  :  I  understand  that  the  Business  Committee  have 
already  considered  the  subject,  and  will  be  prepared  to  report  in  relation  to 
the  resolutions  that  have  already  been  offered  ;  instead,  therefore,  of 
mtiking  any  speech  on  the  subject,  I  would  be  glad  if  you  would  let  us  all 
stand  up  and  sing,  "  Then  let  our  songs  abound." 
The  President  :  We  will  sing  your  verse  when  we  close  the  session. 


GENERAL   REMARKS.  405 

The  resolution  is  referred  to  the  Business  Committee,  and  will  come  up  iu 
due  order. 

Mr.  Macdonald  :  I  have  a  perfect  right  to  ask  for  the  disposal  of  that 
resolution.  If  it  is  the  will  of  the  Conference  to  vote  it  down,  let  them 
do  so.  If  I  had  thought  tliat  General  Fisk  was  inimical  to  the  resolution, 
I  would  not  have  asked  him  to  second  it.  I  apprehend  that  the  resolution 
is  perfectly  in  order. 

General  Fisk  :  I  am  not  in  the  slightest  degree  inimical  to  it ;  it  has 
my  most  hearty  endorsement,  and  I  look  hopefully  to  a  period  in  the  not 
distant  future  wlien  we  shall  all  have  one  hynm-book. 

Rev.  Dr.  Rigg  (Wesleyan  Methodist)  :  This  resolution  can  only  come 
here  after  it  has  been  before  the  Business  Committee.  If  it  was  before  us 
at  present  I  should  be  prepared  entirely  to  oppose  it,  but  any  opposition  at 
this  moment  would  be  irregular,  because  the  resolution  must  be  referred  to 
the  Business  Committee. 

Mr.  Macdonald  :  I  understood  that  this  very  important  matter  was 
settled  the  other  day,  and  that  it  was  the  privilege  of  every  one  to  bring 
up  a  resolution  relevant  to  the  subject  before  the  Conference,  and  to  have  it 
disposed  of.  I  should  not  have  attempted  to  have  done  anything  at  all 
that  I  knew  to  be  irregular.  I  was  assured  by  a  member  of  the  Business 
Committee  that  that  was  the  case. 

The  President  :  I  understimd  that  it  has  been  the  recognised  usage  of 
this  Conference  that  no  resolution  comes  up  for  discussion  in  open  confer- 
ence until  it  has  gone  through  the  Business  Conmiittee.  Is  the  Chair  right 
or  wrong  ? 

Bishop  Peck  then  moved  that  the  resolution  be  referred  to  the  Business 
Committee. 

Rev.  Dr.  Walden  seconded  the  motion,  which  was  agreed  to. 

Rev.  Dr.  Crooks  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church)  :  There  were  some  re- 
marks made  this  morning  in  relation  to  the  secular  press,  which,  if  passed 
over  without  comment,  would  put  this  body  in  a  false  position.  My  brother. 
Dr.  Gibson,  as  we  know  in  America,  has  been  fighting  a  desperate  battle 
with  the  secular  press  of  San  Francisco  ;  but  it  seems  to  me  that  it  is  rather 
too  strong  to  say  that  the  spirit  of  the  secular  press  of  the  world,  or  even 
of  America,  is  godless  and  unchristian.  It  appears  to  me  only  due  to  our- 
selves that  we  should  recognise  the  ready  co-operation  given  by  the  secular 
press,  both  in  England  and  America,  to  the  work  of  religion.  The  secular 
press  is  doing  good  service  for  us  this  very  day  in  publishing  reports,  of 
considerable  fulness,  of  our  proceedings ;  and  I  am  sure  that,  while  the 
conductors  of  the  English  press  are  serving  their  customers  by  so  doing, 
they  are  likewise  doing  us  a  very  important  service.  I  remember  reading 
some  years  ago  that  the  London  Punch — the  humorous  paper  of  England 
— laid  down  as  its  principle,  never  to  be  departed  from,  that  nothing  should 
appear  in  its  pages  whicli  could  bring  a  blush  to  the  cheek  of  a  young  girl. 
I  have  read  that  periodical  often  and  often  during  many  years,  and  I  have 
never  found  a  sentence  that  contravened  that  ruk'.  I  have  been  connected 
with  the  secular  press  of  New  York*,  off  and  on,  a  great  deal.  I  know  the 
inner  life  of  one  of  the  leading  papers  of  the  United  States,  and  I  can  assure 
tliis  Conference,  the  spirit  of  the  inner  life  of  that  paper  is  a  spirit  of  pro- 
found respect  for  religion  ;  and  the  most  beautiful  hiy  sermons,  written  on 
occasions  of  Christian  festivals,  have  appeured  in  the  cohinms  of  tlie  New 
York  Tribune.  I  dare  to  say,  in  testimony  to  the  London  press,  with  which 
I  have  been  familiar  for  majy  years,  that  its  pages,  as  far  as  I  know  them, 
are  not  only  pure,  but  exhibit  a  spirit  of  friendliness  to  tiie  work  of  Chris- 
tian Churclies,  and  especially  to  the  work  of  the  great  Wesleyan  Connexion 
in  this  land.  And  as  to  Harper's  Weekly,  I  think  we  owe  it  to  the  memory 
of  him  who   established  that  paper,  and  who  was  one  of  my  personal 


406      THE  PRESS  FOR  THE  ADVANCEMENT  OF  CHRISTIANITY. 

friends,  and  to  the  reputation  of  the  sons  who  now  conduct  it,  who  are  also 
my  friends,  to  appeal  to  the  fact  that  it  has  always  been  on  the  side  of  virtue 
and  morality  and  evangelical  religion,  and  that  it  speaks  to  a  larger  number 
than  probably  any  other  paper  in  the  United  States.  I  say  this,  recognising 
the  great  work  which  ray  friend  Dr.  Gibson  has  done,  lest  the  failure  of 
any  diss-ent  from  his  statement  might  seem  to  imply,  that  our  silence  in 
this  Conference  accepted  the  strong  statements  which  he  made  with  regard 
to  the  secular  press. 

Eev.  Dr.  Walden  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church)  :  I  think  that  we  cannot 
better  spend  the  hour  before  us  than  by  talking  together  upon  the  great 
question  of  the  hymnology  of  our  Churches,  because  we  all  know  that  our 
hymns,  as  they  are  used  in  church,  and  in  the  class-room,  and  in  the 
family,  do  more  to  teach  certain  Methodist  doctrines,  to  settle  the  more 
subtle  doctrines  of  our  faith  in  the  convictions  and  consciences  of  our 
people,  than  any  other  agency  employed  among  us. 

Bishop  Simpson  :  I  simply  wish  to  say  that  a  very  pleasant  announce- 
ment to  many  of  us  has  reached  us  here,  and  I  should  be  glad  if  Dr. 
Vernon,  of  Italy,  were  allowed  a  few  minutes  to  make  a  statement  to  this 
Conference.     After  that,  perhaps  we  shall  be  prepared  to  sing  one  verse. 

It  was  agreed,  on  the  motion  of  Dii.  Waldex,  to  deviate  from  the  con- 
sideration of  "  Hymnology"  to  hear  Dr.  Vernon's  statement. 

Rev.  De.  Veknon  (M.  E.  Church):  Had  I  Mlowed  my  own  inclinations 
I  should,  perhaps,  not  have  brought  this  matter  to  the  attention  of  this  body, 
but  some  friends  have  thought  it  of  sufficient  importance  to  be  presented  at 
this  time.  At  the  conclusion  of  this  morning's  session  I  received  a  tele- 
gram in  Italian.  The  translation  runs  in  this  wise  : — "  Christ  glorified  in 
Methodism. — Count  Henry  Campobello,  leaving  the  splendours  of  the 
canonry  of  St.  Peter's,  has  embraced  Evangelical  poverty  with  Christ.  He 
made  a  solemn  profession  of  Evangelical  faith  Wednesday  night,  accepting 
doctrines  and  discipline  of  our  Church."  I  may  state  that  this  telegram  is 
from  the  pastor  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  the  city  of  Rome. 
When  I  received  it,  and  especially  when  I  was  urged  to  speak  of  it  here,  I 
thought  it  might  have  the  aspect  of  a  business  specially  prepared  for  this 
occasion.  It  may  be  of  that  kind,  but  if  so,  it  is  prepared  by  God,  and  not 
by  man.  For  three  years  I  have  had  a  direct  personal  acquaintance  and 
relation  with  this  canon  of  St.  Peter's,  he  having  been  accustomed  to  come 
to  my  house  usually  every  two  or  three  weeks  at  nine  o'clock,  in  citizen's 
evening  di-ess,  to  spend  two  or  three  hours  in  conversation  touching  the 
matters  of  our  holy  religion.  Some  months  ago  a  full  decision  was  taken  to 
make  this  step,  and  the  count  set  about  the  measures  necessary  to  complete 
that  step  as  rapidly  as  possible  ;  but  in  order  to  shut  every  door  against 
difficulties,  and  prepare  his  exit  in  such  a  manner  as  that  he  would  not  be 
op^en  to  injurious  attack,  the  matter  has  been  delayed  until  this  present.  I 
tried  hard  to  secure  this  consummation  previous  to  my  departure,  but  was 
unable  to  accomplish  it.  A  word  of  explanation  in  reference  to  his 
position.  Some  of  our  brethren  may  not  be  aware  of  his  position.  The 
Church  of  St.  Peter's  is  administered  as  to  its  revenues,  and  as  to  its  services, 
by  a  chapter  composed  of  thirty  canons,  presided  over  by  a  cardinal.  Count 
Campobello  is  one  of  these  thirty  men.  He  is  a  man  of  about  forty-seven 
years  of  age,  of  vigorous  health,  of  high  culture,  of  an  excellent  social 
position,  and  I  believe  soundly  converted  to  God  ;  and  is  full  of  zeal  to  go 
forth  in  the  work  of  preaching  the  Gospel  to  his  fellow-countrymen.  I 
have  great  faith  that,  by  the  blessing  of  God,  he  will  prove  an  instrument 
of  great  usefulness  to  the  cause  of  God  in  Italy. 

Rev.  Dr.  Osborn  :  Just  as  a  matter  of  information,  will  that  brother  tell 
us  what  is  meant  by  embracing  "  Evangelical  pioverty  "  ? 

Rev.  Dii.  Vernon  :  The  term  "  Evangelical  "  is  used  in  Italy  ordinarily 


GENERAL   REMARKS.  407 

as  synonymous  with  "  Protestant."  The  word  "  Protestant "  in  that  country 
is  usually  somewhat  avoided,  as  being  open  to  misinterpretation. 

Rev.  Dr.  Osborn  :  Was  he  a  monk  before  ? 

Rev.  Dr.  Vernon  :  No  ;  he  has  been  a  canon  for  sixteen  years. 

Bishop  Peck:  I  feel  all  the  joy  which  can  be  expressed,  and  deep 
gratitude  to  God,  and  also  acknowledge  that  it  is  always  proper  to  sing  a 
Doxology  over  anything  that  favours  the  cause  of  Christ  ;  but  I  would 
take  the  liberty  quietly  to  suggest  that  any  extraordinary  demonstration 
which  we  should  make  would  be  in  bad  taste. 

Rev.  H,  J.  PiGGOTT  :  I  have  heard  from  Dr.  Vernon  of  the  intention  of 
this  Canon  of  St.  Peter's  to  leave  his  position  and  connect  himself  with  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and  I  very  much  rejoice  in  hearing  such  a 
statement  from  my  brother  and  colleague.  As  to  the  expression  "  Evan- 
gelical poverty,"  I  suppose  it  simply  means  that  he  has  been  receiving  a 
high  stipend  in  his  position  as  canon.  His  income  as  a  canon  has  been 
very  much  higher  than  it  is  likely  he  will  receive  as  the  Italian  minister  of 
an  Evangelical  Church  in  Italy.  Therefore  he  is  making  a  sacrifice  of 
worldly  means  in  leaving  his  present  position. 

Rev.  Dr.  Osborn  read  a  letter  from  the  Rev.  Francesco  Sciarelli,  an 
Italian  Methodist  Minister,  and  a  convert  from  the  Church  of  Rome, 
cftering  for  the  acceptance  of  the  Conference  several  important  pul)lications 
in  the  Italian  language,  among  which  was  &,  Life  of  John  Wesley,  translated 
from  the  French  of  Mr.  Le  Lievre,  Dr.  Punshon's  Lecture  on  Wesley,  The 
Discussion  of  the  Question,  "  M  hether  St.  Peter  was  ever  at  Ro7ne?"  and 
others,  which  were  gratefully  accepted  by  the  President  on  behalf  of  the 
Conference. 

The  Conference  then  resumed  the  discussion  on  "  Hymnology." 

Rev.  J.  B.  M'Ferkin,  D.D.  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South)  :  I  am 
very  greatly  interested  in  this  discussion.  The  essay  we  all  appreciated;  the 
remarks  of  Dr.  Buckley  went  into  many  of  our  hearts.  There  is  no  one  thing 
that  we  ought  to  regard  in  our  devotions  more  than  our  hymns,  and  I  am 
very  sorry  to  know  that  in  a  great  many  places  our  excellent  hymns  are 
substituted  by  what  I  call  a  very  inferior  poetry,  if  it  be  poetry  at  all.  I 
think  our  religion  is  very  much  indicated  by  the  style  and  temper  of  our 
songs.  Dr.  Buckley  spoke  of  one  hymn,  "  Unless  we  love  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  we  cannot  go  to  heaven  when  we  die."  I  think  it  fortunate  that  I 
never  committed  many  of  those  doggerels  to  memory.-  I  do  not  burden 
my  memory  with  that  class  of  song.  I  much  prefer  our  Wesleyan  hj'mns. 
I  have  the  honour  of  publisliing  the  Methodist  Hymn-book  in  the  Church 
South,  and  I  desire  to  say  in  this  presence,  that  there  is  no  hymn-book  pub- 
lished in  the  interest  of  the  ^lethodist  Church,  on  this  side  or  the  other  side, 
that  has  more  of  Charles  Wesley's  hymns  in  it  than  our  Methodist  Hymn- 
book  jiublished  at  Nashville.  We  regard  Charles  Wesley's  hymns  as 
inferior  to  none,  superior  to  all;  and  we  hope  that  nobody  will  exclude 
these  hymns  from  their  worship.  I  do  trust  in  all  our  varieties  of 
Methodism  we  will  uphold  all  our  great  standard  hj'mns  and  tunes,  and  re* 
allow  our  hymns  to  be  subverted  or  substituted  by  a  class  of  doggerel 
hymns,  with  light  music  and  nonsense  in  them,  and  which  I  think  intro 
duce  a  kind  of  religion  that  is  all  epliemoral  in  its  character.  I  hope  we 
will  stick  to  the  Wesleyan  hymns.  That  is  my  doctrine,  and  I  want  to 
bear  my  testimony  in  their  favour.  We  use  them  extensively  in  our  part  of 
Methodism,  and  intend  to  hold  on  to  the  grand  productions  of  Methodism. 

Rev.  Dr.  Walden  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church)  :  I  simpiy  wish  to 
state  that,  as  many  on  the  floor  know,  we  have  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  just  issued  a  new  h3-nm-book,  and  this  would  seem  to  be  in  the 
way  of  our  joining  at  once  in  another  new  book.  I  trust,  hov  ever,  that 
the  Business  Committee  will  see  their  way  to  bring  forward  a  resolution 


408      THE  PRESS  FOE  TH3  ADVANCEMENT  OF  CHRISTIANITY. 

that  will  commend  this  subjec'  to  the  consideration  of  all  our  denomina- 
tions. Of  course  we  can  do  nothing  more  than  that  here.  Then  I  am  also 
anxious  that  there  should  be  in  connection  with  that  a  commendation  of 
havint;:  ;-.  hymnal,  or  an  abridgment,  or  whatever  it  may  be,  that  shall  be 
used  in  our  Sunday-schools,  and  tliat  should  correspond,  so  far  as  is 
practicable,  -vith  the  hymns  of  our  congregations.  No  lessons  are  im- 
pressed more  deeply  upon  the  minds  of  children  than  those  that  are  con- 
tained in  the  hymns  sung  in  our  Sunday-schools.  Then  I  have  in  my 
own  mind  t\m  tliought,  that  if  we  would  have  the  same  hymns,  as  far  as 
practicable,  used  in  the  Sunday-schools  as  in  our  congregations,  we  would 
be  dealing  in  a  large  measure  with  the  subject  of  congregational  singing. 
When  our  children  in  the  Sunday-school  become  familiar  with  the  evan- 
gelical hymns  which  we  use  in  the  congregation,  they  will  not  only  have 
more  interest  in  being  present  to  take  part  m  the  singing  of  those  hymns, 
but  they  will  swell  the  volume  of  blessed  song  and  praise  in  our  churches. 
I  think,  whilst  we  are  providing  a  hymn-book  for  the  congi'egation,  we  will 
not  meet  all  the  obligations  upon  Methodism,  unless  we  prepare  a  hymn- 
book  for  use  in  Sunday-schools. 

Db.  Allison  (Methodist  Church  of  Canada) :  I  observed,  as  all  the  Con- 
ference probably  did,  that  this  afternoon,  after  listening  to  an  essay  upon 
the  subject  of  IMethodist  Hymnology,  which  we  all  felt  to  be  one  of  the 
great  privileges  of  our  lives  to  listen  to,  we  were  permitted  to  hear  a  most 
vigorous  and  heart-stirring  address  upon  the  same  subject  from  one  of  the 
foremost  men  of  our  Oecumenical  Method'sm,  that  then,  when  all  this  was 
done,  we  stood  upon  our  feet,  and  in  order  that  we  might  express  our 
gratitude  to  God  for  the  great  gifts  and  blessings  bestowed  upon  us  through 
Wesle^inl;  mas  a  Church,  we  sang  averse  of  one  of  Isaac  Watts's  hymns.  This 
leads  me  to  say  that  we  ought  not  to  give  our  considerations  of  these  sub- 
jects too  much  of  an  ex  pufte  character.  I  should  be  sorry  if  any  one  in 
this  audience  or  this  congregation  were  led  to  suppose  that  because  it 
pleased  the  Divine  Spirit  to  shed  down  an  unusual  gift  of  poetic  power, 
which  they  faithfully  consecrated,  upon  the  Wesleys,  all  the  good  hymns 
that  are  the  possession  of  the  universal  Church  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
were  of  Weslej-an  composition  ;  or,  in  the  second  place,  that  the  sacred 
fountain  of  poetic  inspiration  has  been  definitely  and  permanently  sealed 
up.  Am  I  to  draw  from  these  references  to  doggerel  compositions  that  all 
the  hymns  of  modern  times  are  doggerel  ?  Not  at  all.  Then  let  some  one, 
even  if  it  must  be  myself,  say  out  boldly  that  it  is  pleasing  to  the  great 
Head  of  the  Church,' through  the  Divine  Spirit,  to  keep  up  a  fresh  supply 
of  hymns,  valuable — invaluable,  I  may  say.  Take  the  hymn  which  Dr.  Ray 
Palmer,  of  New  York,  carried  about  in  his  pocket  for  over  two  years,  and 
then  published  by  accident — 

"  My  faith  looks  up  to  Thee, 
Thou  Lamb  of  Calvary," 

and  say  if  there  was  not  the  genuine  afflatus  upon  the  author  of  that  hymn 
wlien  he  wrote  it  ?  These  are  not  corrections  ;  these  are  simply  supplj-ing 
hints,  which,  perhaps,  it  is  not  inexpedient  should  be  given  to  the  Con- 
ference. There  are  in  our  possession,  for  the  purposes  of  public  worship 
and  habitual  use  in  our  congregations,  a  large  number  of  valuable  hynins, 
not  of  Wesleyan  authorship.  Take,  if  you  choose,  the  fifteen  or  sixteen 
hymns  of  Dr.  Watts's  composition,  which  in  the  year  1831,  through  the 
efforts,  I  believe,  of  the  Rev.  Richard  Watson  and  Dr.  Bunting  and  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Jackson,  were  brought  into  tlie  original  Wesleyan  hynm-book — 
the  book  with  which  I  am  familiar— and  see  if  one  or  other  of  them  is  not 
sung  in  almost  every  congregation  of  your  Churches.  The  other  hint  is 
simply,  that  good  hymns  are  coming  into  the  Church,  and  no  one  has  a  right 
to  say,  because  a  hymn  has  not  the  Wesleyan  stamp  upon  it,  it  is  doggerel. 


GENERAL    REMARKS.  409 

The  hymn  to  which  I  have  alhided  is  as  fine  a  hymn  as  the  Divine  Spirit 
ever  inspired  a  hvins;"  man  to  write. 

Rev.  Dr.  Rigg  :  I  believe  that  ihc  proposal  is  an  entirely  impracticable 
proposal — that  there  should  be  one  Methodist  hymnal  for  all  the  INIetho- 
dists  throughout  the  world.  I  believe  it  to  be  an  undesirable  proposal.  As 
the  language  of  our  own  country  has  acquired  its  we;ilth  by  means  of 
provincial  words  and  phrases,  of  words  continually  cast  up,  for  local  or 
provincial  use,  so  our  own  hymn-book,  let  it  be  what  it  may,  is  always 
j^aining  its  wealth  from  sources  in  different  parts  of  the  world,  which 
particular  parts  of  the  world  have  again  their  own  particular  sources 
of  supply.  It  is  quite  impossible  for  tastes  to  agree  over  the  whole  world. 
There  are  a  great  many  hymns  wliich  our  friends  in  America  would  not 
accept,  and  we  would  not  part  with  ;  and  there  ai*e  a  great  many  hymns 
which  we  would  not  accept,  and  they  would  not  part  with.  If  the  proposal 
is,  that  besides  our  own  books,  there  should  be  another  hymn-book  which 
may  be  more  select,  more  choice,  for  such  use  as  Methodists  think  proper  in 
every  part  of  the  world,  that  is  quite  another  proposal  ;  but  that  is  not  the 
idea.  The  idea  is,  that  we  are  to  have  one  hymn-book  in  all  Methodist  con- 
gregations throughout  the  world.  But  beautiful  as  that  idea  is — and  I 
sympathise  with  its  beauty — beautiful  as  it  woald  be  to  go  everywhere  and 
meet  with  it,  I  sulmiit  that  it  would  be  entirely  impracticable. 

Mr.  S.  D.  Waddy  :  One  thing  is  very  much  in  my  heart  in  connection 
with  our  hymns,  which  has  not  been  sufficiently  dwelt  upon.  I  mean  their 
invaluable  effect  upon  our  children  for  educational  purposes.  I  will  give 
an  illustration.  Early  in  my  life  I  was  permitted  to  take  part  in  a  revival 
at  the  college  at  Sheffield  during  the  reign  of  my  dear  and  honoured 
father.  Those  of  us  honoured  by  God  to  lead  it  were  immature  Christians 
— we  were  all  J^oung  ;  and  when  the  thing  grew,  as  it  did  very  speedily, 
to  a  size  which  daunted  and  perplexed  us,  I  spoke  to  my  father  and  asked 
him,  as  the  Governor,  to  come  and  take  the  mastership  and  guidance. 
With  wisdom  which  I  could  not  then  understand,  he  declined.  There 
never  was  a  prayer-meeting  held  in  the  chapel  without  his  being  in  the 
gallery  watching,  as  I  could  see,  with  trembling  lips  and  moist  eyes ;  but 
he  said,  "  No  ;  the  hand  of  God  is  in  this  thing,  and  those  that  have  begun 
it  have  been  blessed  by  Him ;  they  have  been  called  to  do  it  and  should 
go  on  with  it.  The  interference  of  the  Governor  or  masters  would  intro- 
duce coldness  and  formality,  and  would  hinder  the  proper  work."  But  he 
took  care  to  guard  us  from  all  undue  excitement  and  extravagance,  and  kept 
a  wise,  although  an  invisible,  hand  upon  us  all  the  way  tlirough.  And  it 
was  observed  that  boys  who  had  had  no  religion  and  had  never  professed 
any,  when  they  were  broken  down  and  had  found  peace  with  God,  prayed 
almost  immediately,  to  use  the  words  of  my  father,  like  old  and  experienced 
saints.  And  why  V  Because  they  had  been  saturated  with  the  Methodist 
catechism  and  hynms,  and  therefore,  even  when  they  had  not  cared  about 
religion,  they  had  been  getting  provided  with  good  substantial  theology, 
which  was  merely  words  to  them  until  the  Spirit  of  God  touched  their 
hearts,  and  then  it  flowed  out  in  sensible  language  and  sound  theol(igy,and 
thoughts  borrowed  and  jahrases  quoted  from  our  hymns  seemed  to  run  like 
golden  threads  through  every  prayer,  I  believe  there  is  nothing  on  earth, 
educationally  speaking — next,  of  course,  to  God's  own  Book — nothing  so 
valuable  to  the  cliilJren  of  our  people  as  our  hymn-book.  I  entreat  every 
father  and  mother  throughout  our  Churches  to  teach  their  children  John 
and  Charles  Wesley's  hymns,  not  because  they  are  beautiful,  or  for  any 
other  reason,  save  for  their  educational  influence  spiritually. 

After  the  Benediction  Conference  adjourned,  to  meet  this  evening  in 
Exeter  Hall  to  receive  Deputations  from  other  Churches.  (Report, 
page  G05.) 


NINTH  DAY,  Friday,  September  IGth. 


President— B.EY.  William  Arthur,  M.A.,  Wesleyan  Methodist  Church 


Subject : 
"HOME     MISSIONS." 


THE  CONFERENCE  was  opened  at  Ten  o'clock,  the  Rev.  C. 
D.  Ward,  D.D.  (Methodist  New  Connexion),  and  Mr.  J. 
Wood,  LL.B.  (Wesleyan),  conducting  the  Devotional  Service. 

The  minutes  of  the  previous  day's  proceedings  were  read  and 
confirmed. 

Rev.  Dr.  Walden  moved  that  it  be  referred  to  the  Business 
Committee  to  arrange  for  an  appropriate  closing  religious  service  of 
the  Conference,  under  the  direction  of  the  brethren  who  had  presided 
at  the  various  Sessions. 

Seconded  by  Gen.  Fisk,  the  motion  was  agreed  to. 

On  the  motion  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  George  the  Business  Committee 
were  requested  to  consider  the  propriety  of  appointing  persons  to 
prepare  a  reply  to  the  letter  received  from  the  Pan-Presbyterian 
Council. 

Rev.  Dr.  Walden  moved  that  the  Business  Committee  should 
arrange  for  the  preparation  of  replies  to  each  of  the  communications 
received  from  other  bodies. 

Rev.  J.  Bond  said  it  was  not  the  custom  in  this  country  to  prepare 
written  replies  to  deputations  who  brought  addresses,  the  speeches  made 
on  the  occasion  of  their  reception  being  regarded  as  adequate  repUes  to  the 
communications. 

Rev.  Dr.  Walden  said  he  had  no  objection  to  the  custom  obtaining  in 
this  country,  nor  did  he  question  its  propriety,  but  he  thought  that  at  a 
meeting  of  universal  Methodism  they  were  at  liberty  to  set  their  own 
precedents  in  regard  to  a  matter  of  that  kind,  and  he  considered  that  it 
would  be  at  least  appropriate  that  all  the  communications  should  receive 
written  replies,  in  order  that  in  a  formal  manner  the  voice  of  the  Confer- 
ence might  be  given  to  all  the  bodies  concerned. 


I 


BUSINESS   PilOCEEDINGS.  411 

Dr.  Walden's  motion  was  referred  to  the  Business  Committee, 
together  Avith  that  moved  by  Dr.  George. 

The  other  references  to  the  Business  Committee  comptised 
motions  on  the  subjects  of  Temperance  and  Women's  Work. 

Eev.  J.  Bond  (Secretary) :  I  bring  forward  the  recommendation  of 
the  Business  Committee  concerning  a  common  hymnal — "  The  com- 
mittee recommend  that  the  resokitions  on  this  subject  be  referred 
to  the  several  Book  Committees  and  the  several  Conferences  of  the 

Churches  represented  in  this  asseml)ly."     I  propose  this. 

Rev.  J.  C.  Barratt  :  I  object  to  that  resolution,  and  shall  vote  against  it, 
because  it  is  a  mere  shelving  of  the  question.  We  ought  to  say  one  thing 
or  the  other. 

Rev.  T.  Newton  (United  Methodist  Free  Churches)  :  I  feel  it  would  be 
an  injustice  to  the  several  denominations  of  this  country — and  I  confine  my 
remarks  to  this  country — for  us  to  pass  a  resolution  like  this.  It  would 
unsettle  all  oiu*  people,  and  our  friends  would  begin  to  say,  "If  we  are 
going  to  have  another  Hymn-book  I  will  make  my  present  one  do."  The 
sale  of  the  several  Book-rooms  would  be  very  seriously  injured.  Person- 
ally, I  should  like  to  see  one  Hymn-book  in  all  Methodist  chapels  ;  but 
either  let  us  have  something  more  deiinite  than  this  recommendation,  or 
else,  if  I  am  in  order,  I  shall  move  the  order  of  the  day. 

Rev.  J.  H.  Robinson  :  I  wish  to  ask  if  this  motion  maybe  amended.  If 
it  may,  I  would  move,  sir,  that  it  be  added  that  the  authorities  to  which  the 
resolution  is  sent  be  recommended  to  proceed,  as  soon  as  possible,  to  make 
an-angements  for  bringing  out  a  Hymn-book. 

A  Delegate:*  I  beg  to  second  that.  I  think  there  is  a  great  deal  of 
difference  between  prohibition  and  coercion.  We  should  none  of  us  wish 
to  force  a  Methodist  Hymn-book  on  any  branch  of  the  Methodist  family, 
and  none  of  us  would  wish  to  prohibit  such  a  thing  ;  but  I  think  it  would 
be  something  if  we  had  a  Hymn-book  with  the  imprimatur  of  the  Con- 
ference to  this  purport,  that  they  believe  it  to  be  suitable  for  us  in  the 
public  worship  of  all  Methodist  Churches,  and  leave  it  to  the  discretion  of 
each  particular  branch  to  adopt  it,  or  otherwise,  as  circumstances  render 
it  necessary.  We  are  not  committed  to  our  own  Hymn-book.  Every 
minister,  whatever  Church  he  belongs  to,  finds  it  necessary  for  the  nourish- 
ment of  his  own  spiritual  life  to  go  beyond  his  own  Church  an-angement 
for  sacred  poetry.  If  it  came  only  to  this,  it  would  be  worth  while  doing 
it.  It  would  be  a  presentment  before  the  universal  family  of  Methodism 
of  a  book  of  poetical  exercises,  and  the  fact  that  they  had  received  the  en- 
dorsement of  all  the  Methodist  branches  would  make  them  all  the  more 
precious  to  us  ;  and  if  at  any  time  afterwards  any  section  should  need  a 
Hymn-book  thej^  could  say,  "  Here  is  one  ready  to  our  hand,  why  not  use 
this  ?  "  It  seems  to  me  it  would  very  soon  pay  its  way  when  brought  into 
the  market  of  devotional  literature.  The  world  would  say,  "The  Metho- 
di.sts  are  united  in  this  book  as  a  hymn  of  praise  to  the  everlasting  God. 
Let  us  see  if  there  is  anything  ia  it,  and  if  there  is  anything  in  it|  let  us 
use  it." 

Rev.  J.  H.  Roeinson  :  I  want  just  to  say  a  word  that  I  think  might  bo 
practical  in  this  matter.  I  think  that  the  various  bodies  to  whom  this  is 
referred  might  very  easily  unite  upon  a  Hymn-book,  and  that  each  deno- 
mination should  have  a  right  to  put  its  own  imprint,  its  own  ritual,  and 
anj-thing  it  liked  in  that  Hymn-book  before  it  is  used.     The  hymns  that 


*The  name  of  this  Delegate  do&s  not  appear  In  the  Daily  Recorder. -EoiTOVts. 


412  •         BUSINESS   PROCEEDINGS. 

Webley  sang,  and  I'.ie  old  Methodists  sang,  and  that  we  sing  now,  that  are 
likely  to  live — not  the  trash — might  be  got  into  a  book,  so  that  universal 
Methodism,  wherever  it  went,  might  find  the  same  hymns  that  their  fathers 
sang.  The  objection  that  I  find  to  a  revised  Hymn-book,  at  least  in  the 
new  country,  is  this,  that  the  children  growing  up  into  men  have  found 
certain  hymns  under  certain  numbers.  They  like  to  turn  to  those  hymns 
when  age  comes  on  them  :  it  brings  back  the  memory  of  their  youth  and 
the  days  that  they  sang  the  praises  of  God  when  their  hearts  were  young  ; 
but  in  a  revised  book  the  hymns  are  put  out  of  their  connections  ;  even 
those  that  are  retained  the  old  people  cannot  find  :  it  is  a  new  thing  entirely. 
If  we  are  going  to  keep  separate,  let  us  have  the  right  to  put  our  own  im- 
print and  our  own  ritual  if  necessary,  and  such  things  as  each  denomination 
desires  ;  but  I  do  hope  and  devoutly  pray  that  the  time  will  come  when 
Methodism  throughout  the  earth  shall  be  one.     The  Saviour  prayed  for  it. 

A  Delegate  thought  it  would  be  exceedingly  unwise  to  proceed  with 
such  a  thing.  Poor  people  had  already  purchased  their  Hymn-books,  and 
could  not  be  expected  to  obtain  others. 

Rev.  T.  Newton  :  I  move  the  order  of  the  day. 

Rev.  Dr.  Ward  :  I  second  it.  We  have  no  authority  whatever  in  this 
matter,  and  if  we  had,  it  would  be  premature  and  impolitic  to  enforce  it. 

Rev.  E.  E.  Jenkins  (Wesleyan  Methodist)  :  Some  of  us  on  the  Business 
Committee  thought  that  a  universal  Hymn-book  is  an  impracticable  idea. 
I  respect  that  thought.  Others  think  that  it  is  a  desirable  object  if  it  could 
possibly  be  obtained  ;  but  we  concluded  that  the  Conference  could  not 
make  any  decision  whatever  in  the  matter.  And,  besides,  hymns  reflect  the 
Christian  character  and  the  Christian  developments  of  particular  Churches. 
There  are  hymns  that  are  composed  in  America  that  could  not  by  any 
possibility  of  genius  be  written  in  this  country  ;  and  there  are  hymns  in  this 
country  tliat  no  inspiration  in  America  could  reach  ;  but  America  is  enriched 
by  our  hymnology,  and  we  are  enriched  by  theirs,  and  the  treasury  of 
Christian  song  is  thereby  accumulated  time  after  time  ;  and  many  of  us 
think  that  these  songs,  rising  from  the  inspiration  of  different  Churches, 
would  be  cramped  and  checked  by  a  universal  H^'^mn-book,  that  is  our  idea  ; 
but  on  the  other  hand,  it  seemed  to  be  so  desirable  an  object  that  we  thought 
if  it  could  be  attained  at  all,  it  must  be  by  correspondence  between  the 
several  Conferences  and  Book-rooms  represented  at  this  Ecumenical 
Council.  That  is  the  reason  why  this  resolution  passed  from  the  Business 
Committee  to  the  Conference. 

Rev.  a.  Edwards,  D.  D.  (Methodist  Episcoi)al  Church):  It  is  veiy  desira- 
ble, from  a  poetic  standpoint,  to  have  one  Hymn-book,  but  I  regard  two 
other  propositions  as  just  as  practicable — to  pass  a  resolution  that  all  Me- 
thodist artists  throughout  the  world  should  use  the  same  colours  ;  or,  nearer 
to  the  topic,  that  we,  as  Methodists,  should  have  but  one  book  of  tunes 
throughout  the  world.  It  would  be  very  easy  to  nominate  150,000  Chris- 
tian hymns.  Now,  is  it  possible  for  us  to  identify  1,000  hymns  (which 
are  as  many  as  one  book  ought  to  contain)  that  shall  voice  the  praise 
of  Methodists  throughout  the  world  ?  I  feel  very  strongly  on  this.  I  had  the 
honour  of  serving  on  the  committee  that  revised  the  recent  new  book  for 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and  perforce  I  had  to  look  into  the  ques- 
tion. This  morning  I  cannot  sketch  the  argument,  but  1  feel  I  am  justified 
in  using  the  word— can  I  use  it  sufficiently  respectfully? — that  it  is  almost 
an  absurd  proposition.  I  am  very  sorrj'  that  we  do  not  adhere  to  the  original 
proposition  to  have  one  Catechism.  Let  that  express  our  oecumenical 
spirit,  and  let  us  have  the  hymns  and  the  tunes  and  the  colour  for  our  artists 
differentiated  in  our  various  hymns. 

Ultimately  it  was  decided  to  proceed  to  the  next  business. 


MR.    JOHN   MACDONALD'S   ADDRESS.  413 

Mr.  John  Macdonald  (Methodist  Church  of  Canada)  read  an 
essay  on  The  Maintenance  of  Home  Missions  among  the  most  digraded 
Populations. 

What  can  be  done  to  better  the  condition  of  the  masses  of  human 
beings  who  crowd  togetlier  in  all  great  centres  of  population,  ignorant, 
indolent,  vicious,  and  degraded  ?  Is  their  condition  hopeless  ?  must 
they  necessarily  continue  to  inhabit  their  loathsome  dwellings,  secure 
their  living  by  lying  and  dishonesty,  be  familiar  only  with  profanity 
and  impurity,  corrui)t  and  corrupting  one  another  ?  How  sad,  for 
example,  the  sight  which  one  witnesses  at  every  turn  in  this  great 
city  I  Among  a  Pagan  people  we  look  for  ignorance  and  vice  ;  but  here, 
where  God's  temples  rise  in  every  street ;  where  His  Word  is  not  only 
sold  at  less  than  the  cost  of  production,  but  freely  given  away  where 
there  is  not  the  ability  to  purchase  it — in  this  city,  where  there  are  so 
many  who  love  and  serve  God,  what  sight  so  sad  as  to  see  in  such  a 
city  thousands  of  men  and  women  from  whom  every  vestige  of  all  that 
is  good  and  holy  and  pure  has  been  effaced,  and  who,  in  this  city  of 
Gospel-light,  seem  to  have  abandoned  all  feelings  of  hoj)e  for  this  ^^orld 
and  the  next ;  to  see  multitudes  of  young  lads  already  old  in  crime, 
and  who,  unless  relief  come  to  them,  and  come  soon,  will  assuredly 
swell  the  ranks  of  the  criminal  class  ?  Sadder  still  to  see  thousands  of 
young  girls,  between  the  ages  of  ten  and  fourteen,  drifting  away  to  a 
doom  which  appears  inevitable;  to  see  flocks  of  helpless  children 
growing  up  to  form  another  generation  of  the  degraded — such  of  them, 
at  least,  as  will  survive  the  hunger  and  wretchedness,  the  neglect 
and  cruelty,  to  which  they  are  subjected. 

Sights  such  as  these,  without  looking  into  the  gin-palaces  —  those 
sinks  of  all  that  is  degrading — the  dark  lanes,  loathsome  alleys,  crowded 
lodging-houses,  where  thieves  and  pickpockets  and  the  vilest  men  and 
women  congregate,  are  enough  to  cause  the  deepest  pain  of  heart, 
enough  to  beget  the  most  profound  thankfulness  to  God  that  our  own 
lot  is  so  different,  and  enough  to  lead  us  searchingly  to  ask  ourselves. 
What  have  we  done,  what  do  we  intend  to  do,  to  make  this  wretched- 
ness and  this  sorrow  less?  Can  these  older  and  more  hardened 
men  and  women  be  saved ;  these  young  lads,  oan  they  bo  rescued ; 
these  young  girls,  can  they  be  snatched  from  a  Life  of  shame  too  sad  to 
contemplate  ;  these  helpless  children,  can  they  be  reached  before  sin, 
with  its  deJBJement,  has  done  its  work  ;  can  the  botlies  be  saved  as  well 
as  the  souls  ?  A  simple  glance  at  the  report  of  the  London  City 
Mission  will,  perhaj)s,  furnish  the  best  answer  we  can  give  to  these 
questions. 

From  it  we  learn  that  during  the  past  year  the  450  missionaries  con- 
nected with  the  London  City  Mission  have  been  the  means  of  sending 
3,5G3  children  to  school  ;  of  receiving  2,188  communicants  ;  of  reclaim- 


414)  HOME  MISSIONS. 

ing  2,508  drunkards  ;  of  rescuing  500  fallen  women  ;  of  inducing  5,746 
to  attend  jjublic  worship  ;  have  made  314,380  visits ;  have  distributed 
17,5G9  Bibles  and  portions  of  Scripture,  and  4,004,612  tracts.  All  this 
means  so  much  which  cannot  be  written  in  any  report ;  words  of  regret, 
promises  of  reformation,  tears  of  sorrow  for  wrong-doing,  triumphs 
over  sin,  and  death,  and  the  grave  ;  and  yet  when  the  great  mass  of 
sin  and  wretchedness  is  considered,  what  are  450  missionaries,  and 
what  these  trophies  compared  with  tiie  numbers  from  which  they  have 
been  x-escued  I 

Wonderful  is  the  work  which  has  been  accomplished  by  the  Five- 
point  Mission  of  New  York.  It  is  said  that  1,000  girls  between  the  ages 
of  twelve  and  eighteen  can  be  found  in  the  Water  Street  drinking 
saloons  of  New  York ;  and,  a  writer  adds,  to  this  same  character  and 
doom  40,000  destitute  and  vagrant  children  are  drifting.  To  rescue 
them  that  mission  was  founded.  Little  girls  picked  up  in  the  street, 
found  in  the  gutter,  taken  from  dens  of  infamy,  many  of  whom  never 
knew  father  or  mother,  have  found  the  mission  a  home  and  a  resting- 
place.  And  as  far  back  as  1869,  as  many  as  20,000  had  been  rescued 
from  the  slums  of  that  city,  and  had  found  in  society  places  which  they 
have  filled  with  respectability  and  usefulness,  many  of  them  becoming 
workers  among,  and  wondrous  benefactors  of,  the  class  from  which 
they  themselves  were  rescued. 

The  achievements  of  the  shoeblack  societies,  as  well  as  those  of 
many  kindred  associations,  have  put  to  rest  the  question  of  hopeless- 
ness. None  are  too  low  to  be  raised,  none  too  abandoned  to  be  hope- 
less ;  while  the  individual  instances  in  which  those  who  were  once 
neglected  street  arabs,  vagabonds,  and  pickpockets,  become  men  hold- 
in"  prominent  and  responsible  positions,  demonstrate  that  positions  of 
trust  and  responsibility  are  open  to  those  who  are  found  in  the  ranks  of 
the  degraded,  and  that  if  determined  to  lead  new  lives,  the  past,  however 
dark,  does  not  bar  their  future  advancement.  Suppose,  for  example, 
that  during  the  twenty-four  years  in  which  the  street  arabs  have  been 
organised  as  shoeblack  societies  they  had  been  neglected,  what  might 
have  been  ?  It  is  safe  to  state  that  in  one  way  and  another  they  would 
have  stolen  250,000  dollars ;  that  their  imprisonment  would  have  cost 
the  country  at  least  500,000  dollars  more ;  that  by  being  imprisoned 
with  veteran  criminals  they  would  have  become  perfected  in  crime,  and 
placed  amid  the  class  to  benefit  which  is  most  difficult.  What  has 
been  the  result  ?  In  the  prosecution  of  their  daily  labour  during  that 
time  they  have  earned  1,000,000  dollars,  and  by  the  habits  of  thrift 
which  they  have  acquired,  and  by  the  excellent  and  wholesome  dis- 
cipline under  which  they  have  been  brought,  the  foundation  has  been 
laid  for  a  life  of  resi^ectability  and  usefulness,  and  the  instances  are 
not  few  where  such  results  have  happily  followed. 

Hany  instances    of    individual   reformation   and   advancement   are 
recorded  in  reports,   while  names  are  wisely  withheld.     "  Not  long 


MR.   JOHN  MACDONALD'S   ADDRESS.  415 

since,"  says  a  gentleman  long  connected  with  shoeblack  societies,  "  a 
handsome  man,  fashionably  dressed,  called  upon  me  and  said,  '  I  called 

to  see  you,  su.-.     I  was  a  shoeblack,  now  I  am  the  agent  of  the 

Company  in  New  York.  I  carry  for  them  sometimes  as  much  as 
1,000,000  dollars ;  my  salary  is  £500  a  year.'  "  We  read  of  four  young 
men  who,  with  their  wives,  were  dining  together  in  New  York.  One 
of  the  young  men  was  the  cashier  of  a  leading  New  York  bank,  one  a 
book-keeper  in  a  large  insurance  company,  a  third  confidential  clerk  in 
a  leading  mercantile  house,  the  fourth  a  rising  lawyer— all  had  been 
rescued  from  the  lowest  slums  of  New  York. 

While  all  this  is  gratifying,  the  fact  remains  that  the  dense  mass  of 
ignorance  and  vice  never  seems  to  lessen.  A  few  have  been  rescued 
from  the  outworks,  but  they  have  been  from  the  outworks  only :  the 
citadel  appears  as  impregnable  as  ever.  Now  and  again,  one  and  another 
is  rescued  from  the  terrible  vortex,  and  then  the  great  wave  rolls  on, 
deeper,  darker,  and  more  angry  than  before.  One  would  have  tliought. 
after  what  had  been  accomplislied  in  connection  with  the  Five- 
point  Mission  in  New  York,  that  the  whole  locality  had  been  redeemed 
from  its  vileness  and  pollution,  and  its  poijulation  elevated  to  the  posi- 
tion of  deserving  and  respected  citizens. 

We  read  in  the  New  York  Daily  Graphic  of  August  8th  of  the  present 
year:  "Any  one  who  wishes  to  see  humanity  in  the  most  abject  con- 
dition of  midsummer  wretchedness  should  visit  the  New  York  streets 
contiguous  to  the  Old  Five-points  on  a  hot  night  such  as  we  are  now 
having.  To  remain  in  the  wretched,  dirty,  stifling  tenements  is  im- 
possible, and  the  entu'e  population  precipitates  itself  on  the  scarcely 
less  dirty  and  almost  equally  uncomfortable  pavement.  Men,  women, 
and  children,  in  all  stages  of  undress,  excej^t  such  as  would  call  for 
police  interference,  and  in  an  indescribable  stage  of  grimness,  spread 
themselves  out  on  the  side-walk,  and  a  pedestrian  has  to  pick  his  steps 
through  them  the  best  way  he  can ; "  and,  after  describing  the  lager 
beer  saloons,  into  which  they  find  their  way,  the  writer  adds  :  "  Finally 
they  separate  to  theii*  miserable  abodes,  or  rather  to  the  side-walks  in 
front  of  them,  or  the  roofs  over  them,  and  sleep  the  sleep  of  the  weary 
and  the  worn-out,  until  the  scorching  morning  sun  rouses  them  to 
another  day  of  languid  toO." 

How  is  tliis  great  wave  of  wretchedness  and  misery  to  be  checked, 
and  changed  into  all  that  is  pure,  and  healthful,  and  life-giving  ?  God's 
Word  must  be  in  future,  as  it  has  been  in  the  past,  the  instrument  in 
arresting  the  attention,  awakening  the  conscience,  and  exciting  the 
understanding,  to  the  need  of  salvation.  It  must  be  put  into  the  hands 
or  brought  to  the  homes  of  those  who  need  it,  by  agents  of  unmistakable 
piety,  tact,  and  shrewdness,  by  those  who  not  only  are  bringers  of  the 
Word,  but  lovers  of  the  Word,  not  only  readers  of  the  Word,  but  those 
who  have  its  truths  treasured  in  their  memories  and  in  their  hearts. 
It  is  but  a  waste  of  time  to  employ  any  one  in  tliis  work  who  does  not 


416  HOME  MISSIONS. 

love  it  for  its  own  sake,  who  has  not  experienced  a  change  of  heart, 
who  has  not  a  love  for  the  souls  of  men.  Herein  Ues  the  whole  ground- 
work of  the  system : — 

"  The  love  of  Christ  doth  me  constrain 
To  seek  the  wandering  souls  of  men  ; 
With  cries,  entreaties,  tears,  to  save. 
To  snatch  them  from  the  gaping  grave." 

To-day,  as  in  the  days  of  Christ,  "  the  harvest  truly  is  plenteons,  the 
labourers  are  few."  Taking,  by  way  of  illustration,  this  great  city, 
containing  probably  over  4,000,000,  and  adding  to  its  population  some 
90,000  souls  a  year,  it  has,  in  connection  with  the  London  City  Mission, 
450  missionaries.  But  when  the  masses  among  whom  they  labour  are 
considered,  may  it  not  be  appropriately  asked.  What  are  they  among 
so  many  ?  Upon  this  point  the  Lord  Mayor,  while  presiding  recently 
at  the  Egyptian  Hall,  asked,  "  What  are  450  missionaries  for  this  great 
metropolis  ?  "  and  at  the  same  meeting  Lord  Shaftesbury  stated  that 
1,000  would  not  be  one  too  many.  If  we  rightly  estimate  the  results 
sure  to  follow  the  faithful  efforts  of  every  devoted  worker  in  this  field, 
then  we  may  safely  conclude  that  in  this  wide  world  there  is  not  one 
more  full  of  promise.  Amid  the  better  classes  of  society,  how  rarely 
do  we  hear  of  men  and  women  evincing  anxiety  about  their  souls  ! 

Among  the  neglected  portion  of  the  population  how  different  I  Cast 
out,  as  it  were,  from  their  birth,  cut  off  from  society,  regarded  as 
loathsome  and  vile,  their  dwellings  shunned  as  pest-houses  ;  accus- 
tomed to  look  upon  God,  when  they  think  upon  Him  at  all,  as  One 
whose  ways  are  unequal ;  when  they  see  their  hovels  visited  by  some 
earnest,  loving  Christian,  when  with  their  keen  perception  they 
discover  not  that  patronising  spirit  which  tbey  abhor,  not  that  spirit 
of  curiosity  which  they  resent,  but  a  gentleness  and  a  love  which  first 
astonishes  and  then  arrests  them ;  when  they  realise  that,  cut  off  as 
they  had  supposed  themselves  to  be,  not  from  man  and  the  world 
only,  but  from  God  and  heaven  ;  when  they  hear  words  of  tenderness 
which  they  cannot  mistake,  see  a  sympathy  manifested  for  them  and 
an  interest  taken  in  them  to  which  they  had  hitherto  been  strangers, 
and  discover  that  the  visitor  is  but  bearing  to  them  the  message  of  Him 
who  "  came  to  seek  and  to  save  that  which  was  lost ;  "  when  they 
begin  to  realise  not  only  that  man  loves  them,  but  that  God  loves 
them — better  still,  that  Christ  died  for  them ;  what  a  new  world 
dawns  upon  them !  how  with  new  eyes  and  new  ears  they  resolve  to 
seek  new  hearts,  to  give  themselves  body  and  soul  to  Christ  1  And 
then  what  new  joys  are  awakened :  not  only  in  those  who  have  been 
thus  rescued  from  their  defilement,  not  only  in  those  who  have  been 
instrumental  in  leading  them  to  Christ,  but  in  the  presence  of  the 
;ingels  over  every  such  sinner  who  repeuteth. 

Jock  Hall,  the  ne'er-do-weel,  whose  story  is  so  touchingly  told  by 


MR.    JOHN   MACDONALD'S   ADDRESS.  417 

Dr.  Norman  McLeod,  is  but  a  type  of  many  a  tramp  •who  has  been 
arrested  by  words  of  tenderness  from  some  kindred  spirit  to  Andrew 
Mercer,  and  found  the  story  of  tbe  Prodigal,  read  to  them  by  some 
sympathetic  John  Spcnce,  the  means  by  which  they  were  led  to  Christ. 
Many  a  one  as  degraded  as  the  pitman,  when  the  amazing  condescen- 
sion of  Christ  became  something  to  him  whic''  he  could  comprehend, 
has  said  in  his  simple  but  expressive  words — 

"  It  was  not  that  I  might  spend  my  life  just  as  my  life's  been  spent 
That  He  brought  me  so  near  to  His  mighty  cross,  and  taught  me  what  it 

meant ; 
He  doesn't  need  me  to  die  for  Him.     He  only  asks  me  to  live  ; 
There's  nothing  of  mine  that  He  wants  but  my  heart,  and  it's  all  that  I've 

got  to  give." 

How  wonderful  are  the  facilities  possessed  by  the  worker  of  to-day 
in  carrying  on  his  work,  compared  with  those  of  the  worker  of  fifty 
years  ago !  What  thoughtful  and  earnest  workers  have  suggested, 
earnest  and  loving  Christians  have  supplied.  What  a  wealth  of  con- 
secrated labour  is  put  forth  to-day,  in  discovering  new  methods  of 
benefiting  those  who  do  so  little  to  benefit  themselves  1  How  brain, 
and  hands,  and  hearts,  ^nd  willing  feet,  are  working  to  help  the  heli)less ! 
How  painter  and  poet,  gentle  women  and  Sunday-school  children,  how 
large-hearted,  whole-souled  men  and  women  in  vast  numbers  through- 
out Christendom,  think,  and  speak,  and  work,  and  pray,  for  the 
elevation  and  salvation  of  their  poor  outcast  brethren  1  How  the 
illustrated  literature  of  the  present  day,  not  only  such  works  as  the 
British  Workman,  Cottager  and  Artisan,  Band  of  Hope,  and  similar  publi- 
cations, but  how  the  very  leaflets  are  not  only  works  of  art,  but 
treasuries  of  golden  thoughts  !  How  even  the  loom,  the  forest,  and  the 
mine,  in  useful,  attractive,  and  inexpensive  products,  become  helps  to 
pave  the  way  to  dwellings  hitherto  difiicult  of  access  !  How  the  gold 
and  the  silver,  the  fruits  of  the  earth,  the  flowers  of  the  field  and 
the  flowers  of  the  garden,  become  aids  to  the  agent,  enabling  him  by 
new  avenues  to  find  his  way  to  homes,  and  to  the  hearts  of  those  who 
dwell  in  tliem,  filling  with  light  and  cheerfulness  dwellings  hitherto 
dark  and  forbidding ;  doing  this  in  that  nice  way  known  only  to  those 
taught  by  God's  Spirit;  doing  this  so  that  self-reliance  is  awakened  and 
developed,  not  destroyed  ;  in  such  a  way  that  cleanliness  is  seen  taking 
tbe  place  of  loathsomeness,  gentleness  that  of  harshness,  reverence 
that  of  profanity ;  to  see  those  who  had  been  strangers  to  God  and 
heaven  become  readers  of  His  Word,  attenders  upon  His  house, 
clothed  and  in  their  right  mind,  sitting  at  the  feet  of  Jesus  ! 

Forty  years  ago  an  English  statesman  (Sir  George  Grey),  duriu» 
the  period  of  the  Chartist  riots,  said  that  to  the  operations  of  the 
London  City  Mission  were  due  "  the  peace,  the  comfort,  and  the  safety 
of  tills  metropolis."     If  that  could  be  said  then,  what  might  be  said 

E  E 


418  HOME   MISSIONS. 

to-day?  If  the  little  leaven  of  those  days  iad  produced  results 
which  warranted  such  an  expression  from  such  a  speaker,  what  might 
be  said  if  the  leaven  of  the  Kingdom  were  to-day  working  upon  the 
entire  degraded  population  of  this  metropolis,  working  among  them 
until  the  whole  was  leavened  ?  Is  this  too  much  to  look  for,  to  pray 
for,  to  labour  for  ?  When  will  it  be,  how  soon  will  it  be  accomplished? 
Never  was  there  a  period  in  the  world's  history  when  it  teemed  with 
wealth  as  it  does  to-day ;  never  a  period  when  so  much  of  this 
wealth  was  possessed  by  God's  people ;  when  there  was  so  great  a 
readiness  on  the  part  of  Christians  to  employ  their  wealth  in  God's 
service ;  when  there  were  so  many  willing  to  labour  for  their  fellow- 
men.  Why,  then,  is  not  the  work  accomplished  ?  When  will  we 
witness  on  the  part  of  the  degraded  a  mighty  turning  towards  God, 
not  by  tens  or  hundreds  merely,  but  by  thousands,  so  that  whole 
districts,  where  now  are  heard  only  sounds  of  blasphemy,  may  resound 
with  the  praises  of  the  living  God  ?  Not  until  the  Church  as  a  whole 
is  thoroughly  alive,  not  until  the  sectional  differences  which  divide  and 
estrange  Christians  are  broken  down,  not  until  the  class  sought  to  be 
benefited  fully  reaUse  that  Christians  are  terribly  in  earnest  in 
reference  to  their  welfare,  and  that  they  mean  work  and  not  talk; 
that  their  reliance  is  in  God's  power,  and  not  in  man's  arm.  If  there 
is  one  field  in  this  world  where  more  than  any  other  such  efforts  are 
needed,  that  field  is  the  one  found  in  this  great  city.  Here  the 
deepest  degradation,  here  ample  ability  to  meet  it  in  means  and 
workers. 

Let  but  the  spirit  which  influenced  the  movement  recently  put  forth 
in  this  city,  which  led  the  ministers  of  the  various  denominations  to 
observe  Sunday,  the  10th  of  July,  as  an  open-air  mission  day ;  let  the 
spirit  which  animates  the  entire  Church  in  carrying  on  this  great  work, 
showing  to  those  whom  they  seek  to  benefit,  that  whatever  differences 
exist  among  them  which  keep  them  apart,  that  in  the  great  work  of 
seeking  the  best  interests  of  the  poor  outcast  and  degraded  children 
of  men,  they  are  all  one ;  let  the  Church  unite  in  sending  into  this 
field  without  loss  of  time  a  greatly  increased  staff  of  workers ;  men 
await  but  the  aj)plication  to  supply  you  with  the  means. 

Better  still,  let  every  Christian  man  and  woman  in  this  great  city 
become  a  worker,  not  offering  words  njerely,  not  simply  reminding  the 
degraded  of  their  condition,  not  merely  offering  Christ  to  them  as  their 
Saviour  when  the  only  feelings  of  which  they  are  conscious  are  the 
gnawings  of  hunger,  and  the  only  shelter  which  awaits  them  for  the 
night,  the  canopy  of  heaven.  Let  such  workers  cheerfully  minister  to 
them  of  their  substance,  giving  if  it  be  but  a  tithe  of  what  they  daily 
spend  upon  superfluities,  realising  that  the  poor  perishing  body  needs 
help  as  well  as  the  soul.  Let  the  Christian  women  of  this  metropohs 
take  their  poor  fallen  sisters  by  the  hand,  many  of  whom  are  more 
sinned  against  than  sinning,  many  of  whom  abhor  the  life,  the  sad  life 


EEV.    H.    GILMOEES   ADDRESS.  419 

into  wliich  tliey  have  drifted,  not  passing  them  by  as  though  God  had 
forsaken  them,  but  reuiemberiug  the  words  of  Him  who  said  to  an 
erring  one,  "  Neither  do  I  condemn  thee  ;  go  in  peace  and  sin  no  more ;" 
then,  indeed,  will  results  follow  such  as  never  have  been  witnessed  in 
this  great  metropolis ;  and  the  glad  tidings  will  be  wafted  to  everj^ 
quarter,  and  men  and  women  everj'where  will  be  led  to  labour  as  they 
have  never  done  before  for  those  that  are  outcast  and  degraded. 


•'o' 


*'  In  the  long  run  all  love  is  paid  by  love, 
Though  undervalued  by  the  hearts  of  earth  ; 
The  Great  Eternal  Government  above 
Keeps  strict  account,  and  will  redeem  its  work. 
Give  thy  love  freely,  do  not  count  the  cost, 
So  beautiful  a  thing  was  never  lost 
In  the  long  run." 

Rev.  H.  Gilmore  (Primitive  jMethodist),  in  delivering  the  invited  addrc'ss 
on  the  same  subject,  said  :  I  wish  this  subject  had  been  brought  before  us 
in  some  other  form  than  that  in  which  the  proposition  given  in  the  paper 
introduces  it  ;  for  I  cannot  help  feeling  that  as  it  is  here  stated  it  is 
capable  of  an  interpretation  which  might  lead  to  the  supposition  that  we 
recognise  the  vicious  class  distinctions  which  obtain  in  English  society, 
and  which  are  certainly  the  most  marked  expression  of  the  worldly  spirit, 
and  in  direct  antagonism  to  the  teaching  and  spirit  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.  I  know,  however,  that  no  sucii  tiling  was  intended  ;  and  if  I  might 
venture  to  express  the  sentiment  prevailing  in  this  Conference,  I  would 
say  that  we  know  of  no  class  distinction  ;  that  we  regard  men  irrespective 
of  their  circumstances,  tlieir  nationality,  or  colour,  as  brethren.  Taking 
the  proposition,  as  it  is  here  stated,  I  ask  myself,  Who  are  "  the  most 
degraded  populations,"  and  where  are  we  to  find  them  ?  In  endeavouring 
to  ascertain  what  is  meant  by  the  terms  most  degraded,  I  presume  one 
should  not  be  guided  exclusively  by  the  mere  etymology  of  words.  We 
are  here  using  the  terms  in  a  larger  sense  than  perhaps  their  strict  etymology 
would  allow.  We  are  taking  into  consideration  the  moral  element,  the 
personal  and  responsible  element ;  and  therefore  I  would  say  that  the 
most  degraded  are  those  who,  possessing  the  most  favourable  circum- 
stances, are  nevertheless  in  the  greatest  subjection  to  the  lower  impulses 
of  their  nature.  Well,  then,  with  that  definition,  when  I  ask  myself  who 
are  the  most  degraded  populations,  I  would  answer  without  tlie  slightest 
hesitation  that  they  are  the  wealthy  classes,  who,  not  having  the  stimulus 
of  necessity  upon  them,  are  often  indolent,  self-indulgent,  and  sensual. 
But  I  expect  that  is  not  the  interpretation  I  am  expected  to  give,  as  I 
find  that  you  have  to  discuss  afterwards  the  best  methods  of  reaching  the 
wealthy  who  are  not  converted,  and  therefore  I  assume  that  the  interpre- 
tation I  am  expected  to  give  is,  that  the  most  degraded,  the  greatest 
number  of  them,  are  to  be  found  among  the  common  people.  Well,  that 
is  true,  because  proportionately  there  are  more  of  the  common  people  than 

£  E  2 


420  ,  HOME   MISSIONS. 

of  the  wealthy  classes.  And,  sir,  there  is  certainly  deep  degradation 
among  the  common  people  of  this  country.  I  have  heard  the  statistics 
read  out  here,  and  the  hopeful  statements  made  concerning  the  recovery  of 
the  world  ;  but  while  I  heard  those  statistics  and  those  statements  my 
heart  was  sick,  for  I  was  thinking  of  that  great  world  lying  all  round  us  in 
the  deepest  darkness  and  degradation.  Look  at  the  condition  of  the  great 
mass  of  the  people  in  this  large  city  ;  the  life  to  which  the  bulk  of  them  are 
doomed,  and  to  which  I  am  prepared  to  say  many  of  them  doom  them- 
selves. That  life  is  one  of  hardship  and  of  the  deepest  degradation.  They 
are  almost  in  the  first  stage  of  human  development,  and  are  determined 
almost  exclusively  by  passional  impulses.  There  are  very  few  of  them 
that  are  conscious  of  any  higher  constraint  than  that  which  arises  from 
their  passional  nature  ;  "  What  shall  I  eat,  what  shall  I  drink,  and  where- 
withal shall  I  be  clothed  1 "  being  the  principal  motives  controlling  their 
activity.  Oh,  sir,  if  the  Church  of  Christ  would  open  her  eyes  and  look 
around  her,  and  see  the  state  of  the  populations  that  are  perishing  for  lack 
of  knowledge,  she  would  surely  be  constrained  with  joyfulness  to  sacrifice 
herself  to  save  them,  as  her  Master  did.  Well,  then,  I  am  to  speak  of  the 
degraded  populations  among  the  common  people.  We  begin  with  this 
assumption,  that  nothing  will  effectually  regenerate  and  elevate  them  but 
the  Gospel  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  I  do  not  wish  to  argue  that  point. 
We  are  in  perfect  sympathy  with  every  agency  that  is  employed  in  any 
way  to  help  them.  It  would  not  be  parliamentary,  I  suppose,  to  refer  to 
debates  that  have  taken  place  in  this  house  on  previous  days ;  and  yet  I 
cannot  resist  the  temptation  of  saying  that  I  have  no  sympathy  whatever 
with  the  sentiment  that  was  expressed  here,  that  to  educate  the  people 
apart  from  what  is  denominated  Christian  instruction  is  not  to  benefit 
them.  I  am  in  sympathy  with  every  effort  put  forth  to  call  into  activity 
the  intellectual  and  spiritual  powers  of  men  ;  still  I  will  assert  confidently 
that  nothing  will  effectually  regenerate  the  degraded  populations  but  the 
acceptance  of  the  Gos^jel  of  Christ.  In  it  there  is  the  presentation  of  the 
highest  ideal ;  there  is  brought  to  bear  upon  them  the  strongest  constraints  ; 
and  there  is  supplied  to  them  through  the  mercy  of  God  the  greatest 
amount  of  moral  power.  Now,  the  question  is  how  to  bring  this  Gospel  to 
bear  upon  these  degraded  populations  ;  and  I  will  state  at  once  that  I  have 
no  one  method  to  put  forward  as  the  only  method  that  ought  to  be 
employed.  There  are  various  methods  employed,  all  of  them  good  in  as 
far  as  they  are  used  in  the  right  spirit.  One  method  may  be  suited  to  one 
place  at  one  time,  that  is  not  suited  to  another  place  or  another  time. 
The  matter  of  method  or  organisation  is  a  matter  of  little  importance  ;  and 
I  hold  that  Churches  ought  to  be  left  free  to  use  all  methods  that  are  in 
their  judgment  expedient  That  which  is  of  supreme  importance  is  the 
spirit  in  which  we  enter  upon  this  work.  If  we  enter  upon  it  in  a  cold, 
formal,  perfuiictory  spirit,  we  shall  fail,  as  we  deserve  to  fail,  no  matter 
how  perfect  our  machinery  maj^  be  ;  but  if  we  enter  upon  it  in  the  large, 
loving,  human  spirit  of  Christ,  identifying  ourselves  with  the  people  we 


GENERAL   REMARKS.  421 

seek  to  serve,  sj'rnpathising  with  their  social  and  political  aspirations,  and 
rendering  to  them  true  brotherly  helpfulness,  then  we  will  succeed,  no 
matter  how  imperfect  our  machinery.  To  be  possessed  and  moved  by  the 
passionate  enthusiasm  of  humanity,  by  the  love  of  Christ,  I  hold  to  be  the 
supreme  matter  of  concern  in  home  mission  work.  I  ought  to  state  reasons 
for  the  maintenance  of  this  work.  I  would  urge  the  pressing  need  every- 
where present,  the  danger  not  only  to  the  individual  but  to  society  and  the 
Church,  and  esjiecially  the  urgent  command  of  the  Lord  Himself. 

Rev.  Erasmus  Q.  Fuller,  D.  D.  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church) :  I  will 
say  a  few  words  in  regard  to  home  missionary  work  among  the  people  of 
colour  in  our  country.  It  is  not  needful  to  refer  to  the  condition  of  things 
existing  in  our  land  before  the  late  dreadful  war  ;  it  is  enough  to  say  that 
at  the  close  of  that  struggle  we  found  upon  our  hands  a  vast  population  in 
want,  without  education,  without  help,  without  land,  without  anything  save 
their  hands  and  their  freedom.  What  was  to  be  done  with  those 
people  was  a  very  great  question.  The  Government  was  not  prepared  to 
provide  for  them  ;  the  several  States  in  which  thej'  had  resided  had  been 
overrun  with  armies,  and  were  not  able  to  meet  the  demands  thus  thrown 
upon  them.  But  through  home  missionary  eifort  on  the  part  of  the 
Churches  of  our  country  a  most  wonderful  work  has  been  accomplished 
among  that  people.  I  might  speak  of  our  own  branch  of  the  Church  in 
particular,  but  that  would  hardly  be  in  line  with  the  thoughts  and  the  dis- 
cussions that  have  occun-ed  in  this  assembly.  I  will  aggregate  in  a  few 
words  as  well  as  I  can  the  efforts  of  Methodism  as  a  whole,  North  and  South, 
in  this  great  home  missionary  movement.  Our  own  Church  was  not  slow 
to  enter  that  field,  and  other  Churches  have  stood  beside  us  during  these 
years.  At  the  close  of  the  war  there  were  about  200,000  Methodist  com- 
municants among  the  people  of  colour  ;  now  there  are  more  than  700,000 
of  them.  This  is  so  large  a  figure  that  perhaps  I  ought  to  indicate  the 
Churches  where  they  are  found.  The  200,000  Methodists  among  the 
coloured  people  before  the  war  were  almost  wholly  in  the  Southern  Me- 
thodist Church,  but  it  was  natural  to  expect  that  many  of  them  should  drift 
away,  in  the  new  order  of  things.  They  still  have  in  the  Coloured  Methodist 
Church,  however,  more  than  100,000  communicants  ;  our  own  Church  has 
200,000 ;  the  African  Methodist  Church  has  more  than  200,000  ;  and  the 
Zion  Church  has  200,000  more,  or  nearly  ;  so  that  to-day  there  are  more 
than  half  a  million  more  Methodist  communicants  among  that  people  than 
before  the  war.  This  work  has  been  brought  about  by  direct  Christian 
effort,  and  through  means  of  our  home  missions,  almost  entirely.  We  sent 
into  that  field,  ministers  and  teachers,  supported  bj'^  our  Home  Missionary 
Fund— not  distinguished -from  our  Foreign,  but  used  in  that  direction — and 
the  African  Church  and  the  Zion  Church  also  went  into  that  field  imme- 
diatelj',  in  the  same  spirit  and  for  the  same  purpose.  I  wish  to  call  your 
attention  also  to  the  fact  that  the  improvement  in  intelligence  and  in  Chris- 
tian character  has  been  quite  as  marked  as  the  increase  in  the  numbers  in 
the  Church. 

Rev.  George  Bowden  (Wesleyan  Methodist)  :  In  this  discussion  I  triist 
we  shall  not  forget  that  every  I\Iethodist  man  or  woman  should  be  a  home 
missionary,  and  every  several  church  should  be  a  home  missionary  agency. 
The  possibilities  of  Christianity  in  the  case  of  a  single  woman  are  well 
illustrated  in  that  of  Mary  Macarthy,  a  noble  Irishwoman.  She  was  the 
daughter  of  an  Irish  Papist,  who  used  to  harangue  mobs  in  Hyde  Park 
against  the  British  Government.  She  was  a  woman  with  a  frail  body. 
Her  time  for  work  during  thirty  years  was  before  eight  in  the  morning  and 


422  HOME  MISSIONS. 

after  eight  in  the  evening  ;  in  the  interval  she  was  occupie(3  as  the  fore- 
woman in  a  fringe  manufactory  in  the  neighbourlaood  of  this  chapel.  In 
this  chapel  she  was  converted.  She  loved  the  degraded  population  around 
her,  and  worked  among  costermongers,  fallen  women,  thieves,  and  the 
lowest  of  the  London  poor.  In  her  life  she  was  the  means  of  leading  to 
Jesus  and  guiding  safely  to  mature  Christian  life  some  700  persons.  This 
could  be  done,  was  done,  by  one  Christian  woman  while  continuing  at  her 
common  toil. 

Rev.  Dr.  Henry  Pope  (Methodist  Church  of  Canada)  :  I  am  the  son  of 
the  late  Henry  Pope,  who  65  years  ago  was  ordained  within  these  hallowed 
walls,  and  a  few  years  since  "  his  body  with  his  charge  laid  down,  and 
ceased  at  once  to  work  and  live,"  in  the  89th  year  of  his  age,  and  the  64th 
of  his  ministry.  I  mention  this  fact  in  order  to  secure  for  his  name  hon- 
ourable embalmment  in  the  written  records  of  this  grand  Convention  of  that 
Methodist  Church  which  he  served  so  faithfully  and  loved  so  well.  As  his 
son  in  the  faith,  and  successor  in  this  holy  ministry,  it  has  been  a  high 
gratification  to  me  to  visit  this  shrine  of  our  world  embracing  Methodism, 
and  place  therein  my  humble  tribute  of  loyal  and  loving  devotion.  As  I 
have  attended  the  sessions  of  this  Conference  from  day  to  day,  the  convic- 
tion has  grown  upon  me  that  the  benefits  which  shall  accrue  from  it  to 
Methodism,  the  Church  at  large,  and  the  world,  will  be  far-reaching  and 
incalculable.  Of  all  the  subjects  which  have  engaged  our  attention,  per- 
haps there  has  been  none  of  more  vital  interest  tlian  that  of  Temperance. 
What  inspiration  will  be  given  to  thousands  of  the  best  men  and  women 
among  all  the  English-speaking  people  of  the  world  by  the  intelligence 
that  had  it  been  within  the  business  order  of  this  assembly,  a  unanimously 
affinnative  vote  might  have  been  recorded  to  the  following  effect :  "Total 
abstinence  on  the  part  of  Methodist  ministers  and  laity  the  world  over ;  the 
employment  of  all  legitimate  means  to  educate  the  people  up  to  this  principle  ; 
and  the  attainment  of  such  legislation  as  shall  prohibit  the  manufacture, 
sale,  or  use  of  all  alcoholic  liquors,  except  for  mechanical,  medicinal,  and 
scientific  purposes."  Could  they  but  have  heard  the  noble  pronouncement 
upon  this  question,  a  shout  of  gladness  would  have  sounded  out  all  along 
the  line,  and  the  banners  of  this  reform  would  have  been  grasped  with  a 
bolder  hand,  and  lifted  higher  than  ever  before.  The  subject  under  con- 
sideration this  morning  is  cognate  to  that  of  Temperance,  viz.,  "  The  main- 
tenance of  Home  Missions  among  the  most  degraded  populations."  Some 
of  us  who  have  come  over  the  Atlantic  to  attend  this  gathering  fail  to  see 
many  whose  names  have  been  household  words  in  our  Canadian  homes,  and 
especially  in  our  souls  have  we  sighed 

"  For  the  touch  of  a  vanished  hand, 
And  the  sound  of  a  voice  that  is  still." 

The  late  lamented  Dr.  Punshon  once  said  in  my  hearing  that  he  had  an  uncle 
who  possessed  a  pair  of  peculiar  eyes.  With  the  one  he  cOuld  discern  only 
remotely  distant  objects,  and  with  the  other  those  only  which  lay  imme- 
diately near.  Thus  has  it  been  witli  Methodism  in  its  foreign  and  liome 
missionary  enterprise.  Home  missions  are  in  full  accord  with  our  Metho- 
distic  antecedents  and  traditions.  Among  the  begrimed  and  horny-handed 
sons  of  subterranean  toil  in  Kingswood  and  elsewhere,  did  the  grand  elders 
of  our  Israel  achieve  their  earliest  and  most  assuring  triumphs,  and 
find  some  of  the  brightest  gems  which  have  been  placed  in  the  crown 
of  the  Saviour.  As  u  Church  we  have  no  sympathy  for  those  saintly  in- 
effables,  who,  claiming  the  Christian  name,  can,  priest  and  Levite  like,  pass 
by  on  the  other  side,  and  leave  the  degraded  masses  to  perish  in  their 
squalor  and  tlieir  sin  ;   but  witli  a  faith  (li\-iiiclv  Ixild,  and  sucli  a  love  for 


MR.   T.   H.   BAINBRIDGE'S   ADDRESS.  423 

Clirist  and  for  souls  as  many  waters  cannot  quench,  we  have  iGjonP  in  amonsc 
the  self-destroving-  and  relatively  injurious  vassals  of  crime  and  vice,  and 
in  the  name  of  Hi'm  who  came  to  seek  and  save  the  lost  have  said  to  the 
fierce  and  foul  spirits  reignin<::  within  them,  '-Come  out  of  them!"  and  in 
untold  numbers  have  we'rejoiced  over  llu-m  as  "  clothed,  sitting  at  the  feet 
of  Jesus,  and  in  their  right  mind."  By  the  agency  of  City  Missionaries, 
Street-preaching,  Bible-women,  Tract-distribution,  and  personal  api)eal,  are 
these  degraded  thousands  in  our  great  centres  of  population  on  both  sides 
of  the  water  to  be  reached  and  rescued.  We  may  well  add  the  institution 
of  Sabbath-schools  aud  Temperance  societies  in  the  very  midst  of  such 
communities  wherever  it  is  at  all  practicable. 


Mr.  T.  H.  Bainbripge  (Wesleyan  Methodist)  read  an  essay  on 
The  Important  Work  the  Methodid  Laity  have  perfoi-med  in  this  direc- 
tion ;  and  the  Great  Opportunities  tvhich  they  have  in  the  Future, 

No  other  denomination  employs  its  laity  so  largely  in  direct 
spiritual  work,  and  makes  such  extensive  demands  upon  their  time, 
talents,  and  treasure,  as  Methodism. 

From  the  earliest  times  laymen  have  been  Gospel  pioneers.  "We 
read  that  among  the  disciples  who  were  scattered  abroad  by  persecu- 
tion at  Jerusalem,  there  were  men  of  Cyprus  and  Cyrene  (unordained 
men — laymen)  who  went  preaching  the  Word  of  God,  When  they 
reached  Antioch  they  "  spake  unto  the  Grecians,  preaching  the  Lord 
Jesus."  A  great  work  of  God  was  the  result ;  and  when  the  news 
came  to  Jerusalem,  the  Church  there  sent  one  of  its  best  men  to  see 
the  work  and  report  upon  it,  the  ultimate  result  being  that  the  centre 
of  the  Christian  world  (so  far  as  aggressive  work  was  concerned)  was 
changed  from  Jerusalem  to  Antioch. 

The  early  Methodist  laymen  were  a  similar  class  of  men,  and  this 
accounts  for  Methodism  constantly  "breaking  out"  in  fresh  places, 
and  for  its  being,  as  it  now  is,  the  largest  English-speaking  Protestant 
Church  in  the  world. 

We  presume  our  treatment  of  this  subject  should  have  included 
some  reference  to  the  pant  hintory  of  the  work  of  the  laity.  Our  time, 
however,  is  so  limited,  that  we  are  compelled  to  devote  it  to  the  con- 
sideration of  the  latter  and  more  important  i)hase  of  the  subject.  The 
extent  to  which  Mr.  Wesley  was  indebted  to  the  self-denying  labours 
of  his  lay  helpers  is  matter  of  history,  and  need  not  be  rej)eated  here. 
It  is  enough  to  insist  upon  the  fact  that  lay  help  is  of  the  essence  of 
Metliodism,  and  that  deprived  of  it  Methodism  would  be  shorn  of 
its  chief  strength. 

Methodist  Laity. — The  spiritual  destitution  of  the  whole  poijulation 
can  never  be  met  by  the  ministry  alone.  The  Holy  Ghost  knew  this, 
and  (as  if  He  were  afraid  that  to  a  separated  ministry  would  be  dele- 
gated nearly  all  the  work)  so  the  distinction  between  the  ministry  aud 
the  laity  in  the  New  Testament  is  not  very  clearly  marked. 


42-l!  HOME   MISSIONS. 

Ministers  must,  of  necessity,  be  largely  employed  in  consoli- 
dating the  work  already  done,  and  therefore  the  aggressive  work 
of  the  Church  ought  to  be  initiated — at  least  to  a  large  extent — by  the 
laity. 

Our  ministerial  system  presupjjoses  and  requires  lay  labour  of  many 
kinds.  At  least  three-fourths  of  our  meetings  have  been,  and  are, 
conducted  by  laymen. 

By  force  of  circumstances  and  pressure  of  Providence,  Mr.  Wesley 
was  coerced  into  shaping  the  system  thus.  If,  therefore,  this  lay  heli^ 
be  discontinued,  we  must  shape  our  church  poUty  afresh;  in  fact, 
unmethodise  Methodism. 

We  j)ride  ourselves  upon  having  the  finest  laity  in  the  world  ;  this  is 
largely  the  result  of  lay  labour  in  the  past.  The  maintenance  and  ex- 
tension of  the  Methodist  Church  must  depend  to  a  considerable  extent 
upon  their  sustained  efforts. 

The  laity  have  special  advantages  in  dealing  with  the  irreligious. 
In  Sunday-school  work,  in  button-holing  individuals,  in  directing 
seekers,  in  speaking  in  the  ojien  air,  and  in  all  other  mission  work, 
the  laity  (male  and  female)  occupy  a  vantage  ground.  Besides  which, 
they  are  always  on  the  spot,  and  so  can  steadily  sustain  their  labours 
over  a  series  of  years,  whereas  our  ministers  are,  with  short  intervals, 
on  the  wing. 

Methodism. — It  appears  to  us  that  Methodism  has  a  twofold  special 
mission,  viz. — 1.  To  take  the  Gospel  to  the  poor  and  degraded ;  and 
2.  To  carry  the  Gospel  into  sparsely  populated  localities.  The  number 
and  spiritual  efficiency  of  its  laity  give  it,  so  to  speak,  longer  arms  than 
other  Churches,  and  the  evangelisation,  not  only  of  the  neglected 
districts,  but  of  newly-settled  countries,  can,  therefore,  be  more  easily 
accomplished  by  it  than  by  other  Churches. 

It  was  the  glory  of  Methodism  in  the  past  that  it  was  Christianity  in 
earnest,  as  shown  by  its  members  being  "  all  at  it,  and  always  at  it:" 
every  one,  without  distinction  of  age  or  sex,  making  some  effort  to  save 
those  around  them.. 

The  dangej.'  of  Methodism  now  and  in  the  future  is,  that  of  settling 
down  in  respectable  and  prosperous  churches,  having  good  preaching, 
singing,  and  attendance,  and  paying  to  get  the  work  done  vicariously, 
by  professional  workers,  which  ought  to  be  done  by  ourselves. 

Our  Church  has  largely  increased  in  wealth,  and  with  wealth  has 
come  the  temptation  to  ease  and  self-indulgence.  Probably  no 
injunction  is  so  much  needed  by  our  people  at  present,  as  "  Let  him  deny 
himself."  Few  things  are  more  to  be  deplored  amongst  us  than  the 
fact,  that  the  aggressive  work  of  the  Church  is  left  so  much  in  the 
hands  of  the  less  efficient  members  of  our  Church.  This  matter  is  so 
serious,  that  unless  our  better  educated  people  will  give  themselves 
more  largely  to  earnest  Christian  work,  we  shall  (in  these  times  of 
improved  "education)  have  the  bulk  of  our  local  preachers  and  Sunday- 


4 


MR.    T.    H.    BAIN  BRIDGE'S   ADDRESS.  425 

school  teachers  ministering  to  those  who  are  actually  better  informed 
than  themselves. 

Methodism  is  suited  only  for  earnest  Christians.  Our  tests  are  so 
spiritual  and  experimental,  that  if  a  man  has  no  real  religion,  they 
prove  both  awkward  and  distasteful.  The  class-meeting,  the  prayer- 
meeting,  and  the  inquiry-meeting,  are  exactly  suited  for  what  Mr, 
Sj)urgeon  calls  "  red-hot  Christians,"  but  are  entirely  unsuitable  for 
those  w'ho  seem  to  think  that  it  is  infra  dig.  to  do  Christian  work.  • 

Degraded  Populations. — When  we  use  the  term  "  degraded,"  we  under- 
stand those  portions  of  our  town  populations  which  inhabit  the  lowest 
quarters.  They  herd  together  in  the  dirty,  ill-ventilated,  dilapidated 
dwellings  of  the  courts,  alleys,  back  slums,  and  the  jDoorest  descri^jtions 
of  streets.  They  possess  no  home  comforts  ;  their  life  is  one  of  con- 
tinuous hardship  ;  they  have  no  relaxation  but  the  public-house  ;  they 
have  no  God,  and  they  are  ignorant  of,  or  careless  about,  their  eternal 
destinies. 

Causes  of  Degradation. — Such  a  condition  of  existence  is  frightful  to 
contemplate,  and  yet  it  is  the  condition  of  thousands  of  the  poj)ulation 
of  Christian  England.  Of  those  who  compose  this  class  the  gi'eater 
number  are  horn  unto  it,  and  the  rest  sink  into  it  from  the  higher 
altitude  of  comparative  comfort  and  respectability,  carried  down  by 
the  gradually  accumulating  weight  of  vicious  habits  and  a  godless  life. 

Of  the  former  of  these  two  divisions  it  may  truly  be  asserted  that 
spiritual  feeling,  as  a  rule,  does  not  exist  ;  that  spiritual  life  has  had 
no  awakening.  The  very  first  conditions  of  salvation  are  absent  in 
their  case.  They  know  nothing  of  God,  and  their  every  surrounding 
is  spiritually  benumbing.  Circumstanced  as  they  are,  they  never  can, 
and  never  will,  "  seek  "  salvation  ;  salvation  must  "  seek  "  them. 

Of  the  latter  of  the  two  divisions  we  have  mentioned,  the  case  is, 
perhaps,  more  hopeless  still.  It  is  always  most  difficult  for  a  man  to 
reclimb  into  a  position  from  which  he  has  fallen  through  misconduct. 

Necessity  for  Work  among  the  Degraded  Classes. — If,  therefore,  these 
degraded  people  are  to  be  saved,  the  Church  must  not  wait  until  they 
come  and  knock  for  admittance  at  its  doors. 

You  cannot  expect  corrupt  human  nature  to  reform  itself.  You  have 
to  deal  with  drunkards,  gamblers,  dog-fighters,  fallen  women ;  and 
what  conceivable  motives  can  such  have  to  leave  their  haunts  of 
infamy,  and  seek  the  companionship,  in  worship,  of  godly  people  ? 
Besides,  as  a  rule,  they  do  not  believe  in  godly  people.  They  mock 
at  morality,  and  deride  the  decencies  of  life  as  a  hollow  sham.  "We 
must  carry  the  Gospel  to  them. 

If,  then,  they  will  not  come  to  our  services,  and  cannot  be  reached 
by  the  ordinary  agencies  employed  by  the  Cliurch,  what  remains  ?  To 
those  whose  sympathies  reacli  out  to  those  outcasts  Christ  Himself 
supplies  the  marching  orders.  Christ  says  "Go;"  and  the  right 
appj.eciation  of  all  that  is  involved  in  this  command  will  enable  us  to 


426  HOME  MISSIONS. 

solve  this  apparently  insoluble  problem,  Hoav  to  reach  and  reclaim  the 
degraded  population  of  our  country. 

Methorh. — It  has  been  said,  and,  perhaps,  -^dth  considerable  truth, 
that  a  serious  indictment  might  be  brought  against  the  Methodist  and 
all  other  Churches,  viz.,  that  they  are  more  anxious  about  keeping  up 
their  particular  organisation  than  about  the  evangelisation  of  the  world. 
A  hundred  years  ago  this  charge  could  not  have  been  brought  against 
the  Methodist  Church.  Tlien  her  attention  was  aU  biat  monopohsed 
with  aggi-essive  effort.  Now  it  is  mainly  occupied  in  perfecting  her 
Church  pohty  ;  indeed,  so  much  of  the  time,  thought,  and  enthusiasm 
of  both  our  ministers  and  people  is  taken  up  in  carrying  out  the 
details  of  our  organisation,  that  there  is  comparatively  little  left  for 
aggression.  The  more  degraded  classes  are  not  being  reached  in 
anything  like  large  numbers  by  any  of  our  Churches.  In  connection 
with  some  of  our  more  flourishing  mission-rooms^  we  succeed  iu 
influencing  the  mere  fringe  of  dense  pci^ulations  of  degraded  people, 
and  perhaps  get  one  hundred  members  out  of  a  mass  of  10,000  people 
— i.e.,  get  one  person  converted  in  a  hundred  I  This,  however,  cannot 
be  called  "  reaching  the  masses  !  " 

Numerous  conventions  have  been  held,  essays  written,  and  theories 
advanced  as  to  how  to  reach  the  masses.  The  question  may  be  asked.  Is 
there  any  need  to  theorise  on  this  subject  to-day  ?  Is  it  not  a  fact  that 
the  work  is  being  done — efliectually  and  successfully  done — by  what  is 
called  the  Salvation  Army  ? 

Are  not  its  rapid  growth,  and  the  remarkable  effects  produced  by  its 
labours  among  the  neglected  classes,  matters  of  notoriety  ? 

It  is  true,  it  is  a  humble  agency,  but  may  not  the  Churches  learn 
important  and  salutary  lessons  from  its  methods  and  work  ? 

From  somev,'hat  intimate  acquaintance  with  the  work  itself,  and 
with  some  of  its  principal  agents,  we  have  come  to  the  conclusion  that 
its  unpr'ecedented  success  amongst  the  neglected  classes  may  be 
accouuted  for  on  the  following  grounds  : — 

1.  They  systematically  j^arade  the  streets  with  banners  and  music. 
Their  singing — both  indoors  and  out — is  of  the  heartiest  description. 
The  tunes  are  mostly  old  Methodist  revival  tunes,  which  have  been 
discarded  by  the  Methodist  Churches  as  being  old-fashioned  and 
vulgar,  many  of  them  with  lively  inspiriting  choruses  and  refrains 
which  are  "catching,"  and  which  easily  fix  themselves  in  the  minds  of 
those  who  hear  them. 

2.  They  recognise  the  fact  that  the  people  amongst  whom  they 
labour  must,  in  order  to  be  benefited  by  the  services,  be  made  to  feel 
at  ho)ne.  Formality  and  stift'ness  must  (at  almost  any  price)  be  got  rid 
of,  and  the  services  rendered  homely,  varied,  and  bright.  The  leaders 
do  not,  therefore,  as  with  us,  adhere  to  any  stereotyped  form  of  service, 
but,  as  a  general  rule,  they  stand  aside,  in  order  to  allow  some  twenty 
or  thirty  other  persons  to  take  part  in  the  services. 


MR.   T.   H.   BAINBRIDGE'S   ADDRESS.  427 

3.  They  very  largely  use,  as  a  preaching  medium,  the  experiences  of 
new  converts.  As  heathen  countries  will  never  be  converted  by  the 
preaching  of  foreign  missionaries  alone,  but  by  the  efforts  mainly  of 
heathen  converts  themselves,  so  they  act  upon  the  principle  that  the 
degraded  classes  in  English-speaking  countries  will  never  be  saved 
except  by  the  efforts  of  converts  of  the  same  class. 

4.  They  teach  their  new  converts  to  feel  responsible  for  the  salvation 
of  others,  and  to  put  forth  continuous  and  daily  efforts  for  their  salva- 
tion. They  get  every  one  to  work  immediately  he  is  converted,  and 
never  let  any  one  become  an  idler. 

5.  They  teach  entire  consecration  and  holiness  of  heart  as  the  present 
privilege  of  every  one — even  the  newest  convert.  This  is  jjressed,  not 
very  occasionally  as  in  our  churches,  but  almost  every  day,  and 
certainly  every  week,  as  a  privilege  and  duty. 

6.  They  believe  they  are  acting  in  harmony  with  the  mind  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  in  accepting  and  utilising  the  services  of  female  speakers. 
The  devil  having  freely  employed  female  instrumentality  m  de- 
moralising men,  they  feel  quite  at  liberty  to  use  the  same  instru- 
mentality on  behalf  of  men's  recovery.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  and 
especially  in  dealing  with  rough  men,  they  find  female  agency  the  most 
effective. 

In  conclusion,  that  which  enables  the  Salvation  Army  to  retain  their 
converts  is,  that  (at  every  station)  they  have  a  meeting  every  night  in 
the  week,  to  which  their  converts  can  rejpair  for  spiritual  help. 

The  Church  has  hitherto  (at  least  to  a  large  extent)  been  content  to 
believe  that  the  great  outlying  masses  of  our  population  are  practically 
beyond  its  reach.  The  work  of  the  Salvation  Army  proves  the  con- 
trary to  be  true,  and  consequently  throws  the  responsihiUhj  upon  the 
entire  Church  of  employing  systematised  effort  in  the  same  direction. 

"We  pride  ourselves,  -udth  justice,  upon  our  faculty  of  organisation. 
Can  we  not  organise  something  after  the  fashion  of  the  Salvation 
Army,  not  to  supersede  our  present  services,  but  to  supplement  them ; 
something  which  may  be  grafted  upon  our  system,  and  which  will 
enable  us  to  utilise  the  large  number  of  our  members  who,  by  natural 
and  gracious  endowments,  are  suited  to  the  rough  work  of  missioning 
these  classes  ? 

llission-Eooms.—'La.rge  central  chapels  are  well  enough  in  their  way, 
but,  if  the  truth  must  be  told,  they  are  of  but  hmited  use  for  evan- 
gelistic j)uri)oses.  They  are  places  of  worship,  and  they  are  necessary 
for  that  large  proportion  of  people  whose  instincts  lead  tliem  to  meet 
for  "worship,"  but  who  have  no  relish  and  no  special  aptitude  for 
distinctive  evangelistic  work. 

But  almost  every  large  chapel  ought  to  have  at  least  one  mission- 
room,  situated  in  a  poor  and  destitute  locality ;  and  this  mission 
should  not  be  left  to  the  tender  mercies  of  private  Christians,  but 
should  be  under  the  direct  guidance  and  control  of  the  parent  Church. 


428  HOME  MISSIONS. 

In  this  way  Methodism  may  once  again  take  up  and  repeat  the  words 
of  the  Saviour,  "  The  poor  have  the  Gospel  preached  to  them." 

Each  mission -room  should  be  the  centre  of  a  tract  district,  and 
should  have  a  Sunday-school,  a  Night-school,  a  Mothers'  meeting,  a 
Band  of  Hope,  and  a  Temperance  Society  connected  with  it. 

One  of  the  important  accessories  to  the  mission-room  should  be 
systematic  outdoor  singing  and  speaking,  the  mission  being  the  termi- 
nating point  of  every  procession. 

Again,  lohy  should  there  not  he  a  short  outdoor  service  and  street  singing 
in  connection  with  all  our  large  chapels  f  Experience  proves  that  persons 
thus  attracted  under  the  sound  of  the  Gospel  are  much  more  easily 
brought  to  religious  decision  than  those  who  have  been  getting  Gospel- 
hardened  by  sitting  under  our  ministry  for  a  series  of  years. 

As  a  Church  we  have  come  to  attach  far  too  i'^le  importance  to 
outdoor  services,  although  but  for  them  Methodism  would  to-day  have 
had  practically  no  existence.  The  fact  is,  and  the  sooner  we  recognise 
it  the  better,  tens  of  thousands  of  souls  will,  humanly  speaking,  never 
be  saved,  unless  the  Gospel  be  proclaimed  to  them  out  of  doors.  As 
regards  the  lay  element  in  our  Church,  these  outdoor  services  are 
exactly  suited  to  the  object  of  drawing  out  and  utilising  the  energies 
and  manifold  gifts  of  our  people. 

District  Missions. — The  Methodist  Church  is  essentially  an  aggressive 
Church.  In  it  there  has  always  boon  a  demand  for  lay  evangeUsts  or 
revivalists. 

Speaking  for  Wesleyan  Methodism,  untU  the  establishment,  some 
seven  years  ago,  of  what  is  celled  the  "  District  Mission  Movement," 
many  of  these  evangelists  were  unaccredited  and  irresi)onsible,  and 
their  action  was  sometimes  irregular  and  their  work  unsatisfactory. 

The  District  Mission  scheme  jjrovides  for  the  employment  of  these 
lay  evangehsts  (as  well  as  ministerial  evangelists)  under  a  district 
committee,  formed  of  six  ministers  and  six  laymen,  the  chairman  of 
the  district  presiding  at  the  meetings. 

Both  ministers  and  laymen,  with  this  special  power  of  evangelism, 
have  thus  been  utilised  for  revival  or  mission  work,  and  in  many 
districts  with  the  most  gratifying  results.  In  more  districts  than  one 
in  England  the  inquirers  at  their  services  have  been  numbered  by 
thousands. 

We  regard  the  District  Mission  scheme  as  the  most  imjjortant  forward 
movement  in  aggressive  work  undertaken  by  the  Wesleyan  Methodist 
Church  for  many  years. 

Every  Methodist  Church  possesses  ministers  who  are  fitted  by 
natural  and  gracious  endowment  as  evangelists.  God  has  put  into 
their  hands  a  reaping-hook.  Reaping  is  their  specific  work.  They  can 
do  nothing  else  so  well.  It  is  both  the  interest  and  duty  of  the  Church 
to  take  advantage  of  that  special  talent.  There  are  many  thousands 
of  persons  to-day  in  Wesleyan  Methodism  who  have  cause  to  thank 


MR.    T.   H.   BAINBRIDGE's   ADDRESS.  429 

God  for  the  establishment  of  district  missions ;  and  if  the  other 
Methodist  Churches  would  take  up  the  same  idea,  tens  of  thousands 
would  liave  reason  for  a  similar  thankfulness.  The  Rev.  Alex.  McAulay 
(the  secretary  of  the  Wesleyau  Methodist  Home  Mission  Society)  has 
had  large  experience  in  the  working  of  the  District  Mission  movement, 
and  is  in  a  position  to  give  information  as  to  methods  and  results. 

Mothrrs'  Meetings. — Another  verj^  important  evangelistic  agency  may 
be  mentioned.  We  refer  to  mothers'  meetings.  A  mothers'  meeting, 
with  a  hearty  religious  service,  comes  in  to  fiupply  a  great  need.  It 
is  the  only  opportunity  that  many  a  mother  has  of  hearing  the  Gospel, 
for  in  spite  of  what  is  often  said  of  bringing  their  children  to  chapel 
with  them,  twenty  or  thirty  babies  would  not  be  tolerated  in  our 
quiet,  orderly  congregations. 

Mothers  often  say  that  they  used  regularly  to  attend  God's  house 
until  kept  at  home  year  after  year  by  the  children,  and  then  they 
became  indifferent  and  lost  all  relish  for  public  worship. 

The  establishment  of  mothers'  meetings  has  the  double  advantage  of 
giving  employment  to  the  ladies  of  the  congregation,  as  well  as  of 
influencing  the  children  and  husbands  of  the  mothers  who  attend. 

We  just  mention,  cursorily,  other  promising  fields  of  usefulness  open 
to  our  laity,  viz.  :  infirmaries  and  hospitals,  workhouses,  prisons,  and 
work  among  female  penitents.  In  several  towns  in  England  a  great 
work  is  being  done  in  infirmaries  by  young  ladies  formed  into  Flower 
Mission  Singing  Bands,  who,  while  they  cheer  the  patients  by  music 
and  flowers,  endeavour  to  lead  them  to  the  Saviour. 

Sanctuary  Methods. — We  have  spoken  so  far  more  particularly  of  the 
outlying  population,  which  never,  even  by  mistake,  gets  into  a  place  of 
worship.  There  is,  however,  a  wide  and  important  sphere  of  useful- 
ness for  the  laity  in  connection  with  our  ordinary  services,  and  with 
the  ordinary  routine  of  Methodistic  life. 

Under  this  head  we  may  mention — 1.  The  work  of  bringing  prepared 
hearers  under  the  sound  of  the  Gospel.  We  have  all  heard  of  Rowland 
Hill's  "  ferrets  " — a  number  of  workers,  who  issued  forth  an  hour 
before  the  evening  service  to  ferret  out  peoi^le  and  bring  them  to  the 
service.  This  work  has  been  organised,  and  effectively  done,  in  con- 
nection with  several  of  our  chapels.  A  number  of  earnest  workers 
have  met  an  hour  and  a  half  before  the  evening  service,  taken  a  cup 
of  tea  together,  had  ten  minutes'  prayer,  and  then  have  sallied  out 
in  pairs  to  get  outsiders  to  the  services. 

2.  In  addition  to  the  haphazard  invitations  given  in  this  way, 
we  would  advocate  rlirectly  personal  dealinrj  with  those  over  whom 
some  providential  circumstances  may  have  given  us  a  special  leverage 
of  influence — persons,  for  instance,  whom  we  have  visited  in  time  of 
sickness,  or  helped  in  time  of  trouble.  Each  earnest  Christian 
might  thus  always  have  one  or  two  such  persons  in  tow,  and  it 
would  be  well  if  many  of  us  felt  that  -^vc  could  not  sit  comfortably  in 


430  HOME   MISSIONS. 

our  pews  on  Sabbath  evening  unless  we  had  made  some  such  effort  to 
bring  the  unsaved  under  the  sound  of  the  Gospel. 

3.  Cordial  attention  should  be  shown  to  strangers,  in  order  that  the 
pew  system  should  not  be  a  barrier  to  keep  souls  from  hearing  the  Word, 
but  a  ivicket-gate  with  an  interpreter ;  and  as  many  persons  come  to  the 
house  of  God  wlien  in  trouble,  or  suffering  from  bereavement,  we 
should  be  careful  never  to  viiss  a  tear  ! 

4.  People  should  be  spoken  to  after  our  services.  It  is  no  uncommon 
thiug  for  ministers,  when  visiting  in  their  dying  hours  those  who  have 
attended  our  public  services  for  many  years,  to  find  them  spiritually  as 
dark  as  Hottentots. 

This  could  not  be,  if  godly  laymen  (who  alone  can  do  this  work) 
were  to  find  out  the  spiritual  whereabouts  of  such  persons  by  personal 
contact  with  them  at  the  close  of  our  services. 

There  is  something  very  impressive  about  the  number  of  Methodist 
lay  agents.  According  to  the  statistics  (already  presented)  the  number 
of  our  lay  preachers  and  Sunday-school  teachers  are  as  follows : — 

Local  preachers 84,450 

Sunday-school  teachers  577,500 

To  these  add : — 

Class-leaders  (counting  one  class-leader  to  twenty  members)       240,000 
Tract  distributors,  cottage  prayer-leaders,  and  visitors  of 
the  sick  (say) 100,000 

1,001,950 
Deduct  for  duplicates,  i.e..  persons  numbered  under  more 

than  one  of  the  above  heads  (say) 250,000 

751,950 

So  that  we  may  calculate  that  not  less  than  three-quarters  of  a  million  of 
Methodist  lay  agents  are  engaged  in  Christian  work, — most  of  them  every 
week. 

The  results  of  their  work  are,  no  doubt,  very  considerable,  but  they 
are  altogether  inadequate  to  the  amount  of  work  done. 

How  much  of  the  work  is  performed  in  a  perfunctory  or  slipshod 
manner  1  How  much  of  it  is  done  simply  in  fulfilment  of  a  merely 
conventional  usage  !  How  much  of  the  work  will,  in  the  great  testing 
day,  prove  to  be  nothing  better  than  wood,  hay,  and  stubble  I 

What  is  wanted  is  to  make  the  quality  of  the  work  commensurate 
with  the  quantity.  If  this  were  done,  and  each  Methodist  lay  worker 
had  as  a  motive  nothing  short  of  personal  love  to  Christ,  and  was 
directly  inspired  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  what  mighty  results  we  might 
expect  1 

Eev.  G.  B.  McElrot,  D.D.  (Methodist  Protestant  Church),  then  delivered 
the  invited  address.     He  said ;    By  one  eminent  equally  for  learning  and 


REV.    G.    B.    M'ELROY'S   ADDRESS.  431 

piety,  distinguished  alike  for  liis  Cliristian  catliolicity  of  feelino;  and  sentiment 
and  his  heroic  defence  of  Christian  freedom,  it  was  said  that  "  Methodism  is 
Christianity  in  earnest."  We  cheerfully  accept  the  definition.  A  better 
one  could  hardly  be  desired,  if,  indeed,  a  better  one — one  more  exhaustively 
expres.sive— could  be  formulated.  The  spirit  of  Christianity  is  the  spirit  of 
missions.  "Go  ye  into  all  the  world  "  was  the  parting  injunction  of  the 
Master.  More  than  this :  Christianity  is  essentially  and  emphatically  home 
missionary,  both  in  its  teaching  and  working.  "  Beginning  at  Jerusalem"  is 
the  record — that  is  to  say,  the  INIaster.  before  He  was  taken  away  from  the 
sight  of  His  first  labourers,  drected  them  to  begin  their  great  work  of 
evangelisation  at  home.  As  in  the  individual,  so  with  respect  to  the  masses, 
is  the  working  of  our  holy  Christianity — from  within,  outwards ;  from  the 
home  to  the  world ;  the  thought,  the  heart,  then  the  life — first  the  home 
life,  then  the  lives  around.  Hence,  if  Methodism  is  Christianity  in  earnest, 
it  must  be  in  spirit  and  -in  work  missionary,  and  first  of  all,  and  before  all, 
it  must  be  home  missionary.  So,  indeed,  it  was  in  the  beginning,  more  than 
a  century  ago.  At  its  birth  it  was  a  grand.  Heaven-born  Home  Mission. 
Brought  to  life  in  the  halls  of  culture  and  intellectual  refinement,  cradled 
amid  libraries,  it  went  out  among  the  masses  of  the  uncultured  and  unrefined, 
who  were  carrying  the  ever-growing  burdens  imposed  by  the  ignorance  and 
sensualism  superinduced  by  a  cold  and  degenerate  formalism.  Wesley 
was  the  great  home  missionary  of  England.  He  literally  obeyed  the  in- 
junction, "Go  out  into  the  highways  and  hedges."  His  lay  worker",  and 
preacher.s,  touched  by  the  fire  of  his  zeal,  drinking  to  the  full  his  spirit  of 
earnest  consecration,  and  moved  by  his  illustrious  example,  all  became  home 
missionaries.  Unlettered  as  to  books,  but  taught  of  God  ;  without  the 
training  of  the  schools,  but  disciplined  by  the  Spirit  of  truth  ;  simple  in  the 
things  o:  the  world,  but  wise  in  things  Divine ;  poor  as  to  earth,  but 
abounding  in  the  incorruptible  riches  ;  uncouth  in  speech  and  phrase,  but 
right  royal  in  the  thought  born  of  love  and  sympathy — plain  and  pointed  in 
their  singleness  of  purpose,  and  like  an  arrow  in  its  flight,  they  had  but  one 
aim.  Thej^  prepared  the  fields  and  planted  the  seed,  we  are  gathering  in 
the  rich  and  increasing  harvest.  We  speak  not  in  poetic  license,  but  in 
grave  and  sober  prose,  when  we  affirm  that  for  what  Methodism  has  ac- 
complished during  the  century  of  her  existence,  it  stands  indebted  in  great 
measure  to  its  lay  home  workers,  its  unordained  ministry  ;  and  this  is  true 
equally  of  both  hemispheres.  Where  the  regular  ministry,  so  called,  could 
not  and  cannot,  because  of  circumstances  beyond  its  control,  go,  the  lay 
worker  can  readily  go  and  carry  with  him  "  the  old,  old  story  ; "  and  that 
story — ever  old  yet  ever  new  ;  simple  enough  for  childhood,  profound  enomdi 
for  manhood — told  as  a  heart  experience — told,  not  as  a  history,  but  as  a 
living,  present  truth  ;  not  as  an  abstraction,  but  as  a  concrete,  embodied 
fact ;  told  in  homely  phrase,  by  honest  lips  ;  ever  carries  its  own  power  from 
the  heart  of  the  lay  speaker  to  the  heart  of  the  lowly  hearer.  Trained  in 
band  and  class  meeting,  and  in  love-feasts,  to  speak  fully  and  freely  of  their 
inner  life  experiences  to  brethren  who  sympathise,  Methodist  laymen  soon 


4)32  HOME   MISSIONS. 

learn  to  tell  the  story  to  others  not  in  the  full  sympathy  of  brotherhood, 
and  thus,  almost  without  their  being  aware  of  the  fact,  they  become  workers 
in  the  home  field — unconsciously  they  fall  into  the  labours  of  home  mis- 
sionaries. We  can  hardly  over-value  our  peculiar  social  meetings  as  training- 
schools  for  the  development  of  home  missionaries  and  home  work  ;  their 
decadence,  wherever  and  whenever  allowed,  cannot  fail  to  entail  a  great  and 
serious  loss  of  efficiency  and  success  in  every  departinent  of  home  work. 
When  any  branch  of  the  Methodist  family  hushes  the  voice  of  her  laity,  she 
will,  Samson-like,  have  placed  her  head  in  Delilah's  lap,  only  to  go  forth  as 
he  did,  "weak  as  any  other."  The  strength  of  any  association  of  people  for 
the  accomplishment  of  the  purposes  of  the  union,  lies  in  the  strength  of  the 
individuals  composing  it — ^just  as  the  strength  of  a  rope  is  the  aggregate  of 
the  strengths  of  the  several  strands.  The  real  strength  of  a  body  of  Christians 
united  in  Church  association  is  made  up  of  what  each  furnishes — in  the 
great  Methodist  rope,  each  member  is  a  strand,  or  at  least  a  fibre,  and  as 
such  he  is  expected  to  lend  his  strength.  "Each  for  all,  and  all  for  each," 
should  be  his  working  motto.  This  consciousness  that  he  has  a  work  to  do 
— a  work  that  no  one  else  can  do,  and  on  his  doing  of  which  very  much 
depends — should  be  cherished  and  cultured  by  every  true  Methodist.  And 
happy  beyond  expression  is  the  pastor  who  is  blessed  with  a  home  working 
church — a  cono-resation  of  home  missionaries,  who  rank  the  cause  above  the 
individual,  who  freely  sacrifice  personal  ease  and  gain  that  the  great  work  of 
saving  souls  may  go  on  with  ever-increas  ingsucccss.  This  is  the  need  of  our 
daj,  earnest  work,  the  outgrowth  of  an  earnest  love.  In  this  we  are  not 
what  our  fathers  were  :  we  miss  that  intense  devotion  to  the  work  devolving 
on  each  one  by  which  they  were  so  signally  distinguished.  The  field  for 
home  work  is  as  open  and  as  inviting  as  it  was  one  hundred  years  ago — the 
form  of  the  work  has  changed,  but  not  the  extent.  We  have  more  and  larger 
cities,  and  these  furnish  ample  and  ever-growing  fields  of  increasing  interest: 
here,  in  slums  and  alleys,  the  enemy  concentrates  his  forces  ;  his  magazines 
are  here,  and  here  are  his  most  flourishing  schools,  his  most  skilful  preceptors, 
his  aptest  scholars.  The  very  advantages  of  city  life  and  city  living  tend  to 
intensify,  to  broaden  and  deepen  its  vices ;  the  very  growth  of  the  means  of 
living,  the  increase  of  wealth,  and  of  the  means  of  rapidly  accumulating 
wealth,  are  made  to  minister  to  wickedness ;  the  increase  of  life  becomes  a 
source  of  decay,  even  as  the  ripening  of  fruit  ministers  to  corruption.  Here, 
then,  are  fields  for  home  mission  work,  fields  large  enough  and  varied  enough 
to  awaken  the  interest  and  fill  the  hands  of  our  home  working  laity.  The 
denizens  of  these  places  will  not  come  to  us  or  our  churches  ;  we  must  go  to 
chem.  They  will  not  come  to  receive  life  and  healing  ;  we  must  carry  health 
and  life  to  them.  To  elevate,  we  must  descend  ;  to  bear  them  up,  we  must 
get  beneath  them.  We  must  save  them  in  spite  of  themslves— "compel 
them  to  come  in."  Then,  aside  from  and  in  addition  to  this  home  mission 
work,  how  wide  the  field  in  towns  and  villages  and  rural  districts  ! 
Truly  there  is  work  for  all ;  the  harvest  is  more  abundant  than  the  reapers. 
Every  earnest  Christian  can  easily  find  more  than  he  can  do ;  every  member 


GENERAL   REMARKS.  433 

of  the  MethocUst  laity  is  without  excuse — there  is  work  waiting  to  be  done 
everywhere.  He  alone  is  a  true  Methodist,  a  true  son  of  Wesley,  who  is  an 
earnest  worker. 

What  the  individual  does  may  be  infinitesimal.  What  all  do  may  be 
infinite.  The  secret  of  success  lies  in  concentrated  and  continuous  effort. 
All  truth  and  true  things  are  earnest — all  falsehood  and  false  things  are 
active ;  "  the  devil  goeth  about."     In  this  we  may  learn  from  our  enemy. 

The  time  of  success  of  the  evil  one  is  when  the  good  sleep — "an  enemy 
hath  sown  these  tares  while  we  slept."  The  opportunity  to  do  mission  work 
for  the  Master  lies  on  every  hand — and  opportunity  and  obligation  ever  go 
together.  It  is  only  drowsy  indolence  that  will  say,  "  No  man  hath  hired 
us."  Life  has  no  place  for  drones  in  its  busy  hive.  There  is  no  room  for 
spiritual  Micawbers  waiting  for  something  to  turn  up.  Providence  and 
humanity  call  for  the  earnest  workers  who  are  willing  to  labour  to  turn  the 
something  up,  and  such  workers  ever  win  success.  The  Father  works,  the 
Son  works,  the  Spirit  works,  the  arch  enemy  toils — then  let  every  Methodist 
layman  be  an  earnest  co-worker  with  all  good  and  against  all  bad — let  hin\ 
become  and  remain  an  ardent,  devoted  home  missionary. 

Bishop  J.  W.  Hood  (African  Methodist  Episcopal  Zion  Church)  :  I 
know  of  no  subject  more  important  than  that  of  Home  Missions.  Not- 
withstanding there  are  several  branches  of  the  Methodist  Church  at  work 
in  the  South,  yet  there  are  large  sections  in  which  there  is  not  a  coloured 
Methodist  Church  or  member.  The  great  mass  of  the  coloured  people  in 
these  sections  are  under  the  influence  of  what  we  call  the  "  Hard  Shells." 
They  don't  believe  in  prayer.  They  say  that  God  will  accomplish  His 
purpose  in  us  without  any  effort  on  our  part.  And  there  are  muny  other 
absurdities  to  which  they  cling.  Before  we  can  advance  to  future  possi- 
bilities in  other  lands,  we  must  dispel  the  gloom  of  this  ignorance  at  our 
doors.  Over  these  benighted  souls,  sitting  in  the  valley  and  shadow  of 
death,  we  must  cause  the  light  of  the  Gospel  to  shine.  The  field  is  white 
unto  harvest,  but  the  means  to  prepare  and  employ  the  harvesters  are 
wanting.  To  secure  the  largest  results  from  this  important  field  will 
require  the  united  effort  of  the  entire  Methodist  family.  Nothing  better 
could  come  out  of  this  Conference  than  a  combined  ett'ort  to  lift  up  this 
degraded  class.  But  we  are  told  that  a  united  effort  is  impossil)le  on  the 
other  side  of  the  water.  I  am  very  far  from  sharing  that  opinion.  Where 
is  that  element  that  will  not  be  harmonised  ?  I  have  not  found  it  hei'e  or 
elsewhere.  Now  I  think  that  if  we  have  unjust  suspicions  respecting  any, 
they  ought  to  be  removed.  There  seems  to  be  an  impression  that  we  of 
the  South  cannot  work  together.  There  could  be  no  greater  mistake. 
Between  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  and  the  African  Methodist 
Episcopal  Zion  Church,  there  is  perfect  harmony.  We  have  preached  in 
their  best  pulpits,  and  to  their  best  congregations,  and  they  never  refuse  to 
preach  for  us.  They  have  sent  fraternal  messages  to  our  Conference,  and 
we  have  reciprocated.  When  I  commenced  my  missionary  work  in 
Wilmington,  I  received  most  hearty  assistance  from  tlie  Rev.  Dr.  Burk- 
head,  wlio  sits  to  my  left.  I  know  of  no  wliite  man  in  America  who  is  a 
better  friend  to  myself  and  people  than  he  is.  My  late  distinguished 
colleague,  Bishop  Clinton,  has  often  spoken  to  me  of  the  aid  rendered  him 
in  Alabama  by  the  then  Dr.,  now  Bishop,  McTyeire.  I  can  never  forget  that 
we  are  indebted  to  that  Church  for  the  presence  here  of  a  coloiu-ed  bishop, 
ordained  by  the  hands  of  white  men.     I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  white 

FF 


43^  HOME  MISSIONS. 

men's  hands  are  better,  or  that  Bishop  Ho]sey  is  better  for  being  ordained 
by  them  ;  but  I  state  the  fact  as  an  evidence  of  the  advanced  position  of 
that  Church.  I  am  ready  to  contribute  my  poor  mite  to  the  success  of  this 
great  work,  in  harmony  with  all  the  branches  of  Methodism.  The  social 
question  does  not  disturb  me  much.  I  have  always  endeavoured  to  secure 
what  recognition  I  desired  by  exhibiting  the  highest  type  of  Christian 
manhood,  and  have  enjoyed  the  desired  success.  You  may  prevent  the 
healthjr  growth  of  plants  by  attempting  to  huny  very  much,  and  there  is 
the  same  danger  respecting  the  growth  of  public  sentiment.  We  Metho- 
dists of  the  South  are  determined  by  our  actions  to  say  to  the  world, 
"  Behold  how  good  and  pleasant  a  thing  it  is  for  brethren  to  dwell  together 
in  unity." 

Rev.  Chas.  Gakrett  (Wesleyan  Methodist)  :  Mr.  President,  I  have 
two  suggestions  to  make  as  to  the  way  in  which  the  laymen  can  greatly 
promote  the  success  of  the  home  missionary  enterprise  ;  and  for  fear  I 
should  forget  the  second  while  I  am  talking  about  the  first,  I  Avill  name 
both  at  the  outset.  The  first  suggestion  I  make  is  on  the  plan  that 
has  been  laid  down  by  the  gentleman  who  has  read  the  essay,  that  the  lay- 
men can  do  a  very  great  deal  to  promote  the  sociability  of  the  Church  ; 
and  my  second  is  that  the  laymen  can  do  a  very  great  deal  by  each 
working  among  the  class  to  which  he  belongs.  Those  are  my  two  divisions. 
First,  a  laj-man  can  do  a  very  great  deal  to  promote  the  sociability  of  the 
Church.  I  believe  that  one  of  the  greatest  elements  of  strength  in  the 
early  Methodists  was  the  fact  that  wherever  you  went  into  a  Methodist 
church  you  found  yourself,  not  in  a  sepulchre,  but  in  a  home.  A  great 
deal  can  be  done  in  the  way  of  heartily  welcoming  visitors.  In  the  early 
Methodist  chapels  no  young  man  who  went  stood  for  several  minutes  at 
the  door  wondering  whether  there  was  any  seat  which  he  could  enter ; 
there  were  scores  of  hands  ready  to  be  held  out  to  meet  hini.  And  at  the 
close  of  the  service,  those  to  the  right  and  to  the  left  were  prepared  to 
stand  by  his  side  and  help  him  to  live  a  godly,  righteous,  and  sober  life. 
That  is  one  way  in  which  the  laymen  can  help  us  greatly.  The  preacher 
cannot  do  this,  because  he  is  in  the  pulpit.  We  should  not  leave  showing 
strangers  into  a  seat  to  chapel-keepers  ;  but  every  layman  should  be  a 
chapel-keeper.  Let  no  one  even  ajjproach  the  door  of  a  Methodist  chapel 
without  receiving  a  hearty  welcome  there.  And  then  the  sociability  can 
be  greatly  improved,  also,  by  having  what  we  have  in  this  Conference — 
some  good  hearty  manifestation  of  feeling.  Many  congregations  literally 
freeze  the  minister  to  death.  You  have  no  "  Amen  ;"  you  have  no  "  Bless 
the  Lord  ; ''  you  have  no  "  Hallelujah,"  and  yet  the  infusion  of  that  into 
our  churches  would  fill  any  of  them.  Men  will  draw  to  the  fire  when  it  is 
cold,  they  do  not  want  a  law  to  compel  them  to  do  it ;  and  if  they  find  in 
a  church  hearty,  earnest,  genial — not  extravagant— manifestations  of 
feeling,  they  will  find  there  a  home,  and  say,  "  We  will  go  with  you,  for 
God  has  spoken  good  concerning  you."  Secondly,  laymen  of  all  classes 
should  work  amongst  their  own  class.  Now,  there  is  a  sort  of  freemasonry 
in  all  classes.  A  doctor  can  speak  to  a  doctor  better  than  he  can  to  a 
preacher ;  and  a  preacher  can  speak  to  a  preacher  better  than  a  medical 
man  can  speak  to  him  ;  and  it  is  so  all  the  way  down.  Now,  if  the  con- 
verted men  of  each  class  were  to  give  themselves  to  the  conversion  of  the 
men  of  their  own  class,  they  would  soon  turn  the  world  upside  down.  Does 
anybody  doubt  it  ?  Two  illustrations  will  suffice.  There  is  a  large  body 
of  men  in  Liverpool  called  the  carters.  When  Mr.  Moody  was  over  here 
two  of  those  men  were  converted  :  God  put  it  into  their  hearts  to  work 
amongst  their  own  class,  and  they  gave  themselves  to  it  ;  they  cared  for 
nobody  but  the  carters.  When  they  were  standing  waiting  for  employ- 
ment they  had  love-feasts.     They  stated  their  experience  ;  they  pointed  to 


GENERAL   EEMARKS.  435 

their  homes ;  they  referred  to  the  change  that  had  taken  place,  and  one 
after  another  of  the  carters  went  with  them,  till  to-day  hundreds  of  them 
are  Christian  men.  One  more  illustration.  We  have,  m  Liverpool,  a  body 
of  police  equal  to  any  other  body  of  police  in  the  world — equal  phy- 
sically and  in  every  other  respect.  Now,  two  of  these  policemen  were 
converted  ;  and  they  got  this  idea  from  God,  "  Work  amongst  the  police." 
They  had  a  meeting  day  by  day,  and  talked  to  them,  and  bore  testimony 
for  the  truth  in  the  old  Methodist  fashion  ;  and  they  sent  and  told  their 
brother  officer,  "  I  found  the  Saviour  last  night.  I  am  so  happy  that  I  do 
not  know  what  to  do."  I  could  give  case  after  case  in  which  they  have 
done  so  ;  and  the  result  has  been  that  they  have  taken  rooms  of  their  own 
where  they  meet  for  prayer  and  to  worship  God,  and  they  bear  the  ex- 
pense themselves  ;  and  to-da}'  nearly  400  of  the  Liverpool  police  associate 
together  for  prayer  and  worship. 

Rev.  a.  J.  Kynett,  D.  D.  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church):  Mr.  President, 
I  have  looked  anxiously  Ihrough  this  programme  for  a  topic  which  would 
naturally  lead  some  one  to  speak  of  a  great  work  of  Methodisui  which 
ought  not  to  be  overlooked  by  this  Conference.  Our  progranune  is  broad 
and  comprehensive.  It  leads  us  to  consider  the  itinerancy,  lay  preaching, 
women's  work,  Sunday-schools,  temperance,  education,  publication,  home 
missions,  foreign  missions,  the  history  of  Methodism,  its  results,  influence, 
perils,  unity  and  catholicity,  and  "  as  a  bond  of  brotherhood  among  the 
nations."  But  with  all  this,  for  the  consideration  of  one  of  the  greatest 
and  most  valued  departments  of  our  Church  work  in  both  Great  Britain  and 
America,  no  provision  has  been  made.  I  refer  to  the  work  of  chajjel  build- 
ing as  you  have  it  here,  and  of  church  extension  as  we  have  it  thei-e. 
When  my  eyes  fell  upon  the  words,  "  Home  Missions,"  as  suggesting  the 
topic  for  to-day,  I  said,  This  is  the  place  for  considering  Chapel  Building 
and  Church  Extension  ;  but,  looking  farther,  I  saw  that  the  sub-topics  on 
which  papers  were  to  be  jDrepared,  as  if  moved  by  deliberate  aversion  to  this 
whole  work,  proposed  to  cousider  only  "  Home  Missions  among  the  most 
Degraded  Populations."  And  as  the  work  of  Chapel  Building  in  Great 
Britain,  and  that  of  Church  Extension  in  America,  cannot  be  said  to  be 
among  the  most  degraded,  though  the  most  important  and  successful  home 
mission  work  in  the  world,  it  can  only  be  heard  here  by  what  I  have  feared 
some  may  regard  as  an  intrusion.  Sir,  I  would  not  serve  as  the  instrument 
of  such  intrusion,  were  it  not  for  what  seems  to  me  an  important  con- 
sideration. One  of  our  wisest  and  greatest  men,  Bishop  Ames,  now  in 
heaven,  used  to  tell  us  that  men  sometimes  teach  as  clearly  by  their  silence 
as  by  their  sayings.  I  for  one  am  not  willing  that  our  people,  when  they 
shall  read  the  proceedings  of  this  Conference,  shall  infer  from  our  silence 
that  whilst  we  are  interested  in  all  the  topics  named  in  this  programme, 
we  take  no  interest  whatever  in  Chapel  Building  or  Church  Extension  ; 
nor  am  I  willing  that  posterity  should  infer,  when  they  shall  read  the  book 
we  are  to  publish,  that  at  the  time  of  the  first  Methodist  (Ecumenical 
Conference  there  was  no  recognised  work  of  this  kind  in  all  Methodism. 
This  is  no  trifling  consideration,  for  the  public  of  the  present'and  of  the 
future  have  a  riglit  to  expect  to  find  in  the  proceedings  of  a  Methodist 
Ecumenical  Conference  something  of  everything  that  specially  concerns 
Methodism.  It  may  be  said,  as  it  often  has  been,  "  Oh,  it  is  nothing  but 
brick  and  mortar."  Sir,  this  City  Road  Chapel  is  nothing  but  brick  and 
mortar,  yet  it  is  the  homestead  of  the  whole  Methodist  family,  to  which  we 
have  repaired  from  all  parts  of  the  world.  What  this  is  to  all  Methodism,  such, 
and  much  more,  every  chapel  and  church  we  build  is  to  the  Christian  house- 
hold that  finds  shelter  beneath  its  roof.  I  exceedingly  regret  that  time 
does  not  permit  me  to  speak  of  the  great  work  of  the  Wesleyan  Chapel 
Committee,  the  pioneer  in  this  department  for  all  Protestant  Churches,  and 

FF2 


436  HOME   MISSIONS. 

still  more  that  Providence — the  Providence  of  the  Wesleyan  Conference, 
and  of  our  committee  on  programme — did  not  so  order  events,  that  one  of 
its  honoured  Secretaries  should  be  here  to-day,  and  from  that  platform  tell 
us  what  God  had  wrought  in  Great  Britain  through  this  agency,  and  give 
to  every  branch  of  Methodism  the  benefit  of  the  experience  of  the  mother 
of  us   all.,    For  more  than  sixty  years  this   work  has  been   carried  for- 
ward  under  the   supervision   of    the   oldest   Methodist   Conference,   and 
is  to-day  a  model  bureau  of  Wesleyan  Chapel   affairs.     I   trust  we  shall 
hear  further    concerning   it.     Then    this    Conference    cannot   be    indif- 
ferent to  that  most  remarkable  work  which  is  being  carried   on  in  this 
city,  a  work  that  has  linked  with  the  history  it  is  making  the  honoured 
names  of  William  Arthur,  its  founder,  and  Gervase  Smith,  its  promoter, 
and  Sir  Francis  Lycett,  its  most  generous  patron.     Many  of  the  most  beau- 
tiful chapels  in  London  attest  its  value,  and  to-day,  as  I  see  from  the  last 
report,  ten  more  are  in  process  of  erection.  These  monuments,  in  this  greatest 
city  of  the  living,  to  the  memory  of  that  royal  layman,  Sir  Francis  Lycett, 
whose  liberality  led  the  movement,  are  more  to  be  coveted  than  the  loftiest 
ever  erected  in  any  city  of  the  dead.     Will  not  Mr.  Arthur,  and  our  genial 
secretary,  Mr.  Bond,  to  whose  care  this  work  is  now  committed,  give  us 
the  full  information  concerning  it  which  this  Conference  ought  to  have.   In 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  of  the  United  States  this  work  was  organ- 
ised by  direction  of  the  General  Conference  of  1864,  and  the  legal  incor- 
poration was  effected  in  March,  1865.   The  first  money  was  received  by  the 
treasurer  in  October  of  the  same  year,  and  the  first  appropriation  was  made 
in  the  spring  of  1866.     During  the  fifteen  years  of  active  work  ending 
January  1,  1881,  the  Board  has  collected  and  disbursed   1,641,473-66  dols. 
(or  £330,000),  of  which  358,523-28  dols.  (£72,000)  belong  to  the  Loan 
Fund,  from  which  churches  are  aided  only  by  loans.     Of  this  Loan  Fund 
182,893-90  dols.  (£40,000)  have  been  returned  and  reloanedto  the  churches. 
The  Board  has  aided  in  all  3,068  churches,  most  of  them  by  donations, 
many  by  loans,  and  some  by  both  donations  and  loans.     The  total  of  our 
Methodist  Episcopal  churches  is  in  round  numbers  17,300,  of  which  7,300 
have  been  built  within  the  last  ten  years,  so  that  more  than  one-sixth  of  all 
our  churches,  and  nearly  three-sevenths  of  all  the  increase  since  our  work 
began,  have  received  aid  from  the  Board.    Place  the  churches  aided  by  the 
Board  side  by  side,  allowing  sixty  feet  front  to  each,  and  we  have  nearly 
thirty-five  miles  of  churches.     Put  them  in  a  line  three  miles  apart,  and 
they  would  extend  across  the  continent  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific 
three  times,  or  more  than  nine  times  across  fi'om  the  Gulf  to  our  northern 
boundary  ;  and  we  are  now  adding  to  tliis  line  at  the  rate  of  a  thousand 
miles  a  year ;  and  yet  we  are  falling  far  below  the  necessities  and  oppor- 
tunities that  God  opens  before  us.     Ci-edit  the  Church  with  all  that  it  has 
done,  and  let  the  increase  of  the  last  fifteen  years  be  continued,  and  it  would 
require  more  than  a  century  to  supply  each  township  with  a  church.    Then 
we  have  City  Church  Extension  in  New  York  and  elsewhere  similar  to  yours 
in  London,  and  other  Methodist  bodies  are  preparing  to  enter  on  this  same 
kind  of  work.    In  the  missionary  work  of  the  Church  the  living  preacher  and 
teacher  is  the  central  figure.    In  Chapel  Building  and  Church  Extension  the 
homestead  for  the  household  of  faith  occupies  the  central  position.     He 
who  said  "  Go  preach,"  said  also,  "  teach  baptising  " — make  disciples.    The 
object  of  preaching  is  that  men  may  believe,  and  believing  be  saved,  and 
be  "  builded  together  for  an  habitation  of  God  through  the  Spirit."    In  wise 
missionary  effort  the  whole  work  must  be  regarded,  and  all  provided  for, 
"  that  God  in  all  things  may  be  glorified  through  Jesus  Christ." 

Mr.  C.  Shaw  (Methodist  New'Connexion)  :  One  of  the  great  questions 
before  us  is,  how  we  are  to  have  successors  to  the  men  whose  labours  are 
so  broadly  and  so  fully  recognised  to  this  day.     We  want  successors  to  the 


GENERAL   REMARKS.  437 

men  who  have  sown  the  harvest,  and  we  want  such  men  to  carry  Methodism 
as  vigorously  and  as  triumjiliantly  into  the  future,  as  tliey  hav^e  brought  it 
up  from  the  past  to  the  time  in  wliich  we  live.  Tlie  other  day  the  Times 
newspaper,  in  discussing  the  question  of  Methodism,  while  acltnowledging 
its  onwanl  sweep  and  the  splendid  victories  it  had  accomplished  during  the 
last  140  years,  asked  the  question,  whether  Methodism  had  staying  power? 
Now,  sir,  in  thinking  of  that  part  of  tlie  question,  I  cannot  discover  any 
reason  why  ]\Iethodism  should  not  be  as  permanent  a  Church  action,  and  a 
Church  order,  and  a  Church  influence,  as  any  other  Church  in  existence  at 
the  present  time.  When  we  consider  the  vast  spiritual  resources  wiiich  we 
have  in  common  with  all  other  Churches,  we  can  have  no  doubt  or  mis- 
giving on  that  ground  ;  but  when  we  consider  further  that  we  command 
the  lay  element  of  our  Churches  as  no  other  Church  does,  then  I  think  we 
liave  very  broad  ground  to  believe  that  Methodism  will  have  staying 
power,  and  will  achieve  great  victories  in  the  days  to  come.  But  while  I 
approve  of  all  the  suggestions  made  in  the  paper  this  morning,  there  is 
another  aspect  in  which  this  question  comes  to  me.  There  are  great  outside 
movements  going  on,  not  of  a  directly  irreligious  character — great  social 
and  political  movements  ;  have  we  sympathy  with  these  ?  Are  we  trying 
to  leaven  these,  to  influence  these?  You  have  to-day,  in  this  great  city,  a 
Trades  Union  Congress — how  many  members  of  our  Methodist  Churches 
are  members  of  that  Trades  Union  Congress  ?  Do  they  realise  that  we 
have  a  true  and  vital  sympathy  with  them  in  the  struggles  and  toils  of 
life  ?  Men  have  bodies  as  well  as  souls  ;  they  have  harassing  and  hungry 
cares  which  demand  their  attention  while  they  are  in  this  world  ;  and 
while  they,  perhaps,  acknowledge  the  vast  spiritual  interests  belonging  to 
them,  yet,  living  on  the  earth,  they  also  demand  provision  for  their 
material  and  temporal  interests  ;  and  unless  the  Church  gives  this  its  broad 
and  generous  recognititm,  we  may  exjiect  these  men — the  foremost  men  of 
their  classes — to  be  indifferent  to  our  Church  endeavours  and  our  Chm'ch 
enterprise.  The  Church  for  the  future,  if  it  is  to  be  one  of  great  success, 
must  ally  itself  closely  with  these  great  social  and  political  movements,  in 
so  far  as  these  movements  make  for  the  righteousness  of  the  nation,  and 
for  the  broad  interests  of  the  people  at  large.  We  see  even  in  this 
assembly  a  splendid  tribute  to  what  political  action  has  done  in  association 
with  the  Church.  Our  coloured  brethren  here  to-day  are  free  ;  they  never 
Avould  have  been  free  if  they  had  depended  simply  upon  the  action  of  a 
Church  ;  but  it  was  the  alliance  of  the  Church  with  a  great  political  move- 
ment that  gave  them  their  freedom,  that  gave  them  their  emancipation, 
that  accomplished  that  great  and  illustrious  work  of  this  century. 

Eev.  J.  Travis  (Primitive  Methodist)  :  Mr.  Garrett's  mission  in  Liver- 
pool to  the  masses  is  a  great  success.  There  is  nothing  so  successful  in 
Liverpool.  I  feel  the  freer  to  saj^  that,  .because  I  do  not  belong  to  the 
Wesleyan  Church  ;  and  if  I  may  be  permitted  just  to  interject  a  remark,  I  hope 
some  method  will  be  found  by  which  Mr.  Garrett  will  remain  in  Liverpool 
to  carry  on  the  work.  Now,  Methodism  itself  is  evidence  of  the  success  of 
missions  to  the  masses.  What  is  Methodism  in  this  country  but  the  crea- 
tion of  home  mission  efforts  ?  The  wealth  and  social  position  of  Methodism 
have  not  been  inherited — they  have  not  been  given  to  us  by  powerful 
kings  ;  but  they  have  been  created  by  the  blessing  of  God  upon  the 
industry  and  thrift  and  integrity  which  religion  always  fosters  ;  and  what 
we  want  to-day  to  reach  the  masses  is  old-fashioned  Methodism.  The 
early  Methodists  did  not  go  to  the  masses  to  patronise  them  ;  they  did  not 
divide  them  olf  in  sections,  with  working-class  lectures,  and  preach 
working-class  sermons,  and  have  working-class  mission-rooms.  They 
recognised  that  God's  house  is  a  place  where  rich  and  ])oor  meet  together 
and  worship  a  common  Father  of  them  all.     The  early  Methodists  did  not 


438  HOME   MISSIONS. 

bribe  men  to  religion.  We  have  been  speaking  about  our  difficulties  in 
country  places  on  account  of  our  people  being  bought  away.  I  am  very 
sorry  to  say  that  this  system  extensively  prevails  in  some  of  the  large 
centres  of  population  in  this  country,  even  amongst  Nonconformists.  Depend 
upon  it,  if  we  bribe  the  people  we  shall  pauperise  them,  and  destroy  their 
self-respect,  and  unfit  them  for  the  higher  duties  of  citizenship.  Let  us 
teach  them,  as  Mr.  Garrett  has  taught  his  converts,  to  support  as  far  as 
they  can  their  own  rooms  and  missions.  Then  I  wish  to  emphasise 
what  Mr.  Shaw  said.  I  have  laboured  for  twenty  years  amongst  the 
working  classes  of  Lancashire,  and  they  say,  "  Chiistianity  has  done  pre- 
cious little  for  us."  They  say  Christianity,  as  represented  by  the  priest- 
hood, is  an  enemy  to  human  progress  and  civil  rights.  And  is  not  that 
true?  Has  not  every  liberty  upon  the  Continent,  for  instance,  been 
secured  in  spite  of  the  priesthood  ?  And  in  our  own  country  was  not  the 
humanising  of  the  criminal  code  opposed  in  the  name  of  religion  ? 
Was  not  slavery  maintained  in  the  name  of  religion  ?  Have  not 
the  Bible  and  the  barrel  been  blessed  in  the  same  breath  in  the  name 
of  religion  ?  And  has  not  religious  bigotry  been  carried  into  the  very 
homes  of  the  dead  ?  We  may  say  what  we  like  about  this  matter,  but  we 
shall  have  to  show  that  we  are  in  sympathy  with  the  working  classes  in 
every  upward  tendency,  and  if  we  do  we  shall  secure  them,  and  our 
standing  aloof  from  these  social  questions  is  driving  them  into  the  arms  of 
infidelity.  Theid  is  a  certain  man  notorious  in  this  country  at  this  time 
who  has  more  power  over  the  working  class  than  any  minister  of  the 
Gospel  in  the  land.  And  why  ?  Because  he  associates  himself  very 
largely  with  their  struggles  in  regard  to  social  elevation.  This  is  an 
important  question,  and  I  wish  to  emphasise  it. 

The  President  :  I  am  afraid  I  must  now  consult  the  Conference.  Our 
time  is  up ;  but  Bishop  M'Tyeire  has  a  communication  from  an  Indian 
chief,  which  bears  directly  upon  this  question,  and  I  am  sure  the  Conference 
will  be  glad  to  hear  him. 

Bishop  H.  N.  M'Tyeire  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South)  :  It  was 
for  that  purpose,  to  use  an  Americanism,  that  I  struggled  for  the  floor.  I 
wanted  to  get  it  in  before,  but  now,  if  you  please,  I  will  get  it  in  under 
this  head.  When  you  had  the  ciuestion  of  the  work  of  Methodism  in  ele- 
vating and  purifying  the  masses,  I  had  no  opportunity.  No  reference  has 
been  made  here  to  a  class  of  people  among  whom  Methodism  has  achieved, 
under  God,  some  of  its  greatest  triumphs.  How  it  can  elevate  the  white 
man,  and  the  black  man,  and  the  brown  man,  we  have  seen;  but  Methodism 
has  done  a  work  among  the  red  men.  John  Wesley,  as  you  know,  went  to 
America  to  convert  the  Indians.  We  hav3,  sir,  in  the  Church  of  the  South, 
5,000  Indians  in  membership,  and  about  1  A-enty  preachers,  and  we  desired 
to  get  one  of  the  aboriginal  Americans  to  attend  this  Conference.  I  have 
a  letter  from  a  presiding  elder  of  our  Church,  and  the  chief,  Checote,  of  the 
Okmulgee  tribe.  He  was  written  to  by  me,  and  this  is  his  answei",  addressed 
to  this  body,  which  with  your  permission  I  beg  leave  to  read. 

"  Ohmulhee,  Muskogee  Nation,  Indian  Territory,  June  21,  188L 

"  Members  of  the  Ecumenical  Conference,  London,  England. 

"  Dear  Brethren, — My  people  have  been  desirous  that  I  should  attend 
the  Conference,  and  it  would  afford  me  much  gratification  to  be  with  you, 
but  failing  health  will  not  permit  me  to  take  so  long  a  journey,  so  I  can 
only  send  greeting  across  the  water,  and  prayers  to  heaven,  for  success  in 
your  great  work.  As  an  aboriginal  American,  and  a  member  of  the  tribe 
which  was  the  first  to  greet  John  Wesley  on  his  visit  to  America  in  1736, 1 
am  glad  to  be  able  to  thank  God  that  the  Indians  are  among  those  who 


GENERAL   REMARKS.  439 

have  been  greatly  benefited  by  Methodism.  If  Wesley  never  preached  to 
the  Indians  himself,  yet  Wesleyans  have  preached  to  us,  and  made  their 
graves  with  our  people.  The  seed  sown  by  them  is  seen  in  the  increasing 
number  of  Methodists  in  the  Indian  territory.  Of  the  five  tribes  generally 
designated  the  civilised  tribes,  the  Cherokee, Creek  or  Muskogee,  Seminole, 
Choctaw,  and  Chicasaw,  I  can  speak  of  one  experimentally,  for  I  am  of 
them,  and  my  work  has  been  among  them.  When  James  Ogle- 
thorpe came  to  America,  he  found  our  people  peace-loving  and  hospi- 
table. The  Chief  of  the  Muskogees  received  him  kindly,  and  presented 
him  with  a  buffalo  skin,  adorned  on  the  inside  with  the  head  and 
feathers  of  an  eagle.  '  The  feathers  of  the  eagle,'  said  he,  '  are  soft, 
and  signify  love.  The  buffalo  skin  is  warm,  and  is  a  sign  of  protec- 
tion.' Another  member  of  the  tribe,  hastening  to  welcome  the  Englishman, 
exclaimed,  '  The  Great  Spirit  who  lives  everywhere  and  gives  breath  to  all 
men,  has  sent  the  Engi  ii  to  instruct  us.'  Oglethorpe  could  not  have  re- 
paid the  kindness  of  the  Indians  in  a  better  manner  than  he  did  by  return- 
ing to  England  and  bringing  back  to  our  land  the  Wesley  brothers. 
Though  our  forefathers  were  willing  to  receive  instruction,  and  though  they 
had  exalted  ideas  of  the  '  Great  Spirit,  the  giver,  preserver,  and  taker  of 
life,'  they  were  entirely  ignorant  of  Christ.  The  name  Christian  can  now 
be  applied  to  these  five  nations  as  consistently  as  it  can  be  applied  to  the 
United  States  or  Great  Britain.  The  old  superstitions  of  the  past  have 
given  place  to  belief  in  the  Scriptures  ;  many  of  our  native  Indians  are 
preachers,  and  a  large  portion  of  the  New  Testament  has  been  translated 
into  native  tongues.  The  Muskogees  are  still  at  work  translating,  and  it  is 
thought  the  work  will  not  be  discontinued  until  the  whole  Testament  can 
be  read  in  the  Muskogee  language.  Besides  this,  the  Muskogees  have  a 
considerable  amount  of  religious  literature.  Many  of  the  old  Wesleyan 
hymns,  and  a  large  number  of  more  modern  sacred  songs,  are  now  printed 
in  the  Muskogee  language.  By  such  means  many  persons  have  been  reached 
who  might  have  remained  outside  the  Church  had  we  no  printed  matter 
save  that  in  the  English  language.  Both  branches  of  our  National  Council 
(Legislature)  are  each  session  opened  with  prayer,  and  the  protection  and 
guidance  of  our  Saviour  are  recognised  in  all  our  Governmental  work.  That 
we  have  not  yet  raised  ourselves  to  the  plane  of  civilisation  now  occupied 
by  the  older  communities,  we  are  constrained  to  acknowledge.  But  we  are 
striving  to  educate  our  children,  and  hope  with  the  aid  of  our  brethren  to 
go  on  prospering,  I  pray  the  Lord  may  be  with  you,  and  help  you  in  all 
your  measures  during  the  Conference.  May  you  be  guided  by  power  from 
above,  and  be  enabled  to  go  on  with  your  missionary  work  over  the  surface 
of  the  globe.  In  your  meetings  please  pray  for  the  Indians  of  the  Far  West. 
I  may  not  be  able  to  meet  many  of  you  in  this  world,  but  I  hope  to  meet 
all  of  you  in  the  next. — Your  sincere  Brother  in  Christ, 

"  Samuel  Checote." 

[Note. — Checote  is  65  j^ears  old,  and  a  native  Creek  or  Muskogee  Indian. 
The  chief  of  that  tribe,  Toniinee,  had  an  interview  with  Wesley  near 
Savannah,  as  may  be  seen  in  his  Journal.  During  the  first  half  of  the  pre- 
sent century  the  Indian  tribes,  once  inhabiting  Georgia  and  the  Carolinas, 
have  been  removed  by  the  United  States  Government,  and  settled  on  a 
reservation  of  lands  west  of  the  Mississippi  river,  known  as  the  Indian 
Nati(m.  Checote  is  now,  by  election  for  the  third  ■  time,  chief  of  his  tribe, 
which  numbers  about  14,000.     The  five  tribes  number  about  60,000  souls,] 

The  Benediction  having  been  pronounced,  the  Conference  ad- 
journed. 


440  HOME   MISSIONS. 

In  the  Afternoon  the  Conference  reassembled  at  Half-past  Two, 
the  Eev.  William  Arthur  again  piesiding.  After  the  Devotional 
Exercises,  the  Rev.  Dr.  S.  B.  Southerland  (Methodist  Protestant 
Church)  read  an  essay  on  The  Best  Methods  of  Reaching  the  Uncon- 
verted Sections  of  the  Richer  Classes. 

The  time  limitations  of  the  essay  are  embarrassing.  Under  the 
circumstances,  a  brief  summary  only  can  be  submitted ;  mere  outlines 
of  suggestion,  instead  of  argumentative  discussion ;  and,  consequently, 
the  hojoe  can  scarcely  be  indulged  that  our  task  will  be  satisfactorily 
performed. 

The  magnitude  of  the  subject  is  unquestionable.  Its  broad  propor- 
tions stand  out  distinctly  in  the  express  intimation  of  our  Lord 
Himself,  and  in  His  full  admissions  as  well.  He  who  came  into  the 
world  in  the  interest  of  all  classes  of  men,  whose  loving  heart  yearned 
over  all  while  He  lived,  and  was  broken  for  all  when  He  died,  clearly 
foresaw  well-nigh  insurmountable  difl&culties  all  down  the  line  of  His 
Divinely  philanthropic  contemplations,  but  evidently  these  difficulties 
were  especially  apparent  in  the  case  of  the  opulent  classes.  In  all 
the  wide  reaches  of  moral  territory,  hounded  by  the  beginning  and  the 
ending  of  a  human  life,  which  Christ  on  His  embassy  of  infinite  love 
proposed  to  explore,  no  mountain  acclivity  of  the  soul  seemed  so  inac- 
cessible as  that  preci]pitous  with  the  riches  of  sparkling  stones,  or 
slippery  with  the  riches  of  shining  ores  ;  no  river  so  defying  navigation  as 
that  whose  depths  conceal  the  riches  of  precious  pearls,  or  whose  waves 
roll  up  the  riches  of  golden  sand.  Once,  at  least,  surveying  the  scene, 
as  vividly  illustrated  in  the  rejection  of  proffered  infinite  compen- 
sations of  heaven  for  the  temporary  losses  of  earth,  by  one  of  other- 
wise blameless  and  beautiful  life,  Jesus,  all  pityingly,  and  yet  all 
solemnly,  affixed  to  the  salvation  of  the  rich  the  stamp  of  a  human 
impossibility. 

Nevertheless,  while  vast  as  may  be  the  impediments  to  the  conversion 
of  men  of  wealth,  the  interests,  both  intrinsic  and  circumstantial,  in- 
volved in  the  consummation,  loom  up  at  the  side  of  the  impediments  in 
overtopping  heights  of  importance.  And  thus  it  is  that  the  very  extent 
of  the  hindrances,  instead  of  cooling  ardour  or  discouraging  hope, 
should  serve  the  more  fully  to  excite  expectations  of  success,  by 
throwing  us  in  simple  dependence  upon  sui)ernatural  power.  Here 
planting  ourselves,  as  servants  of  Christ,  we  may  realise  that  the  very 
perplexity  of  the  problem  is  helpful  to  invention,  and  that  from  the 
naturally  impossible  to  men  may  be  evolved  the  spiritually  possible  of 
a  higher  manhood — manhood  in  Christ — by  lifting  man  to  God ;  that 
exalted  plane  of  faith,  where  weakness  is  transformed  into  strength 
and  the  soul  becomes  capable  of  exploits  whose  music  rings  down 
the  ages. 


EEV.    DR.    S.   B.   SOUTHEKLAND'S  ADDRESS.  441 

It  cannot  be  otherwise  than  that,  in  grappling  with  a  question  so 
vitally  related  to  the  progress  of  the  Gospel,  its  intervolutious,  however 
embarrassing  in  the  contemplation,  will  straighten  out  in  the  grasp  of 
sinews  whose  supply  of  energy  is  from  above. 

Just  here,  perhaps,  much  as  anywhere,  this  great  Methodist  Con- 
ference may  find  special  si^here  for  beneficent  practical  results  in 
friendly  contact  and  fraternal  emulations  of  many  minds  and  hearts 
amid  the  genial  sunshine  of  loving  counsels  and  fervent  prayers. 
Gathered  where  we  are,  the  power  of  association  should  prove  no  unim- 
portant factor  in  the  objective  aim. 

"  The  actions  of  the  just 
Smell  sweet,  and  blossom  in  the  dust." 

And  surely,  on  this  consecrated  spot  we  are  standing  by  human  dust 
that  cannot  fail  to  be  inspiring  in  the  study  of  methods  in  saving  souls. 
It  is  the  dust  which,  ere  its  transit  from  the  sphere  of  vital  human 
faculties,  laboriously  and  grandly  wrought  at  problems  in  the  salvation 
of  men  by  methods  as  bold  and  original  in  conception,  as  they  were 
startling  and  successful  in  operation.  This  hallowed  dust  has  blos- 
somed in  beauty  for  many  a  year,  and  is  still  redolent  with  perfumes 
that  make  every  English  breeze  from  Wesley's  grave  a  welcome  mes- 
senger to  all  the  realms  of  the  earth. 

Here  we  are,  gathered  from  lauds  far  and  remote,  the  representation 
of  a  people,  with  a  patronymic,  who  are  like  the  stars  for  multitude. 
Brethren,  sons  of  God,  and,  under  God,  sons  of  Wesley,  what  hath 
God  wrought !  The  Saviour  prayed  that  His  people  might  be  "  one." 
The  prayer  is  prediction  as  well.  It  will  be  fulfilled  ;  is  being  fulfilled 
every  day.  In  a  good  sense  Wesleyan  Methodists  have  always  been 
one,  but  this  is  more  apparent  now  than  ever  before.  In  this  assemblage 
Methodists  are,  to-day,  a  visibly  united  family  in  the  old  homestead — 
England  !— London  !  City  Road  Chapel !  Strangers  as  to  our  respective 
dwelhng-places,  as  to  our  faces,  and  as,  in  many  instances,  to  our 
names,  we  have  met ;  we  have  given  and  received  fraternal  salutations ; 
warm  has  been  the  pressure  of  hands,  loving  the  mingling  of  voices ; 
and  we  are  happy  in  the  Lord.  This  CEcumenical,  whatever  else  it  be, 
is  the  uyape  of  the  ancient  Church  revived  ;  it  is  a  Methodist  love- 
feast;  it  is  the  earnest  of  the  great  heavenly  reunion  of  the  "whole 
family."  Were  Charles  "Wesley  still  in  the  flesh,  he  would  sing  with 
a  deeper  emphasis — 

"  We  think  and  speak  the  same, 
And  cordially  agree. 
United  all  through  Je8u"s  name 
In  perfect  harmony." 

But  we  have  come  up  hither  to  this  shrine  of  Methodism  for  more 
than  this.  Our  object  is  such  as  he  would  heartily  approve  whose 
platform  of  Christian  confraternity  was  thus  laid  down  :  "  I  desire  to 


442  HOME   MISSIONS. 

form  a  leagne,  both  defensive  and  offensive,  with  every  soldier  of  Jesus 
Christ."  This  world  assembling  of  the  sons  of  Wesley  is  on  this  very 
I)latform.  But,  as  Methodists,  we  make  no  apology  for  seeking,  by 
means  of  this  Conference,  to  give  some  special  attention  to  the  discipUne 
and  equipment  of  our  own  division  of  the  great  army.  We  would 
re-form  our  battalions,  stand  close,  lock  shields  and  cross  pikes  anew, 
in  phalanx  deep  and  strong,  and  thus  not  only  j)resent  impregnable 
lines  to  the  common  foe,  but  make  a  more  rapid  advance  into  the  terri- 
tory, rightfully  the  King's  own,  but  now  under  the  usurping  powers  of 
sin  and  hell. 

But  this  warfnl  allusion  in  our  reflections  quickly  passes ;  for,  other- 
wise than  as  relates  to  the  powers  of  evil,  our  meeting  is  strictly  on  a 
peaceful  basis.  The  tutelar  genius  here  presiding  is  agreement,  con- 
cord,  harmony,  love.  This,  indeed,  is  much  to  say,  seeing  we  severally 
represent  such  various  policies  of  Christian  and  denominational  i)ro- 
gress.  The  time  of  sectarian  war,  if  it  has  ever  existed  among  us, 
has  surely  passed.  Non-Episcopal  and  Episcopal,  Itinerant  and  Con- 
nexional,  Independent  and  Non-Connexional,  all  are  here.  But  we  be 
Methodists  all,  and  brethren  aU.    We  can  say  with  the  Scotch  Bonar  : — 

"  Ours  is  the  day  of  rusted  swords  and  shields, 
Of  loosened  helmets  and  of  broken  spears." 

We  can  do  more ;  adapt  to  the  scene  of  the  hour  the  English  Tenny- 
son's beautiful  picture  of  peace  ; — 

"  The  war-di-um  throbs  no  long-er.  the  battle-flags  are  furled 
In  this  parliament  of  Christ,  this  federation  of  the  world." 

And  even  more ;  in  our  united  counsels  there  is  new  promise  of  the 
American  Whittier's  pleasing  anticipations, 

•'  Through  the  harsh  noises  of  our  day 
A  low,  sweet  prelude  finds  its  w  ay  ; 
Through  clouds  of  doubt,  and  creeds  of  fear, 
A  light  is  breaking  calm  and  clear. 
That  song  of  love,  now  low  and  far, 
Ere  long  shall  swell  from  star  to  star  f 
That  light,  the  breaking  day,  which  tips 
The  golden-spired  Apocalypse  1 " 

4s  various  branches  of  a  common  ecclesiastical  stock,  why  are  we 
here  ?  Whatever  may  be  the  ultimate  outcome,  we  have  not  come  to 
arbitrate  or  adjust  on  governmental  differences,  but  fraternally  to 
confer  on  interests  larger  than  our  dividing  lines,  and  interests,  we 
assume,  dearer  to  us  all  than  our  points  of  separation.  We  have  come 
not  to  philosophise  about  church  order  or  church  expediency,  but  to 
pray  for  the  common  welfare  and  rejoice  in  the  common  prosperity; 
not  to  jjlan  the  aggrandisement  of  any  distinct  section  of  the  houvse- 
hold,  but  to  seek  the  good  of  all  sections ;   in  a  word,  to  enthi-one 


KEV.    DR.    S.    B.    SOUTHERLAND'S   ADDRESS.  443 

Methodism  more  firmly  where  stood  the  illustrious  John  and  Charles 
Wesley — one  kingly  with  crown  of  Christian  labour,  tlie  other  kinglj' 
with  sceptre  of  Christian  song,  both  united  in  the  high  enterprise  of  a 
world's  conversion  to  God.  And,  as  their  honoured  successors,  "  who 
knoweth  whether  we  are  come  to  the  kingdom  for  such  a  time  as  this  ?  " 

If,  as  we  fear,  this  preliminary  should  prove  tedious,  our  ajjology  is 
the  occasion  itself.  Under  auspices  so  jjeculiar  and  so  joyous,  pro- 
jecting, as  they  do,  bright  lines  amid  the  clouds  and  darkness  of  the 
future,  we  have  been  compelled,  in  appreciation,  to  indulge  a  prelusive 
pause.  We  could  not  speed  with  hot  impulses  to  the  subject  under 
consideration,  as  the  impetuous  soldier  spurs  his  barb  into  open 
battle.  Here  the  object  of  attack  is  entrenched  ;  and  the  essayist 
— for  the  time  being  a  leader  of  sacramental  ranks — before  devising 
a  plan  of  mihtary  operations,  has  required  some  moments  for  careful 
recontiaissance. 

The  rich  have  strong  defences  against  the  Gospel.  Gold  and  silver, 
houses  and  lands,  and  all  else  that  riches  represent,  make  walls  of 
solid  masonry  which  seem  impregnable.  What  should  the  rich  care 
for  the  promised  rewards  of  religion?  They  "have  received  their 
consolation"  already.  If  any  one  have  difficulty  in  the  text,  "The 
love  of  money  is  the  root  of  all  evil,"  it  is  easy  enough  for  all  to  see 
that,  while  the  possession  of  money,  per  se,  may  not  be  menacing  to 
the  soul,  the  common  tendency  of  the  possession  is  to  produce  the 
love ;  that,  wherever  exists  the  Jupiter  of  gold  among  the  gods  of  earth, 
apprehensions  may  be  justly  entertained  of  full-armed  evils  springing 
from  his  head.  "  If  riches  increase,  set  not  your  heart  upon  them," 
is  always  a  timely  admonition.  The  rich,  misconceiving  the  Lord's 
money,  temporarily  in  their  possession,  as  intrinsically  their  own,  the 
false  promise  naturally  leads  to  the  subversion  of  a  mere  stewardship 
into  an  actual  and  irresponsible  ownership.  Such  was  the  sad  mistake 
of  the  unhappy  wretch  whose  "  ground  brought  forth  plentifully ; "  and 
in  the  chronicle  of  that  "  night "  summons  for  his  soul,  what  a  fearful 
dirge  of  projjhecy  has  ever  been  on  the  winds  of  heaven  for  every  rich 
siuuer  who,  amid  his  increasing  stores,  is  complacently  saying  of  God's 
property,  "  3I>/  fruits  !  my  barns  1  my  goods !  " 

With  this  misconception  of  the  meaning  of  the  possession  of  wealth, 
naturally  arises  the  temptation  either  to  miserly  hoard  or  i^rofligately 
waste  the  gifts  which,  according  to  the  express  terms  of  the  trust, 
should  be  carefully  availed  of  for  philanthropic  and  Christian  purposes. 
Such  moral  treachery  to  both  God  and  man  is  culpable  enough,  but  it 
is  not  all  of  the  sad  story.  It  is  but  a  landmark  on  the  wilderness-way, 
whose  terminus  is  absolute  idolatry,  with  all  that  it  implies  of  ever- 
lasting consequences;  a  dethronement  of  God,  and  an  enthronement  of 
Mammon, 

"  The  least  erected  spirit  that  fell 
rrom  heaven." 


444  HOME   MISSIONS. 

The  question  of  deliverance  steadily  grows  on  us  as  there  is  con- 
templated the  vision  of  the  precipice,  hreeze-shaken,  on  which  stands 
the  man,  rich  and  unconverted. 

But  hope  revives  as  we  remember  that  the  rescue  of  all  thus  im- 
perilled, equally  with  others  of  the  universally  involved  race,  is  provided 
for  in  the  remedial  system  of  infinite  mercy.  The  testy  Pilate  wrote 
better  than  he  knew  when,  in  Hebrew,  Greek,  and  Latin,  he  inscribed 
on  the  cross,  "Jesus  of  Nazareth,  the  King  of  the  Jews."  The  Jews, 
representatively  the  "chosen,"  the  "elect"  of  God,  were  the  human 
race,  and  the  tripartite  inscription  was  in  perfect  harmony  with  God's 
thought,  plan,  purpose,  and  predestination. 

The  commission  reads,  "  Go  ye  into  all  the  world;  "  go  "to  every 
creature ;  "  go  to  rich  and  poor  alilce.  True  it  is  that  Jesus  preached 
mostly  to  the  poor ;  but  not  a  Gospel  exclusively  adapted  to  the  poor. 
The  general  neglect  of  the  poor  touched  the  heart  that  was  full  of  pity 
for  all.  Besides,  in  preaching  to  the  j)Oor,  and  thus  becoming,  as 
Horace  Bushnell  expresses  it,  "  the  jDoor  man's  iDhilosoj^her,"  He 
simply  went  to  the  root  of  things,  analysing  original  elements,  and,  in 
applying  His  ethics  there,  demonstrated  their  fitness  to  all  conditions 
of  men ;  showing  that,  if  the  cases  regarded  by  other  philosophers  as 
hopeless  were  managed  by  His  system,  none  need  despair.  A  wise 
master-builder,  He  built  iq),  up  from  the  poor,  His  plan  all  the  time 
including  a  superstructure  which  should  rise,  story  by  story,  uutil  all 
the  upward  ranks  were  reached  by  His  saving  beneficence. 

The  founder  of  every  religious  organisation  which  is  potent  to-day 
proceeded  upon  this  Divine  model.  Certainly  the  great  Methodist 
iounder  did  this.  He  gave  all  Methodists  a  pure  classic  apothegm 
when  he  said,  "  The  world  is  my  jjarish."  The  world  for  Christ  was 
his  aim,  but  he  was  quick  to  see  that,  like  His  Lord,  he  must  begin  at 
the  lower  stratum  of  society.  Hence,  w^lien  the  question  is  propounded, 
"What  are  the  best  methods  of  reaching  the  rich  ?  "  we  would  answer, 
from  the  example  of  the  Master  and  His  eminent  servant,  "  Reach  up 
from  the  poor." 

As  to  the  doctrines  preached  at  the  first  at  Jerusalem,  Caesarea,  and 
Antioch,  at  Loudon,  lungswood,  Bristol,  and  Moorfields — conscious  con- 
version by  suj)ernatural  power,  justification  by  faith,  universality  of 
the  atonement — we  would  say,  "  Let  us  walk  by  the  same  rule."  As  to 
agencies  employed  at  the  first — a  zealous  ministry,  a  self-denying,  holy 
people,  searching  the  Scriptures,  and  stated  assemblings  for  prayer, 
for  experience — we  would  say,  "  Let  us  mind  the  same  things."  We 
have  no  need  to  reconstruct  our  doctrines  ;  our  need  is  to  preach  them 
untiringly,  and,  if  we  can,  to  preach  them  more  distinctly  and  lovingly. 
There  is  as  little  need  to  reconstruct  our  usages.  Our  need  is  to  observe 
them  more  faithfully.  Methodism,  as  representing  spiritual  and  real 
religion — Methodism,  whose  holy,  self-denying,  ceaseless  activities  won 
the  meed  of  Dr.  Chalmers'  applause  as  "  Christianity  in  earnest,"  has 


EEV.  R.  green's  address.  445 

long  arms  to  "  reach  "  men,  even  the  remotest  from  God.  As  witnesses, 
•we  ourselves,  as  members  of  this  (Ecnmenical  Conference,  come  to  the 
front ;  while  millions  are  pressing  up  behind  us,  all  of  whom,  including 
rich  and  poor,  severed  by  laud,  by  sea,  by  language,  by  education,  by 
nationality,  and  by  political  government,  have  been  reached,  and  are 
to-day,  either  personally  or  reijresentatively,  drawn  together  in  fra- 
ternal union  under  the  roof-tree  of  a  common  Methodist  ancestry. 

What  is  now  needed  in  particular,  for  enlargement  on  every  hand, 
is  what  our  constituents  are  fondly  hoping  and  fervently  praying  may 
be  secured  through  the  counsels  and  labours  of  this  Conference,  and 
that  is  a  fresh  and  mighty  baptism  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  That  Sj)irit  is 
as  inventive  in  methods  as  irresistible  in  appliances.  With  equal  ease 
He  reaches  down  to  the  lowest  and  up  to  the  highest.  The  fact  that, 
in  the  legitimate  line  of  Church  work,  there  is  the  impossible  to  men — 
however  numerous  they  may  be,  however  equipped  with  the  truth, 
however  their  labours  may  be  inspired  by  sincerity,  and  however  they 
may  be  prosecuted  by  the  most  effective  implements  that  genius, 
culture,  scholarship,  and  whatever  else  human  resources  can  supply — 
should  only  serve  the  more  certainly  to  ally  us  in  dependence,  in  faith, 
in  the  cordial  and  constant  co-operation  of  prayer  and  labour,  with 
Him  with  whom  "  all  things  are  possible."     Appeal  the  case  to  God. 

"  Assembled  here  with  one  accord, 

Calmly  we  wait  the  promised  grace. 
The  pm-chase  of  our  dying  Lord — 

Come,  Holy  Ghost,  and  fill  the  place." 

Rev.  R.  Green  (Wesleyan  Methodist),  in  delivering  the  invited  address 
on  the  same  subject,  said :  I  wish  to  say  that  this  subject  has  been 
assigned  to  me.  I  did  not  choose  it,  for  I  have  scant  sympathy  with  the 
notion  that  presents  society  to  the  Church  divided  into  classes.  The 
Church  which  knows  nor  Jew  nor  Greek,  should  know  nor  rich  nor 
poor.  Social  distinctions,  however,  exist,  and  I  admire  the  efforts  of 
the  Church  in  reaching  out  her  hand  of  blessing  to  every  class  of 
society.  My  impression  is  that  the  relation  of  the  American  Methodist 
Church  to  the  wealthy  classes  differs  greatly  from  what  exists  in 
England ;  but  of  the  condition  of  American  society  I  will  not  presume 
to  speak.  In  this  country  we  have  little  direct  access  to  the  wealthy 
who  are  outside  of  our  own  communion.  Of  our  own  wealthy 
members  most  have  become  so  in  Methodism.  The  tendencies  of  the 
present  hour  are  against  unconverted  wealthy  persons  remaining 
amongst  us ;  powerful  social  influences  draw  them  off.  They  who 
remain  amongst  us  are  retained  by  the  strong  bonds  of  obligation,  of 
gratitude,  and  of  love  of  home.  It  is  easier  to  say  how  Methodism  may 
not,  than  how  she  may,  touch  the  richer  classes.  Methodism  has  not 
often  an  opportunity  of  speaking  to  the  wealthy  from  its  pulpits.  The 
wealthy  do  not  attend  Methodist  services,  nor  are  they  reached  by 


446  HOME   MISSIONS. 

distinctively  Methodistic  literature.  Methodism  To  "is  not  occupy  the 
high  places  in  the  country,  and  only  -vvithin  the  last  few  years  has  it 
been  favourably  noticed  by  the  public  journals.  True,  she  has  a  few 
sons  of  sufficiently  commanding  ability  to  secure  for  their  works  an 
entrance  into  classes  outside  of  Methodism.  Voices  true  to  Methodism 
have  been  heard  in  halls  of  science,  and  products  of  Methodist  learning 
are  to  be  found  in  the  pages  of  Biblical  criticism  and  scientific  theo- 
logical writing ;  while  in  other  forms  Methodist  teaching  has  been 
veiled  in  imaginative  story,  and  these  have  been  read  beyond  the 
homes  of  Methodism.  But  in  as  far  as  writing  assumes  a  distinctively 
Methodist  type,  it  is  a  bar  to  its  acceptance  by  the  classes  now 
contemplated. 

Methodism  never  felt  herself  called  to  minister  to  the  rich  as  a  class. 
Wesley's  hand  scattered  the  seeds  of  the  Kingdom  over  the  wide  fields 
of  the  poor,  and  still  Methodism  appeals  to  the  poor  after  the  highest 
of  all  patterns,  but,  like  Him,  does  not  forget  the  wealthy.  The 
Methodist  theology  shuts  out  none,  therefore  not  the  rich.  Christ 
arising  amidst  a  people  where  the  rich  oppressed  the  needy,  spoke  His 
kindest  words  to  the  poor,  but  He  was  not  exclusive.  His  loving  heart 
yearned  over  the  rich  young  ruler,  and  another  ruler,  though  timid, 
heard  words  from  His  sacred  lips  which  were  beyond  all  price  of 
wealth  ;  words  the  merchandise  of  which  is  better  than  that  of  silver, 
and  the  gain  thereof  than  fine  gold.  No  repelling  words  met  the  seeker 
by  night,  save  the  requirement  of  open  avowal  and  inward  sanctity, — 
a  baptism  by  water  and  by  spirit.  Christ  condemned  the  sin,  not  the 
circumstance  of  riches.  The  kingdom  of  heaven  shuts  not  out  the 
wealthy,  though  its  gates  are  narrow,  and  at  those  gates  the  heart  of 
him  who  would  enter  must  sell  all  that  it  has.  Methodism  speaks  to 
all — not  to  the  rich  only  or  chiefly,  but  it  does  not  omit  them.  If  as 
Methodists  we  are  to  go  not  only  to  those  who  want  us,  but  those  who 
want  us  most,  surely  we  cannot  omit  those  who  but  "  hardly  "  can 
"  enter  the  kingdom  of  heaven."  The  world  that  thinks  wealth  helpful 
in  all  things  is  startled  to  learn  that  "  it  is  easier  for  a  camel  to  go 
through  the  eye  of  a  needle,  than  for  a  rich  man  to  enter  the  kingdom 
of  God."  Yet,  "  with  God  all  things  are  possible,"  and  we  ought  to 
magnify  the  grace  of  God,  which  has  in  our  day  enabled  so  many  rich 
men  to  enter,  and  so  many  to  remain  within  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 
The  rich  men  of  our  day,  so  far  as  we  have  to  do  with  them,  are  not  a 
disgrace  but  an  honour  to  the  Christian  name.  , 

It  is  not  easy  to  exaggerate  the  importance  to  a  nation  of  the  faithful 
employment  of  its  riches.  Wealth  gives  special  facilities  for  culture, 
for  refinement,  and  for  influence.  The  wealthy  ought  to  take  the 
lead  in  all  that  is  good  and  ennobling,  and  ought  to  be  patterns  of 
what  is  right  and  beneficent.  A  corrupt  hierarchy  of  wealth  must 
lead  the  community  to  deterioration ;  the  poor  will  be  sacrificed  to 
minister  to  their  luxury  or  lusts.     The  ministrants  to  evil  will  them- 


REV.  R.  green's  address.  447 

selves  become  evil.  The  very  workmen  who  manufacture  articles  of 
luxury  will  imbibe  a  false  taste,  while  extravagance  in  living  by  the 
wealthy  will  generate  a  desire  for  the  same  in  the  poor,  and  lead  to 
multijilied  evils.  The  rich  suggest  the  pastimes  and  lead  the  fashions 
of  the  day.  Sad  for  a  nation  is  it  when  the  example  of  the  wealthy 
tends  but  to  evil^.  Then  the  only  hope  of  reclamation  lies  in  the 
disintegration  of  wealth  and  its  possession  by  the  frugal,  industrious, 
and  moral. 

But  liow  may  Methodism  i)romote  the  conversion  of  the  wealthy  ? 
First,  the  conversion  of  the  wealthy  must  be  as  the  conversion  of  the 
poor.  There  is  but  one  gate  into  the  kingdom  of  God.  "Ye  must 
be  bom  again."  Secondly,  the  Gospel  requires  no  less  from  the 
wealthy  than  from  the  poor.  It  demands  from  each  the  bowing  of 
the  knee  to  the  Lord  Jesus ;  the  confession  and  abandonment  of  sin ; 
a  humble  trust  in  the  Atonement,  and  an  obedient  life.  It  may  be 
diflficult  for  full  hands  to  receive  the  gift  of  eternal  life ;  it  may  be 
difficult  for  him  that  lacks  nothing  to  cherish  a  sense  of  dependence ; 
it  may  be  difficult  for  him  who  is  tempted  by  luxury  to  take  up  the 
cross  and  follow  the  self-denying  One.  But  it  must  be  done.  The 
rich  man,  with  his  heavy  responsibilities,  with  his  illusive  temptations, 
with  his  grave  exposures,  if  unconverted,  is  an  object,  not  of  contempt, 
but  of  tender  pity.  Earthly  things  are  deluding  him,  and  he  is 
losing  the  durable,  thi'ough  the  deceitfulness  of  worldly,  riches. 

The  question  arises,  thirdlj^  Is  it  needful  to  employ  other  than  the 
ordinary  and  sanctioned  means,  or  are  those  in  common  use  sufficient 
and  suitable  ?  With  the  examples  which  are  around  us,  these  means 
cannot  be  said  to  have  failed.  Certainly  no  new  Gospel  is  needed,  for 
the  old  is  better,  and  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel  needs  no  alteration 
to  meet  the  case  of  the  wealthy,  nor  is  it  permissible  to  temper  the 
severity  of  the  law.  Yet,  as  the  wealthy  are  likely  to  be  the  more 
cultured,  it  is  desirable  to  avoid  the  careless  and  rude  speech  which, 
offending  the  tutored  ear,  may  close  it  against  the  voice  of  Truth. 
Rudeness  may  amuse  the  rude,  but  it  shocks  the  thoughtful,  as 
irreverence  reiaels  them.  Fourthly,  The  wealthy  buy  and  read  costly 
books  which  assail  religious  faith.  Sanctified  talent,  scientific  or 
otherwise,  may  be  emi)loyed  to  rebut  these.  Fifthly,  For  their  good 
to  edification,  we  must  guard  against  fearing  to  declare  to  the  rich  man 
the  obligations  which  his  wealth  imposes,  or  to  remind  him  of  the 
dangers  with  which  that  wealth  threatens  him.  Sixthly,  It  behoves  us 
to  teach  the  vanity  of  earthly  things,  and  so  to  encourage  the  aspira- 
tion towards  a  spiritual  future  as  to  reduce  to  their  just  proportions 
the  riches  that  may  flee  away.  Seventhly,  We  must  not  court  the 
rich,  nor  place  too  high  a  value  upon  wealth,  learning  to  show  content- 
ment and  thankfulness  for  our  little.  Eighthly,  We  must  guard  against 
the  supposition  that  the  strength  of  our  cause  is  to  be  assured  by  the 
abundance  of  our  possessions. 


443  HOME   MISSIONS. 

But  the  problem  of  this  age,  in  England  at  least,  is  not  how  to  deal 
wdth  the  wealthy,  but  how  to  deal  with  the  artisan  class.  Certainly, 
for  Methodism,  this  latter  is  of  prior  importance.  In  the  great  and 
gracious  revival  of  religion  which  we  have  witnessed  within  the 
Church  of  England  (and  over  which  we  must,  if  wise,  devoutly 
rejoice),  it  is  observable  to  how  great  an  extent^  that  revival  has 
affected  the  wealthier  classes  of  society.  Methodism  has  less  occasion 
to  mourn  that  she  cannot  do  all,  than  to  rejoice  in  that  He  who 
divideth  to  each  Church  severally,  as  He  will,  has  made  the  com- 
plement of  her  work  to  be  found  in  other  communions.  Methodism 
will  find  her  best  work  and  her  highest  glory  amongst  the  poor  and  the 
middle  classes  of  society.  Methodism  must  hear  a  loud  and  definite 
call  from  the  artisan  class,  whose  moral  condition  demands  the 
Church's  most  careful  attention.  The  low  condition  of  religion  arising 
from  the  lack  of  religious  fear,  and  of  reverence  for  Divine  things ;  the 
habitual  neglect  of  public  worship,  and  the  spreading  carelessness, 
which  is  practical  infidelity,  give  to  this  class  a  priority  of  claim  on 
the  wakeful  effort  of  the  Methodist  Church.  The  development  of  the 
hitherto  buried  talent,  the  improved  education,  the  quickened  intel- 
lectual force,  the  investiture  with  political  power  and  influence,  and 
the  opening  of  avenues  to  the  highest  distinction,  make  it  imperative 
on  the  Church  of  Methodism,  if  she  would  faithfully  serve  this  age  as 
the  fathers  of  Methodism  served  a  past  age,  to  awake  to  the  necessity 
for  a  new,  a  direct,  a  patient  and  unwearied  effort  to  adapt  her  means 
and  expend  her  energies  in  an  endeavour  to  reach  and  to  rescue  those 
who,  if  they  have  not  the  wealth  oil  the  present  hour,  are  likely  to  be 
sharers  of  that  wealth  in  the  immediate  future.  The  true  and  best 
condition  towards  which  we  should  labour  is  that  in  which  the  poor 
and  the  rich  shall  meet  together  in  the  one  house  of  that  God  who  is 
the  Father  of  them  all. 

Rev.  Dr.  F.  A.  Mood  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South)  :  I  wish  to  say 
a  few  words  in  support  of  the  view  presented  by  Dr.  Southerland.  In  the 
early  operation  of  the  Methodist  Church  in  the  United  States,  especially 
among  the  blacks,  we  were  brought  in  constant  conflict  with  the  claims  and 
demands  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church.  I  have  the  honour,  sir,  to 
have  been  for  several  years,  as  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Chuixh,  South,  a 
missionary  to  tlie  blacks  ;  and  I  discovered  a  very  peculiar  state  of  affairs, 
resulting  from  our  missionary  operations.  Families  of  the  wealthy  owners 
of  slaves  frequently  attended  the  ministrations  of  the  missionary,  and  the 
consequence  was  that  from  time  to  time  there  were  conversions  among  the 
wealthy  class,  that  owned  the  large  plantations  along  the  coast  of  South 
Carolina.  These  numerous  conversions,  through  the  agencies  of  the  Metho- 
dist preachers,  awakened  considerable  alarm  in  the  minds  of  the  rectors  and 
bishops  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church.  I  know  that  on  one  occasion, 
when  a  rector  went  to  the  bishop  to  know  how  he  could  stop  the  invasion 
of  Methodism  among  the  wealthy  class  along  the  coast  of  South  Carolina, 
through  the  agency  of  the  missionaries  of  the  Methodist  Church,  South,  the 
bishop  heard  him  kindly  and  calmly,  and  asked  him  what  he  demanded. 
"  Sir,"  said  he  "  I  am  a  Protestant  Episcopalian,  and  minister  to  that  Church, 


GENERAL    REMARKS.  448 

and  T  wish  my  members  to  be  reared  in  tliat  Church  ;  but  thoy  are  being 
brought  to  the  Methodist  teaching  and  Metliodist  doctrine  under  the  ope- 
ration of  the  Methodist  missionaries.  I  wish  to  know  how  that  invasion 
may  be  stopped."  The  bishop  Avas  helpless  under  the  circumstances. 
"  Sir,"  he  said,  "  I  cannot  help  you.  We  cannot  get  Protestant  Episcopal 
ministers  to  minister  to  the  blacks  ;  we  are  compelled,  if  they  will  receive 
religious  instruction  at  all,  to  transfer  their  instruction  to  the  i\Iethodist 
missionaries."  I  mention  this  fact  in  support  of  Dr.  Southerland's  view  that 
the  wealthy  may  be  more  successfully  reached,  perhaps,  through  our  minis- 
trations to  the  humbler  classes  than  by  any  other  means.  I  can  only  say 
that,  since  the  emancipation,  the  results  of  these  labours  have  evolved  cer- 
tain marvellous  facts — that  persons  converted  under  the  ministration  of  the 
missionaries  of  the  Methodist  Church,  South,  during  the  existence  of  slaverj'. 
have  only  announced  their  attachment  to  ]\Iethodism  since  the  emancipation 
took  place.  The  universal  poverty  that  followed  the  emancipation  broke 
the  bonds  of  social  distinction,  largely  erected  through  the  means  of  their 
wealth,  and  they  found  themselves  unexpectedly  on  a  plane  with  the 
Methodist  missionaries  who  had  ministered  to  them  for  years.  The  conse- 
quence is  that  in  that  State  since  the  war  we  have  access  to  the  families 
belonging  to  the  Church  in  a  manner,  and  to  an  extent,  ^hat  we  never 
dreamt  of  before.  I  simply  mention  these  facts  in  support  of  the  view  of 
the  essayist  that,  after  all,  the  most  successful  and  the  most  complete  way 
of  reaching  the  upper  classes  is  by  laborious  efforts  among  the  lower  classes 
of  society. 

Rev.  L.  S.  Burkiiead,  D.D.  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South)  :  I 
desire  to  say  a  word  in  connection  with  the  first  essay  and  the  speech  of 
Dr.  Mood.  There  is  but  one  method  of  salvation,  and  that  is  by  faith  in 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  died  to  save  the  rich  and  the  poor.  The  only 
way  to  save  any  man,  whether  rich  or  poor,  is  to  preach  to  him  the  simple 
Gospel  of  Christ.  In  order  to  do  this  etfectively,  the  ministers  of  Christ 
must  comprehend  human  nature  in  all  its  different  phases,  whether  in  a 
state  of  poverty  or  abounding  in  wealth.  The  great  work  is  to  be  wrought 
by  the  Spirit  of  God.  The  Holy  Spirit  must  apply  the  simple  truth  recorded 
in  the  Scriptures.  There  is  no  one  special  method  of  preaching  this  truth  by 
which  all  n:iinisters  can  reach  the  same  results.  But  every  man  who  is  a 
Christian,  who  is  thoroughly  consecrated  to  God,  who  studies  the  Gospel 
and  preaches  it  out  of  a  heart  warmed  by  the  love  c  O  God,  will  be  able  to 
find  the  key  to  some  minds  and  hearts,  and  will  lead  them  to  Christ,  amomr 
the  rich  as  well  as  the  poor.  My  brethren,  unless  the  ministry  and  Cl\uich 
are  pure  and  holj-,  they  will  be  inefiicient.  We  must  be  pure  in  order  to 
exert  moral  power  over  others.  A  man  will  be  able  to  win  souls  to  Christ 
in  proportion  to  his  own  moral  purity,  and  to  the  aggressive  force  with 
which  he  brings  this  moral  power  to  bear  upon  others.  My  experience 
coincides  with  that  of  Dr.  Mood,  that  wealthy  men  are  often  led  to  Christ 
by  the  simple  Gospel  ;  the  same  Gospul  that  saved  the  ignorant  and  poor 
saved  also  the  rich.  In  North  Carolina,  the  missionary  to  the  slave  often 
led  the  master  to  Christ.  There  is  a  great  work  still  to  be  done  in  North 
Carolina  among  the  coloured  people,  and  I  wish  to  speak  to  this  point.  The 
coloured  people  must  be  educated  and  trained  for  Christ.  i\Iy  friend  Bishop 
Hood  has  a  plan  to  build  a  college  in  North  Carolina  for  his  people,  i 
heartily  endorse  his  enterprise.  In  North  Carolina  we  need  money,  and  the 
sympathy  and  co-operatign  of  all  good  men  to  aid  the  coloured  people  and 
build  up  society.  Bishop  Hood  and  our  friend,  IJev.  Y.  C.  Nind,  were  earnest 
advocates  for  the  prohibition  of  the  liquor  traffic  in  the  recent  contest  in 
our  State.  We  honour  them  for  the  noble  stand  they  took  on  that  great 
issue. 

Rev.   Alexander    Reid  (Australian   Methodist    Church)  :     There    aro 

G  G 


45U  HOME   MISSIONS. 

special  difficult'es  in  persuading'  the  rich  to  embrace  the  religion  of  the  Son 
of  God  ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  tliere   are   direct  and   special  incentives 
offered  by  the  Gospel  to  rich  men  and  women  to  become  the  children  of 
God,  inasmuch  as   they  are  thereby  put  in  a  position  to  make  use  of  the 
material  wealth  entrusted  to  them  as  stewilrds  of  God  and  for  mankind,  to 
a  far  greater  extent  and  to  a  far  more  beneficial  purpose,  than  they  could 
possibly  do  while  they  are   out  of  Christ.     1  think  there  can  be  nothing 
so  like  to  heaven  upon  earth  as  the  life  of  a  godly  man  who  is  in  possession 
of  wealth  ;  because  he  not  only  sympathises  with  Jesus  and  seeks  ever  to 
gratify  the  heart  of  the  world's  Redeemer  in  the  alleviation  of  the  ills  from 
which  humanity  suffers  ;  but,  he  at  the  same  time,  experiences  the  purest 
joy  of  which  it  is  possible  for  a  human  heart  to  be  the  subject ;  and  I  can 
conceive  of  a  wealthj^  man  as  almost  reluctant  to  go  to  heaven  simply  be- 
cause of  the  holy  luxury  of  living  for  Christ  in  this  world,  which  God's  Son 
honoured  with  His.,  ^presence.     If  we  are  to  reach  the  rich  by  argument 
which  will  tell  upon  their  cultured  minds  and  their  educated  tastes,  we  must 
just  adopt  some  of  the  methods  that  we  use  in  preaching  to  the  poor.     We 
use  arguments  which  we  expect  to  tell  upon  the  poor,  and  so  we  must  use 
arguments  which  we  expect  to  tell  with  the  rich  ;  and  if  we  go  to  them 
and  show  them  that  the  only  right  use  of  their  wealth,  even  from  a  selfish 
standpoint,  is  to  give  themselves  to  Jesus  Christ,  so  that  they  maj^  make  the 
most  of  their  possession,  and  the  most  of  themselves,  we  have,  at  least,  the 
beginning  of    an  argument  which,  under  the  Spirit  of  God,  may  lead  to 
their  full  and  hearty  consecration  of  themselves  to  His  service.     I  think  if 
we  look  around  in  this  England,  and  in  the  colonies  so  far  as  I  know  them, 
there  is  as  great  a  proportion  of  men  of  wealth  enrolled  under  the  leader- 
ship of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  as  there  is  of  men  of  a  lower  position.     The 
proportion  of  the  wealthy  who  are  working  for  Jesus  now  in  England  is 
very  large,  compared  with  the  condition  of  society  years  ago.     What  joy 
it  gives  some  of  these,  as  Christian  workers,  to  go  round  amongst  their 
tenantry,  or  to  summon  from  a  distance  men  who  have  been  owned  of  God 
to  toil  amongst  those  who   are  in  their  employ,  and  to  gather  all  tho.-5e 
agencies  around  them  which  are  likely  to  promote  the  welfare  of  those 
entrusted  by  God  to  them  as  stewards.     Is  there  an  argument  that  will  tell 
more  potently  upon  human  hearts  than  this  ?     I  think  that  the  man  who  is 
inaccessible  to  an  argument  of  this  kind,  if  he  were  to  get  to  heaven  to- 
day, would  be  thankful  to  get  out  of  it  to-morrow.     He  who  is  disposed 
from  love  to  Jesus  to  live  for  those  whom  Christ  has  redeemed,  has  in  the 
world  at  this  moment  one  of  the  fairest  opportunities  that  heart  can  con- 
ceive^an  opportunity  which  angels  might  envy.   Indeed,  we  might  expect 
some  of  these  to  be  asking  God  to  give  them  the  privilege  of  going  down 
and  working  side  by  side  with  those   men  of  wealth,  of  culture,  and  of 
position  among  our  old  families,  or  the  families  tloat  have  elevated  them- 
selves by  their  Christian  industry. 

Rev.  T.  B.  Woou  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church)  :  I  should  like  to  refer 
to  one  point  in  connection  with  this  subject  which  has  not  been  touched 
upon  ;  and  that  is  the  peculiar  difficulty  that  grows  out  of  the  fact  that 
the  rich  especially  are  inaccessible  to  other  than  systematic  professional 
labours.  This  has  been  found  particularly  true  in  South  America.  In  that 
country  our  work  is  carried  on  amongst  all  classes,  including  the  rich  and 
the  poor.  We  follow  there  the  method  described  by  the  essayist,  taken  by 
him  from  the  founder  of  Methodism,  and  taken  by  him  from  the  founder 
of  Christianity  ;  that  is,  we  begin  with  the  poor  and  we  preach  upwards. 
But  the  classes  are  found  so  completely  distinct  there  that  wherever  is  done 
for  the  poor  is,  to  a  certain  extent,  on  that  account  excluded  from  the 
attention  of  the  rich.  The  latter  pay  little  or  no  attention  to  anything  that 
is  intended  for  the  former.     Higher  education  is  confined  to  the  rich  ;  the 


GENERAL   REMARKS.  451 

reading  classes  are  almost  wholly  among  those,  classes  which  regard  them- 
selves as  utterly  distinct  from  the  poor  ;  and  when  they  find  a  congrega- 
tion composed  largely  of  the  poor,  they  regard  it  as  utterly  separate  from 
anythuig  that  relates  to  them.     The  work  among  them,  therefore,  is  to  be 
carried  on  to  a  certain  extent  separately.     Now,  for  the  rich  and  poor  alike, 
immense  importance  is  to  be  attached  to  the  efforts  of  the  laity  ;  but  we 
have  found  by  experience  that  the  efforts  of  the  laity  are  far  more  success- 
ful amongst  the  poor  than  amongst  the  rich.     The   moment  any  positive 
evangelical  operation,  carried  on  by  a  layman,  comes  in  contact  with  the 
rich,  the  fact  that  it  is  non-professional   makes  it  lose  its  influence  with 
them.     The  fact  that  a  man  is  only  a  licensed  preacher  and  not  an  ordained 
minister,  excludes  his  labours  from  many  houses  and  man}'  hearts  which 
might  otherwise  be  reached.     We  may  learn  a   lesson  upon   this  whole 
matter  from  Romanism,  which,  to  a  certain  extent,  is  learning  a  lesson  from 
Satan  ;    for  the  knowledge   of  human  nature   which   is  displayed  in  the 
manner  in  which  that  powerful  system  holds  its  votaries  is  an  important 
lesson  for  us.     We  discover  in  South  America — which  is  a  country  wholly 
given    up   to    the    dominion    of    Romanism,    except   where   anti-Romish 
Rationalism  has   partly  emancipated    some    minds — that   Rome   holds   its 
dominion  over  rich  men  through  their  families.     I  believe  that  at  least  half 
the  well-to-do  men  in  all  South  America  Avould  to-morrow  cease  to  be 
Romanists,  or  to  have  anything  to  do  with  Romanism,  were  it  not  for 
domest'c  influence.     The  social  ties  are  tremendously  strong,  and  multi- 
tudes are  bound  by  golden  fetters,  which   are  very  heavy,  so  that  they 
become   enslaved   completely   by   their   social    position.     But    there   are 
thousands  who  would  break  the  bonds   of  social  influence  were  it  not  for 
the  powerful  bonds  of  domestic  influence.     We  discover  in  that  oountry 
that  such  agencies  as  schools,  the  press,  a  periodical  and  permanent  litera- 
ture  that   is   attractive   to    the   families    of    the    well-to-do,   break   their 
prejudices,  open  their  eyes,  and  occasionally  open  their  hearts  ;  and  we  find 
that  when  the  Gospel  once  gets  into  a  rich  man's  heart,  it  converts  him  as 
quicklj'  as  it  does  a  poor  man. 

Rev.  J.  Bond  (Wesleyan  Methodist) :  When  associated  with  Messrs.  Moody 
and  Sankey's  committee  in  London,  I  was  struck  with  the  fact  that  it  was 
possible  to  get  any  number  of  workers  to  visit  the  East-end  of  London,  but 
exceedingly  difficult  to  find  anj^  persons  who  would  visit  the  squares  and 
terraces  of  the  West-end  ;  and  never  was  I  more  impressed  than  then  witli 
the  utterance  of  our  Lord  about  the  difticulty  of  rich  men  entering  into  the 
kingdom  of  heaven.  I  think  there  are  some  ways  to  which  reference  has 
not  been  made  to-day  by  which  we  may  get  at  some  of  the  richer  people. 
I  believe  we  want  but  one  Gospel  for  them  as  for  the  poor,  and  that  Gospel 
shoi»ild  be  preached  with  as  much  simplicity  and  earnestness  to  the  rich  as 
to  the  poor.  I  believe  with  Mr.  Green  that  Ave  should  avoid  those  things 
that  would  offend  the  prejudices  of  the  rich,  but  I  think  that  we  may  reach 
the  ungodly  rich  very  much,  if  we  can  inspire  the  rich  laity  that  we  already 
have  with  an  earnest  evangelistic  spirit.  I  believe  that  rich  men  may  reach 
rich  men  better  than  any  other  class  of  persons  ;  and  if  we  can  induce  in 
our  rich  people  an  earnest  evangelistic  spirit,  and  can  lead  them  to  bring 
together  such  meetings  as  drawing-room  meetings,  and  the  like,  whereby 
tlieir  social  influence  may  be  exciled  upon  tlieir  neighbours,  we  shall  find 
that  that  is  a  way  of  touching  the  hearts  of  the  rich  by  whom  we  are  sur- 
rounded, ^ly  friend  said  the  problem  of  reaching  the  poor  and  the  artisan 
class  was  an  extremely  difficult  one,  but  I  believe  this  is  a  more  difficult 
problem  still.  The  late  Henry  Reed,  whose  memory  is  very  precious  to  us, 
and  whose  reputation  as  a  Christian  evangelist  has  gone  right  through  the 
world,  was  very  happy  in  reaching  rich  people  by  bringing  his  own  social 
influence  to  bear  upon  them.     Thev  were  invited  to  his  house,  they  had 

gg2 


452  HOME   MISSIONS. 

drawing-room  meetings  there,  and  in  that  way  he  came  face  to  face  with 
the  rich,  and,  talking  to  them  individuallj^,  brought  them  to  the  acceptance 
of  Christ. 

Mr.  T.  Lawrence  (Primitive  Methodist)  :  The  wealthy  classes  cannot  be 
reached  by  the  ordinary  agencies  at  our  disposal  ;  they  will  not  come  to  our 
places  of  worship  ;  they  will  not  read  IMethodist  literature  ;  and  I  very  much 
question  whether  we   should  be  very  successful  if  we  were  to  organise 
special  methods  for  the  West-end  of  London,  or  for  the  wealthy  in  any  of 
our  cities.     I  think,  however,  that  the  upper  classes  can  be  reached,  not 
only  by  converted  laymen  of  their  ov>'n  class,  but  by  the  lower  order  of  the 
people,  shall  I  say  ?     I  do  not  think  that  religion  deprives  us  of  any  of  our 
rights,  or  absolves  us  from  any  of  our  duties  as  citizens,  and  there  are  times 
when  men  who  occupy  a  social  position  above  most  of  us  come  to  ask  us 
for  our  votes  to  put  them  in  positions  of  honour.     Now,  I  do  not  say  it  is 
necessary  that  there  should  be  an  identity  of  belief  on  theological  questions, 
but  I  do  say  I  would  make  it  an  invariable  rule  to  j^ut  no  man  in  a  position 
of  honour  who  had  not  morality  in  his  creed,  to  say  the  least  of  it.     The 
upper  classes  make  the  laws,  and  ought  to  be  patterns  of  morality.     I  have 
myself  seen  the  sorry  and  miserable  spectacle  of  men  occupying  high  social 
positions  meting  out  the  terrors  of  the  law  to  poor  people  for  offences 
against  a  law  they  did  not  keep  themselves.    We  all  believe  that  "  righteous- 
ness exalteth  a  nation,"  and  that  "  sin  is  a  reproach  to  any  people,"  and 
while  I  would  not  introduce  political  questions  pi'ominently  in  an  assembly 
like  this,  I  do  think  that  we  ought  to  have  men  in  the  position  of  law- 
makers and  administrators  who  themselves  respect  the  moral  law,  and  per- 
sonally I  should  hesitate  to  give  my  support  to  a  man  who  solicited  my 
suffrages  whose  life  was  not  a  moral  life.     The  gentleman  who  stands  at 
the  head  of  political  affairs  in  this  country  is  no  less  distinguished  by  his 
genius,  than  he  is  by  his  I'eligious  principle,  and  I  believe  it  is  that  which 
has  given  to  William  Ewart  Gladstone  most  of  the  influence  that  he  has 
with  the  people  of  this  country.     I  have  no  doubt  it  is  also  the  principal 
bulwark  to  our  throne,  and  I   would  to  God  that  we  could  guarantee  the 
same  religion  in  high  places  for  the  future  that  we  have  now.     I  throw  out 
these  points  as  ^practical   suggestions  bearing  on  the  subject  under  dis- 
cission. 

Rev.  T.  B.  Stephenson,  B.A.,  LL.D.  (British  "Wesleyan  Metho- 
dist Church),  read  the  following  essay  on  MethocUsvi  and  its  Work  for 
Orphans,  for  the  Aged,  and  generally  for  the  Dependent  Classes. 

I  need  not  spend  one  moment  in  proving  that  Christianity  is  every- 
where philanthropic.  Christianity  is,  in  fact,  the  only  true  philan- 
thropy.  iBumanitarianism,  though  it  often  disowns  its  father,  is  the 
child  of  religion.  Even  the  philanthropic  sentiment  which  prevailed 
in  certain  lofty  minds  before  the  advent  of  Christ  was  itself  derived 
from  the  coming  glory.  Like  the  dawn,  it  was  sunlight  before  sun- 
rise. And  since  the  Sun  of  iRighteousness  arose,  wherever  Christi- 
anity has  powerfully  asserted  itself,  there  all  the  social  virtues  have 
begun  to  flourish  anew.  Men  have  learned  to  look  upon  each  other 
as  brothers  as  soon  as  they  have  learned  to  look  upon  God  as  their 
Father. 

The  iMethodist  revival  of  the  last  century  illustrated  all  this  by  the 
eagerness  with  which  it  turned  the  hands  of  the  converts  towards  all 


REV.    T.    B.    STEPHENSON'S  ADDRESS.  453 

^orks  of  mcrcj'  and  charity.  Hence,  amongst  early  Methodists  are  to 
be  found  some  of  the  heroes  of  the  great  social  war  against  vice, 
poverty,  disease,  and  sorrow.  It  must  be  acknowledged,  however,  that 
the  force  of  Methodism  did  not  for  many  years  manifest  itself  mainly, 
or  even  largely,  in  social  enterprises.  Nor  is  this  wonderful.  Metho- 
dism had  to  light  for  its  life ;  it  had  to  make  for  itself  a  home  and  a 
position ;  and  its  energies  were  in  the  main,  though  not  exclusively, 
devoted  to  building  its  churches,  establishing  its  position,  working  out 
for  itself  a  system  of  Church  government,  and  declaring  the  Gospel  of 
its  Master,  Christ,  over  an  ever-increasing  territory.  Its  very  success 
as  an  evangelistic  agency  occujjied  it  at  full  stretch,  to  meet  the 
demands  in  church  building,  in  missionary  enterprise,  in  the  creation 
of  its  literature,  defensive  and  aggressive,  and  in  other  ways — ways  all 
of  which  seemed  necessary  to  its  self-preservation. 

In  one  j)articular,  however,  Methodism  has  from  the  beginning  risen, 
at  least  partially,  to  its  duty.     That  is  in  caring  for  the  sick  and  the 
aged  of  the  household  of  faith.     It  has  felt  from  the  beginning  that  its 
own  members    who,  through   any  cu'cumstance   not  implying  moral 
delinquency,  might  be  plunged  into  j)Overty  and  need,  have  a  sacred 
claim  upon  its  liberality  and  care.     At  the  most  solemn  and  representa- 
tive service  of  its  worship — that  ser\ace  which  shows  forth  most  clearly 
at  once  our  loyalty  to  our  Head  and  Lord,  and  our  fellowship  with  each 
other  in  Him — Methodism  has  consistently  contributed  for  the  relief  of 
the  poorer  brethren.     As  Methodists  have  become  more  numerous,  the 
claims  ui^on  their  hberality  under  this  head  have  increased ;  but  so  also 
has  the  liberality  of  the  Church  increased.     I  have  been  unable  to  get 
trustworthy  statistics  as  to  the  amount  contributed  by  the  Methodist 
churches  of  Great  Britain  at  their  sacramental  services,  but  a  careful 
estimate  leads  me  to  believe  that  the  Wesleyan   Methodist  Church 
of  Great  Britain  devotes  not  less  than  £30,000  a  year  to  the  relief  of  its 
own  poor.     Now  this  employment  of  money  is  a  most  valuable  and 
effective  method  of  helping  a  considerable  section  of  those  for  whom  my 
subject  claims  your  attention.     Many  an  aged  man  and  woman  is  kept 
from  dependence  upon   the  charity  of  the  public,  or  from  the  rehef 
afforded  by  the  law,  by  means  of  a  grant  made  from  the  Leaders' 
Meeting.     Indirectly,  also,  help  is  afforded  to  a  considerable  number  ol: 
the  children  of  our  j)oor  people,  and  I  am  of  opinion  that  this  mode  of 
heljiing  the   aged   is   to  the   extent   of,   perhaps,  four-fifths   of   such 
claimants,  by  far  the  best.     Almshouses,  as  we  used  to  call  them  in 
England,  or  homes  for  the  aged,  as  they  are  more  happily  called  in 
America,  very  often  involve  the  severance  of  old  people  from  their 
friends.     To  take  advantage  of  the  help  which  these  institutions  afford, 
the  old  man  or  the  old  woman  must,  to  a  considerable  extent,  alter  the 
habits  of  a  lifetime  ;  and  whilst  in  some  cases  a  shelter  and  provision 
in  a  home  gives  to  the  aged  poor  the  best  form  of  relief,  in  the  great 
majority  of  cases  a  small  grant  of  money,  judiciously  given  from  time 


454  UOME   MISSIuMS. 

to  time,  and  which  would  enable  the  old  life  to  run  on  its  old  lines, 
gives  the  maximum  of  comfort  at  the  minimum  of  cost. 

In  another  respect  also  this  mode  of  charity  claims  our  admiration. 
No  machinery  for  the  administration  of  a  great  charity  can  be  so 
effective  as  that  of  the  Church.  The  Leaders'  Meeting  knows  the 
character  and  belongings  of  those  whom  it  helps,  as  no  other  charitable 
board  could.  It  gathers  the  money  to  be  devoted  to  these  purposes 
without  any  expense  of  advertising,  and  without  employing  a  single 
paid  official ;  and  each  church  caring  for  its  own  poor  thus  becomes  a 
most  effective  society  for  the  relief  of  the  aged. 

Nevertheless,  I  should  not  like  to  be  understood  as  wishful  to  minify 
the  need  for  Homes  for  the  Aged,  or  to  disparage  their  usefulness.  I 
am  confident  that  for  a  certain  proportion  of  the  aged  saints,  the 
Church  can  make  no  adequate  provision  without  giving  them  a  home. 
I  believe  that  such  institutions,  where  they  exist,  have  been  found  most 
blessed  in  their  usefulness ;  and  I  am  sorry  to  say  that,  in  this  respect, 
we  of  the  Old  World  are  far  behind  Transatl  n  ic  Methodism, 

But  there  is  much  else  in  this  class  of  work  to  which  Methodism  is 
called  to  address  herself  :  for  Methodism  has  now  surely  attained  her 
majority.  She  has  ceased  to  be  a  mere  appendage  to  any  other  Church. 
She  takes  her  position  amongst  the  Churches  of  the  nations ;  and  there 
is  a  sense  in  which  she  has  become — and  she  ought  to  recognise  her- 
self as  being — one  of  the  great  national  Churches  in  both  hemispheres. 
A  Church,  however,  which  claims  to  hold  such  a  position  cannot  afford 
to  shirk  any  part  of  the  work  which  the  nation  may  properly  claim 
from  the  Church.  You  may  have  a  mere  preaching  society  which  can 
afford  to  be  without  its  charitable  and  educational  organisations,  but 
you  cannot  have  a  great,  strong  Church,  striking  its  roots  deep  into  the 
very  substance  of  the  population,  which  ignores  or  forgets  that  round 
it  there  hes  a  great  mass  of  humanity,  troubled  and  tortured  by  per- 
plexing problems,  for  which  there  is  no  solution  apart  from  faith  and 
prayer.  That  Church  organisation  which  has  nothing  to  say  on  the 
questions  of  pauperism,  drunkenness,  improvidence,  orphanhood, 
juvenile  delinquency,  and  all  allied  questions  is  not  the  Church  that 
the  nineteenth  century  wants.  This  the  instinct  of  Methodism  has 
discovered.  Very  early  in  its  history  some  attempts  were  made  to 
meet  the  need  of  the  orphan  children,  which,  however,  did  not  result 
in  anything  great  or  permanent ;  and  all  along  the  line  of  its  history 
there  have  been  individual  Methodists  who  have  been  connected  more 
or  less  prominently  with  large  philanthropic  schemes.  But  (speaking 
now  for  British  Methodism)  it  must  be  confessed  that  nothing  definite 
had  been  attempted  for  the  benefit  of  orphan  or  outcast  childhood 
until  within  a  comparatively  recent  period.  Some  twelve  years  a,go, 
however,  Methodism  set  itself  to  this  work,  and  within  that  period  it 
has  de.voted  close  upon  £'150,000  sterling  to  work  of  this  class.  It  has 
created  a  system   of   orphanages  and  refuges   of  which  the   largest 


REV.   T.   B.    STEPHENSON'S   ADDRESS.  455 

representative  is  in  tliis  city  of  London,  and  it  has  recently  devoted  a 
large  sum  of  money  to  the  erection  of  an  additional  orphanage  which 
will  shortly  be  built  in  the  Midland  counties. 

Now,  there  are  three  classes  of  children  within  the  purview  of  this 
question  for  whom  in  different  ways  the  care  of  the  Church  is  needed. 
First,  there  are  the  orphan  children  of  its  own  godly  poor.  These  have 
a  most  sacred  claim  uiion  us.  Let  me  illustrate  by  a  case  to  which  I 
can  bear  personal  testimony  :  A  local  preacher  whose  wages  have 
never  amounted  to  a  pound  a  week  is  stricken  down  by  fever ;  in  a  fort- 
night his  wife  dies  also  ;  the  relatives  undertake  the  care  of  five  out  of 
the  seven  children,  but  two  are  left  for  wliom  there  is  nothing  but  the 
workhouse.  Have  not  these  children  a  claim  uj)on  the  care  of  the 
Church  ?  I  not  only  believe  they  have,  but  I  believe  the  time  will 
come  when  Methodism  will  say  that  not  only  some  of  them  should,  but 
all  of  them  shall,  be  accepted  as  a  sacred  charge.  The  Jews  of  this 
city  allow  none  of  their  co-religionists  to  be  chargeable  upon  the  funds 
raised  by  taxation  for  the  relief  of  the  poor.  They  accejjt  the  charge 
of  their  own  poor  as  a  duty  from  God.  The  day  ought  to  come  when 
the  ori^han  children  of  all  our  poor  who  have  died  in  tlie  Lord,  and 
whose  relatives  are  unable  to  undertake  their  maintenance  and  educa- 
tion, shall  be  folded  to  the  heart  of  the  Church,  and  cared  for  with 
a  mother's  love. 

Secondly,  there  are  various  classes  of  children  for  whom  legal  j)ro- 
vision  is  made.  The  management  and  control  of  the  institutions  in 
which  such  children  are  to  be  trained  is  very  largely  given  to  local 
authorities — Boards  of  Guardians,  it  may  be,  or  committees  of  manage- 
ment. Li  some  cases  these  are  elected  to  represent  the  taxpayers  of 
the  community.  In  other  cases  they  are  voluntary  associations  of 
men  for  the  support  and  management  of  a  definite  institution.  But  aU 
cases  of  this  class  are  recognised  and  insijected  by  the  Government, 
and,  to  a  very  large  extent,  if  not  altogether,  the  State  provides  the 
funds.  I  cannot  believe  but  that  our  Church,  through  its  most  intelli- 
gent members,  ought  to  take  its  full  share  in  the  doing  of  such  work 
for  the  nation.  Thore  are  many  defects,  not  to  say  abuses,  in  the 
management  of  some  workhouses,  which  would  surely  cease  if,  in  large 
numbers.  Christian  men  would  consent  to  serve  upon  the  boards,  and 
bring  to  this  service  of  the  public  and  of  the  children,  Christian 
conscience,  Christian  principle,  and  Christian  tenderness. 

There  is  yet  another  class  of  chilch'en  for  which  the  liberality  of  the 
Church  is  specially  demanded.  They  are  the  children  of  vice ;  childreu 
who  may  be  orphans,  or  may  not ;  but  if  they  are  not  orphans  are  more 
to  be  pitied  than  if  they  were.  They  are  children  whose  circumstances 
expose  them  to  so  many  and  so  deadly  moral  perils,  that  unless  some 
strong  hand  is  put  forth  to  lift  them  out  of  their  present  surroundings, 
and  place  them  on  a  new  level,  there  can  be  before  them  no  prospect 
of  a  Christian  or  a  decent  life.     Now,  for  those  childreu  the  Church 


456  BOME  MISSIONS. 

can  do  what  the  law  cannot.  The  Church  can  deal  with  a  child  on  the 
one  ground  that  the  child's  soul  is  in  peril.  The  Church  may  do,  and 
ought  to  do,  that  which  the  political  economist,  or  the  secular  states- 
man as  such,  would  not  feel  himself  justified  in  doing.  There  is  many 
a  child  in  this[city,  many  a  child  in  New  York,  who  does  not  actually 
want  bread,  who  will  manage  to  keep  alive,  at  least  for  some  years  to 
come,  either  by  honest  or  dishonest  expedients,  about  whom  the 
Christian  man  as  he  looks  at  him  is  compelled  in  his  heart  to  say, 
"  The  parent  of  that  child  is  not  fit  to  be  trusted  with  him  ;  the  law 
cannot  interfere.  The  law,  if  it  did  interfere,  could  not  make  that 
parent  do  his  duty,  because  the  law  cannot  give  him  the  moral  qualifi- 
cations which  alone  could  fit  him  to  do  it.  The  child,  if  left  where  he 
is,  will  certainly  drift  into  evil,  and  become,  morally,  a  wreck.  For  the 
sake  of  Him  who  took  the  children  of  the  streets  into  His  arms  and 
blessed  them,  I  will  take  hold  of  that  child,  and  though  it  cost  me 
labour,  cost  me  money,  cost  me  pains,  I  will  try  to  bring  the  heart  of 
that  child  to  Jesus,  and  so  win  the  lil'e  of  that  child  for  society." 

When  the  network  of  the  law  has  been  improved  to  the  highest  state 
of  efficiency  which  the  ingenuity  of  Christian  legislators  can  devise,  its 
meshes  will  still  be  so  large  that  many  a  child  needing  care,  love,  and 
attention  will  slip  through  and  be  lost.  In  all  our  great  populations, 
after  our  educational  systems  have  been  brought  into  most  effective 
working,  and  our  reforming  agencies  have  been  set  into  the  fullest 
movement,  there  will  still  remain  a  large  number  of  children  for  whose 
rescue  Christian  love  alone  can  suffice. 

These  three  classes  of  children  are  all  cared  for  in  the  system  of  In- 
stitutions which  is  the  most  recent  outgrowth  of  British  Methodism. 
During  the  last  twelve  years  nearly  1,200  of  such  children  have  been 
received  and  benefited. 

The  limits  of  my  jjaper  will  not  permit  me  to  give  illustrations  of    , 
this  work,  and  I  cannot  even  pause  to  point  out  its  advantages,  but  I 
will  suggest  what  are  the  three  great  princii^les   which   lie  at  the 
foundation  of  all  such  work. 

First,  Ileligion— earnest,  heartfelt.  For  whatever  may  be  our  views 
and  theories  as  to  the  place  of  religion  in  popular  education,  none  of 
us  would  be  disposed  to  question  that  in  an  institution  which  must  be, 
to  the  .children  resident  in  them,  home  as  well  as  school,  religion 
should  be  the  controllmg  element  of  the  daily  life.  And  it  is  this  deep 
and  far-reaching  principle  which  justifies  the  Church's  work  of  this 
class.  In  truth,  because  the  work  must  be  religious,  it  is  emphatically 
Church  work,  and,  for  the  same  reason,  only  the  Church  can  do  it. 
Secondly,  I  believe  the  best  means  of  accomplishing  it  is  by  the 
adoption  of  what  is  becoming  known  as  the  "  family  system."  That 
is,  the  separation  of  children  into  groups,  to  each  of  which  group  shall 
be  assigned  a  separate  house,  in  which  the  children,  with  the  officers  in 
charge,  constitute  a  separate  family.     In  this  way  the  utmost  personal 


REV.    DR.   JACOB   TODD'S   ADDRESS.  457 

oversight  and  individual  dealing  is  secured,  together  with  the  largest 
allowable  amount  of  freedom  and  happiness  to  the  child.  Thirdly, 
Such  institutions  should  be  industrial.  The  children  should  not  only 
be  taught  in  an  elementary  school,  but  they  should  be  trained  by 
systematic  employment  to  a  certain  skill  of  brain  and  finger,  and  to 
the  habit  of  steady  and  systematic  work.  Give  a  child  these  three 
things — the  fear  of  God,  the  love  of  home,  the  habit  of  steady 
industry — and  you  jnit  into  the  hands  of  that  child  capital  which,  if 
he  wiU  but  use  it,  will  be  sufficient  to  provide  for  all  his  needs  through 
Ufe. 

One  more  remark,  and  I  have  done.  This  field  of  labour  is  pecu- 
liarly inviting  to  Christian  women,  emphatically  to  Christian  ladies. 
The  work  is  difficult,  and  requires  the  highest  qualities  of  head  and 
heart.  There  are  multitudes  of  Christian  ladies — by  which  I  mean 
women  of  education  and  refinement,  and  Ckristian  principle — who 
spend  their  lives  sometimes  almost  frivolously,  and  generally  with 
little  system  in  their  work,  who,  if  they  would  devote  themselves 
resolutely  and  heartily  to  the  care  of  the  neediest  children  of  the  land, 
would  find  therein  a  joy  and  blessing,  which  none  can  understand  save 
those  who  have  once  tasted  it. 

Rev.  Dr.  Jacob  Todd  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church)  gave  the  invited 
address.  He  said:  Mr.  President,  Within  the  hmits  of  the  time  allotted 
to  Die  it  is  not  possible  to  consider  separately  the  several  classes  of  dependent 
persons  included  in  the  subject  under  discussion.  We  must,  therefore, 
group  them  together  and  regard  their  appeals  to  the  Church  as  a  common 
call  to  duty.  Nor  is  it  at  all  necessary,  in  order  to  determine  our  duty  in 
the  premises,  to  separate  and  classify  them ;  for  whether  they  be  fatherless 
children  or  friendless  old  persons,  our  obligation  to  them,  in  both  cases  alike, 
rests  upon  precisely  the  same  foundation.  Charity,  the  queenliest  of  all  the 
Christian  graces,  is  a  heaven-born  virtue,  and  traces  its  right  to  reign  in  the 
Church  directly  to  its  Divine  parentage.  It  is  not  begotten  of  any  relation 
which  iHie  poor  sustain  to  the  rich,  and  is  not  made  binding  upon  the  Church 
by  any  claim  which  the  dependent  classes  have  upon  their  more  fortunate 
brethren.  Justice  is  a  duty  which  we  not  only  owe  to  another,  but  one 
which  he  has  a  right  to  exact  of  us.  Charity,  on  the  contrary,  while  it  is  a 
duty  no  less  binding  upon  us  than  justice,  invests  no  man  with  a  right  to 
demand  it  at  our  hands.  It  is  a  duty  which  we  owe,  not  to  man  but  to  God. 
It  is  made  binding  upon  us  by  the  twin  injunction  of  the  Divine  example 
and  conunand.  Jesus  said  while  on  earth,  "  If  any  man  will  come  after  Me, 
let  him  deny  himself  and  take  up  his  cross  and  follow  Me."  He  thus  made 
the  imitation  of  His  example  obligatory  upon  the  Church  throughout  all  time. 
Since  His  ascension  the  Church  is  liis  only  representative  upon  the  earth. 
In  the  days  of  His  flesh,  He  miraculously  fed  tlie  hungry,  relieved  the 
suffering,  and  took  the  children  in  His  arms  and  blessed  them  ;  but  now  He 
works  Ilis  wonders  among  men  only  through  the  agency  of  the  Church. 


458  HOME   MISSIONS. 

Jesus  still  is  manifested  in  flesh,  but  the  Church  is  now  His  bocly,  and  we 
are  all  "members  in  particular."  The  one  great  office  of  the  Church  is  to 
incarnate  the  Spirit  of  Jesus  Christ  and  copy  His  example,  and  thus  keep 
Christ  for  ever  walking  our  earth  in  human  form,  and  blessing  our  race 
through  human  hands.  The  example  set  us  eighteen  hundred  years  ago  in 
Palestine  is  to  be  repeated  and  multiplied  until  through  the  Church,  His 
mystical  body,  Jesus  shall  feed  all  the  hungry,  relieve  all  the  suffering,  and 
take  all  the  children  in  His  arras.  Not  only  are  we  left  to  infer  the  duty  of 
charity  from  the  example  of  our  Lord,  but  His  command  enjoins  it  directly 
and  specifically.  The  test  which  He  required  of  Peter's  love  was,  "Feed  My 
sheep,"  "Feed  My  lambs  ; "  and,  lest  any  one  should  limit  tha  obligation  to 
His  professed  followers,  it  is  elsewhere  said,  "If  thine  enemy  hunger,  feed 
him  ;  if  he  thirst,  give  him  drink."  As  if  to  invest  charity  with  the  highest 
possible  sanctity,  He  condescends  to  identify  Himself  with  the  poor  and 
needy,  and  to  regard  all  acts  of  mercy  performed  for  them  as  done  to 
Himself;  declaring  that  from  the  judgment-seat  He  will  say,  "I  was  "an 
hungered,  and  ye  gave  Me  meat ;  I  was  thirsty,  and  ye  gave  Me  drink  ;  I 
was  a  stranger,  and  ye  took  Me  in  ;  naked,  and  ye  clothed  Me  ;  I  was  sick, 
and  ye  visited  Me ;  I  was  in  prison,  and  ye  came  unto  Me.  Inasmuch  as  yo 
have  done  it  unto  one  of  the  least  of  these,  my  brethren,  ye  have  done  it 
unto  jNIe."  To  provide  for  the  dependent  classes  of  society,  therefore,  is  not 
a  question  of  policy — is  not  something  left  optional  with  the  Church.  The 
Church  is  held  to  this  duty  by  the  grasp  of  the  Divine  example  and  command 
as  between  the  two  jaws  of  a  vice.  Whatever  obligation  is  laid  upon  the 
Christian  Church,  as  a  whole,  presses  as  a  duty  upon  Methodism,  she  being-a 
branch  of  the  Christian  Church.  Her  claim  to  be  considered  a  living  branch 
of  the  Christian  vine  can  be  measured  only  by  the  kind  and  amount  of  fruit 
which  she  bears.  Christ's  test  is,  "  By  their  fruits  shall  ye  know  them."  But, 
in  addition  to  the  obligation  which  she  shares  in  common  with  all  other 
denominations,  she  owes  a  duty  to  the  poor  arising  from  her  past  history.  If 
she  was  not  born  in  poverty,  she  at  least  grew  up  among  the  poor,  and  was 
identified  with  them.  The  place  assigned  to  Methodism  by  Providence 
seemed  to  indicate  that  she  had  a  special  mission  among  the  labouring  classes, 
the  bone  and  sinew  of  the  nations,  and  ever  since  she  has  been  regarded  as 
the  Church  of  the  masses.  She  has  not  been  confined  to  any  one  class  of 
society,  but  has  gathered  her  members  from  all,  until  to-day  the  great,  the 
rich,  and  the  mighty  bow  at  her  altars ;  but  the  poor  still  claim  a  special 
relation  to  Methodism,  and  look  to  her  for  recognition  and  assistance.  In 
her  prosperity  she  must  not  forget  the  pit  whence  she  was  digged,  nor  neglect 
Uie  classes  among  which  she  made  her  first  converts.  When  Israel  reached 
the  land  flowing  with  milk  and  honey,  God  commanded  them  in  the  treatment 
of  their  servants  not  to  forget  that  they  themselves  had  been  in  bondage  in 
Egypt.  The  God  of  nature  is  also  the  God  of  grace,  and  the  same  law  of 
evolution  which  obtains  in  the  natural  world  rules  and  determines  the  unfold- 
ing of  the  Church.  Every  branch  of  the  Church  must  pass  through  four 
«5tages    of   development,   and  in    the  following  order:    First,  it  must  be 


REV.    DR.   JACOB   TODD'S   ADDRESS.  459 

evangelistic,  next  constructive,  then  educational,  and  finally  charitable.  The 
first  great  csarge  of  the  Master  is,  "Preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature," 
and  "  Disciple  all  nations."  But  the  converts  having  heen  made,  they  are 
not  to  be  left  like  sheep  without  a  shepherd.  "  God  setteth  the  solitary  in 
families,"  and  commands  us  "Not  to  forsake  the  assembling  of  ourselves 
together."  The  converts  thus  made  must  be  organised  into  local  societies, 
and  these,  again,  nuist  be  consolidated  into  a  denomination.  Church  build- 
ings must  be  erected,  stated  means  of  grace  established,  and  order  and 
government  instituted.  When  this  has  been  done,  educational  institutions 
must  be  founded,  and  men  apt  to  teach  must  be  appointed  to  fill  their  chairs, 
tliat  candidates  for  the  ministry  may  study  to  show  themselves  workmen 
that  need  not  be  ashamed,  rightly  dividing  the  word  of  truth,  and  that  the 
whole  Church  may  "  grow  in  grace,  and  in  the  knowledge  of  our  Lord  and 
Saviour  Jesus  Christ."  Sunday-schools  must  be  established  for  the  religious 
training  of  the  youiig.  The  Press  must  be  employed  to  supply  wholesome 
reading  for  the  popular  demand,  and  publishing  houses  must  be  established 
to  furnish  a  pure  literature  for  the  people.  These  three  stages  in  the 
Church's  growth  are  all  important,  bur  they  are  only  preparatory  to  another. 
Any  Church  which  stops  here  and  goes  no  further,  rests  in  the  blossom,  and 
never  produces  the  mellow  fruitage  of  Cliiistianity.  It  is  a  barren  fig-tree 
certain  to  be  cursed,  and  that  deserves  to  wither  away,  because,  with  all 
its  promise  and  opportunities,  it  furnishes  no  food  to  the  hungry. 

The  last  and  crowning  phase  of  the  Church,  without  which  she  is  but 
"sounding  brass  and  a  tinkling  oymbal,"  is  charity.  God  has  promised 
to  be  a  father  to  the  fatherless  and  a  husband  to  the  widow ;  and 
the  Church  was  established  upon  earth  for  the  very  purpose  of  realising 
this  promise  to  the  dependent  classes  of  society.  Any  denomination  is  a 
caricature  of  Christianity  which  does  not  build  a  home  for  the  homeless 
beside  the  church  edifice,  and  asylums  and  hospitals  under  the  shadow  of  its 
colleges  and  publishing  houses.  The  divinest  form  on  earth  is  charity  in  the 
garb  of  a  servant.  Her  presence  more  than  anything  else  will  convince  the 
world  of  the  divinity  of  our  holy  religion.  When  John  the  Baptist  sent 
to  Jesus  to  ask  "Art  thou  He  that  should  come,  or  do  we  look  for  another  ?" 
the  Master  simply  replied,  "  The  blind  receive  their  sight,  and  the  lame 
walk  ;  the  lepers  are  cleansed,  and  the  deaf  hear  ;  the  dead  are  raised  up, 
and  the  poor  have  the  (5ospel  preached  to  them."  And  in  that  answer 
John  found  the  highest  possible  proof  of  Christ's  Messiahship.  Miracles 
of  power,  learning,  and  influence  will  never  convince  the  world  that  the 
Church  is  of  God  ;  but  let  charity  in  all  the  Churches,  like  her  Lord,  go 
about  doing  good,  and  men  will  take  knowledge  of  us  that  we  have  been 
with  Christ  and  have  learned  of  Him.  Methodism  has  passed  through  the 
first  three  stages  of  Christian  development,  and  is  just  entering  upon  the 
last.  She  has  gone  over  the  lands  as  an  evangelist,  and  with  a  tongue 
of  fire  has  preached  the  Gospel  of  Salvation  until  she  numbers  her  converts 
by  millions.  She  has  organised  and  builded  until  her  churches  and  mission 
stations  girdle   the   globe.      She   hua  grappled   with   education,    and    has 


460  HOME  MISSIONS. 

succeeded  in  pLvnting  her  schools  and  colleges,  and  in  scattering  her 
literature  among  all  classes  of  society.  But  as  yet  she  has  scarcely  begun 
the  work  of  providing  for  the  dependent  poor.-  A  few  charitable  institutions 
have  already  been  founded,  but  these  are  but  a  tithe  of  the  number  that 
is  needed.  The  cry  for  help  is  coming  from  thousands.  Au  army  of 
.fatherless  children,  -of  grey-haired  old  people,  of  the  sick,  the  suffering, 
and  unfortunate,  are  looking  wistfully  up  to  the  Church  for  assistance,  and 
as  yet  we  have  but  scanty  shelter  to  offer  them.  This  one  thing  yet  remains 
for  Llethodism  to  do  in  order  to  her  symmetrical  development.  The  cry 
of  the  poor,  "Come  over  and  help  us,"  is  ringing  in  her  ears,  and  Jesus 
stands  at  her  door,  attired  as  a  servant,  and,  pointing  to  the  abodes  of  want 
and  misery,  whispers,  "Follow  Me."  Methodism  must  respond  to  the 
call  and  lend  a  helping  hand  to  the  poor  if  she  would  live  either  in  the 
favour  of  God  or  in  the  confidence  of  men. 

Eev.  James  Hocart  (French  Methodist)  :  I  want  to  avail  myself  of  two 
or  three  minutes  to  give  a  piece  of  information.  We  have  in  Paris  a  very 
modest  establishment  bearing-  the  name  of  La  Maison  des  Enfants,  a  home 
for  French  homeless  children.  It  is  the  first  establishment  of  its  kind 
under  the  influence  of  Methodism,  seeing  it  has  been  originated  by  the 
daughter  of  a  Methodist  minister.  This  home,  as  all  other  undertakings 
in  Methodism,  is  the  child  of  Providence.  It  was  totally  undesigned.  It 
conunenced  four  or  five  years  since  with  one  child,  then  two,  then  three, 
and  so  on.  Every  one  of  these  children  has  been  morally  imposed  upon  us  ; 
not  one  has  been  sought  out  by  us.  And  as  an  indication  of  one  of  the 
classes  of  children  which  are  entrusted  to  us  I  will  state  that  one  interesting 
little  boy  is  the  son  of  a  father  who  committed  suicide  by  drowning.  Six 
weeks  afterwards  the  mother  did  the  same,  and  at  the  same  time  cast  hei 
child  into  the  waters  ;  he  alone  was  saved,  and  is  now  being  brought  up  in 
the  home.  This  institution  is  providential  in  its  necessities.  There  are  at 
present  hundi-eds  of  thousands  of  children  in  France  unprovided  with 
homes.  All  the  orphanages,  whether  Protestant  or  Roman'  Catholic,  are 
overflowing,  and  it  is  very  difiicult  to  get  a  child  into  one  of  them,  so  that 
a  new  institution  of  this  kind  was  absolutely  necessary.  It  is  providential 
in  its  utility.  Most  of  the  children  which  have  been  received  into  our 
little  home  would  have  been  brought  up  as  Roman  Catholics,  and  now  they 
can  vie  with  our  children  brought  up  in  Protestantism,  as  to  their  know- 
ledge of  the  Scriptures.  They  would  have  been  brought  up  in  Roman 
Catholicism,  or  what  is  worse  doomed,  as  you  have  just  heard  from  Dr 
Stephenson,  to  a  life  of  degradation.  The  girls  in  the  home  are  now 
trained  up  with  the  hope  that  they  will  make  good,  faithful  servants,  and 
some,  who  display  a  rare  intelligence,  may  become  teachers  of  youth 
The  boys  may,  we  trust,  in  infidel  and  corrupt  Paris  be,  at  a  future  day, 
the  strength  of  the  Church  as  Chiistian  men.  Men  are  now  the  want  of 
the  Church  in  France,  and  we  hope  to  have  in  them  pious  workmen,  pious 
tradesmen,  and,  perhaps,  if  it  be  tiie  will  of  God,  good  ministers.  I  had  it 
in  my  heart  to  mention  this  fact,  and  to  say  that  the  first  children's  home 
in  France,  established  by  Methodists,  was  originated  in  the  preacher's 
house,  but  that  is  now  full  to  overflowing,  and  a  new  house  has  had  to  be 
purchased  in  order  to  enlarge  the  work.  Forty  or  fifty  children  have  been 
declined  through  want  of  room,  and  to  our  great  grief  many  of  them  have 
been  sent  to  Roman  Catholic  establishments.  If  we  have  not  had  in  France 
ragged-schools  in  the  proper  sense  of  the  term,  we  have  had  schools  for  the 


GENERAL    REMARKS.  461 

poorest  of  society,  and  if  I  had  time  I  should  have  liked  to  have  shown  the 
importance  of  maintaining  these  schools  in  the  present  state  of  French 
legislation  with  regard  to  public  instruction,  religion  being  entirely  ex- 
cluded from  the  State  schools.  We  have  had  what  might  be  called  ragged- 
schools— schools  for  the  children  of  the  needy,  schools  for  the  offspring  of 
families  disposed  to  socialism,  schools  for  the  children  of  the  most  irre- 
ligious parents,  and  the  point  to  which  irreligion  and  infidelity  in  many  of 
these  families  of  the  lower  classes  is  now  can'ied  is  this  :  they  want  civil 
baptism,  civil  marriage,  civil  funerals,  that  is,  religion  entirelj'  banished 
from  society,  by  excluding  it  from  the  family  in  the  great  events  of  life, 
birth,  marriage,  and  death. 

Rev.  Dr.  Rigg  (Wesleyan  Methodist)  :  I  never  like  to  lose  a  fair  oppor- 
tunity of  identifj'ing  myself  with  my  friend,  Mr.  Stephenson,  in  regard  to 
the  movement  for  establishing  children's  refuges  and  homes.      I   think 
there  has   been   nothing  more  manifestly  providential  in  the  history  of 
Methodism  than  the  history  of  that  work,  and  there  has  been  nothing  which 
has  been  more  mar^'^ellously  helped.     I  quite  agree  with  what  my  friend 
has  said,  that  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Clmrch  in  the  United  States  has 
been  in  advance  of  us  in  respect — not,  perhaps,  of  just  such  an  institution 
as  that  which  he  established,  but  in  general  in  respect  of  children's  refuges 
and  of  homes  for  widows.     I  remember  with  the  greatest  pleasure  some 
hours  that  I  spent  at  Baltimore  in  an  institution  where  there  is  a  home  for 
the  widows  of  Christian  people.     It  is  one  of  the  duties  of  a  great  national 
Church,  as  Mr.  Steplienson,  indeed,  has  said,  to  provide  such  institutions  as 
these  for  orphan  children  and  for  destitute  widows  of  the  people  of  that 
Church,  so  that  there  may  be  no  resort  whatever  to  the  poor  law,  to  State 
refuges,  or  State  help,  in  regard  to  any  of  those  that  have   ever  come 
honestly  and  truly  and  for  their  lives  under  the  shelter  of  the  Christian 
Church.     Of  course,   we   have  a  duty  over  and  above, — a  duty  beyond. 
Just  in  proportion  as  Christian  Churches  do  their  duty  both  within  their 
borders  and  as  far  as  possible  beyond  their  borders  as  well,  the  problem  of 
dealing  with  pauperism  will  be  less  difficult  for  the  State,  and  the  moral 
tone  of  the  country  will  be  to  the  same  extent  improved.     I  could  wish 
that  such  were  the  power  and  authority  of  the  various  Churches  in  the 
land,  that  there  would  be  nothing  left  for  the  State  to  do,  but  at  present 
we  cannot  hope  to  see  that  day.     I  trust,  however,  that  we  may  do  our 
very   uttermost   as   Methodists   towards  bringing   it  near.     Perhaps   Mr. 
Stephenson  will  forgive  me  if  I  say  one  thing  more.     Methodist  Ciiurches 
not  so  large  as  our  own  cannot  be  expected  to  be  as  forward  as  we  are  in 
England  in  the  particular  respect  of  which  he  spoke.     I  feel  sure  my 
friend  will  feel  that  if  there  should  be   any   orphans  that  are  orphans 
indeed,  in  any  of  the  Methodist  churches  in  this  country,  and  such  orphans 
come  under  his  e^-e,  and  their  claims  come  before  his  committee,  he  will 
feel  that  it  is  his  duty  to  regard  them  as  children  of  brethren  in  a  veiy 
close  sense  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 

Rb;v.  C.  Kendall  (Primitive  Methodist)  :  I  am  obliged  to  Dr.  Rigg  for 
the  remark  which  he  has  made  with  respect  to  smaller  and  younger  com- 
nmnities  than  his  own.  I,  of  course,  represent  a  body  of  Christians  which 
has  been  characterised  as  poor.  Indeed,  in  our  early  years,  not  having 
nmch  money,  we  did  our  best  to  get  along  without  money  ;  but  we  ulti- 
Tuately  discovered  that  even  for  ourselves  money  was  an  indispensable 
thing.  I  rose  to  say  this  much,  that  we  have  just  now  got  into  our  heads 
and  hearts,  I  believe,  that  we  will  do  our  best  to  originate  an  orphanage 
^yithin  the  bounds  of  oui  connnunity.  We  have,  as  delegate  at  this  Con- 
ference, a  respectable  gentleman,  and  I  will  try  to  be  his  mouthpiece,  for 
he  has  even  more  modesty  than  myself,  and  has  never,  I  believe,  made  an 
effort  to  get  on  his  feet.     The  gentleman  to  whom  I  have  just  alluded  has 


462  HOME  MISSIONS. 

made  to  onr  community,  tlirough  our  weekly  paper,  a  very  generous  pro- 
posal, that  he  will  give  a  considerable  sum  of  money  for  the  purpose  of 
originating  an  orphanage  for  the  Primitive  Methodist  Connexion.  Of  course 
he  has  done  this  with  the  hope  that  his  proposal  will  meet  with  a  liberal 
response.  Now,  Mr.  President,  I  do  trust  that  we,  being  the  second  Metho- 
dist body,  numerically  considered,  in  this  country,  will  rise  and  build  in  this 
respect.  I  might  say  that,  some  few  years  ago,  I  felt  great  interest  in  this 
question  ;  and  I  took  it  upon  me  to  write  a  letter  to  our  newspaper,  advo- 
cating the  origination  of  an  orphanage  for  our  community.  I  trust  that 
the  proprietor  of  our  paper,  if  he  have  that  letter,  will,  in  the  interest  of 
our  connnunity,  republish  it,  for  I  am  without  a  copy  of  it  myself.  I  re- 
joice in  the  great  work  Mr.  Stephenson  is  doing.  I  trust  that  he  will  go 
forward,  and  that  his  example  will  prove  contagious  to  all  the  Methodist 
bodies  in  this  country,  and  that  by-and-by  it  will  be  demonstrated  that  we 
not  only  care  for  the  souls  of  the  people,  but  that  we  care  for  their  bodies 
as  well,  and  in  this  respect  follow  the  grand  example 'of  our  blessed  Lord 
and  Master. 

Bishop  Simpson  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church)  :  I  regard  this  subject  as 
one  of  immense  importance  to  Methodism.  I  agree  fully  with  Dr.  Todd, 
who  closed  by  saying  that  Methodism  was  just  entering  into  its  fourth  and 
grandest  development.  We  learned  in  America  something  from  our 
German  brethren,  who,  while  they  were  few  in  number  and  comparatively 
poor,  started  the  first  orphanages  in  American  ]\Iethodism.  They  were  fol- 
lowed by  an  orphanage  started  for  the  coloured  children  in  New  Orleans, 
largely  under  the  care  of  Dr.  Newman.  Since  that  time,  the  benevolent 
ladies  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia,  and  Baltimore,  who  had,  before  that 
time,  established  homes  for  the  aged,  have  been  moving  in  the  direction  of 
orphanages  ;  and  now  a  very  benevolent  gentleman  in  New  York  has  moved 
in  the  direction  of  a  hospital.  The  same  purpose  has  also  been  indicated  to 
me  by  a  gentleman  in  another  section  of  the  country,  showing,  I  think,  that 
the  Church  is  entering  on  this  grand  sphere.  If  you  will  allow  me  to  say 
it,  I  want  to  drop  a  word  about  the  last  subject  under  discussion — namely, 
how  to  reach  the  richer  classes.  I  believe  it  is  largely  through  this  bene- 
volent work,  and  wherever,  in  my  observation,  men  have  been  induced,  or 
have  been  inclined  by  the  Spirit  of  God  to  make  foundations  of  this  cha- 
i-acter  and  to  do  something  large  in  benevolent  work,  they  have  not  only 
been  more  warm  supporters  of  the  Church  themselves,  but  their  families 
have  taken  a  deeper  interest  in  the  Church.  I  am  not  sure  that  one  reason 
why  we  have  not  reached  more  of  the  rich  element  is,  because  we  have 
really  not  shown  to  the  world  the  need  we  have  for  them.  I  think  we  have 
been  a  little  chary  in  asking  their  aid  and  in  making  great  plans  which  they 
could  see,  and  which  would  enlist  them  and  their  sympathies  on  our  behalf. 
Now,  if  I  may  allude  to  the  matter  in  New  Orleans  to  which  I  referred,  a 
French  gentleman,  a  Roman  Catholic,  from  Paris,  was  the  chief  donor  of 
money  for  that  institution.  He  went  there  and  found  that  our  friends,  few 
and  poor,  had  started  it ;  and  he  left  money  in  the  bank,  which  was  to  be 
given  if  they  would  meet  it  by  a  cbrrespgnding  sum — 10,000  dollars  ;  and 
when  Dr.  Newirian  wrote,  asking  a  little  extension  of  tlie  time,  and  said  to 
him  that  this  was  a  Methodist  Church  organisation,  a  fact  of  which,  perhaps, 
he  was  not  aware,  the  gentleman  replied  that  he  was  very  glad  of  it 
Although  a  Catholic,  he  did  not  want  the  money  so  given  that  Catholic 
priests  could  control  it.  That  was  money  coming  from  an  unexpected 
quarter;  but  the  God  of  the  orphan  had  the  money, and  the  control  of  it,  and 
it  was  given.  I  believe  if  the  Church  shows  itself  ready  to  go  forward 
there  are  thousands  willing  to  help  ;  and  for  myself,  as  I  look  abroad  I  can 
see  that  in  this  will  come,  I  think,  one  of  the  richest  developments  of  our 
Methodism.     We  have  noble  men,  who  have  been  giving  to  colleges,  en 


GENERAL   REMARKS.  463 

dnwing  chairs,  and  this  is  the  only  large  outlet  we  have  for  their  sympithy  ; 
but  very  many  of  them  liave  but  little  interest  in  educational  institutions. 
It  is  difficult  to  convince  them  of  the  need  of  them.  There  is  some- 
thing wanted  that  can  touch  the  hearts  and  sympathy  of  all  under  all 
circumstances,  and  these  homes  for  the  a.^etl  and  orphans,  and  liospitals  for 
the  sick,  will  so  touch  the  heart.  Our  Cln-istian  women  are  doing  a  great 
work  in  this  matter,  and  our  Christian  men  may  unite  with  them  in  doing 
good. 

Mr.  Walter  Clark  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South)  :  No  subject 
has  been  before  us  during  this  Conference  which  has  more  touched  my 
heart.  If  there  is  any  work  which  is  peculiarly  the  work  of  Methodism, 
it  is  this  work,  and  it  has  been  its  work  from  the  beginning.  Our  great 
founder  set  the  example  in  this  direction.  He  had  his  different  orphanages, 
and  we  find  reported  in  his  journal  again  and  again  his  turning  aside  to 
visit  these  different  orphanages.  But  I  have  risen  simply  to  say  tliat  we 
are  doing  what  we  can  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South.  Owr 
annual  conferences,  a  number  of  tliem,  have  established  orplianages.  In 
Georgia  we  have  two  annual  conferences,  the  North  Georgia  and  the  South 
Georgia  annual  conferences,  and  in  connection  with  each  of  these  confer- 
ences there  is  an  orphan  Iionie.  I  listened  with  the  greatest  interest  this 
morning  to  the  address  of  tlie  Rev.  C.  Garrett,  who  told  us  about  his  work 
in  Liverpool,  and  especially  about  the  work  among  the  police  of  Liverpool. 
I  wish  to  state  a  circumstance  whicli  touclied  my  heart  more  than  anything 
I  have  seen  since  I  have  been  in  England.  It  was  during  the  session  of 
your  Conference  in  Liverpool.  As  I  was  passing  along  the  street  one  day 
I  saw  two  policemen  standing  in  the  middle  of  the  stre^^t.  They  appeared 
to  be  deeply  interested  about  something.  I  drew  nigh,  and  found  that  one 
of  them  was  holding  in  his  arm  a  little  child — a  beautiful  flaxen-haired 
chilli,  but  evidently  showing  that  it  belonged  to  the  lower  class  of  society. 
That  child  was  fast  asleep,  resting  as  quietly  as  if  it  had  been  in  its  cradle  or 
in  its  mother>5  arms.  I  watched  those  policemen  to  see  what  they  would 
do.  They  held  a  consultation  for  some  time,  and  then  the  child  was  trans- 
ferred to  the  arms  of  the  other,  who  took  it  and  bore  it  off;  the  little  one, 
not  knowing  of  the  transfer,  resting  quietly  and  peacefully  in  the  arms  of 
that  great,  strong  policeman.  It  touched  me,  sir.  It  showed  nie  that  those 
policemen  were  men  of  heart,  and  that  the  system  which  takes  care  of  the 
orphans  of  the  land  is  a  noble  system.  There  is  no  better  work  that  Me- 
thodism can  do  than  taking  care  of  its  poor,  especially  the  orphan  poor. 
Let  us,  then,  rally  to  this  work.  I  would  like  to  say  a  word  with  reference 
to  Mr.  Stephenson's  Home.  It  gave  me  great  pleasure  to  visit  that  Home. 
He  has  been  doing  there  a  great  and  noble  work,  and  I  think  has  turned 
out,  up  to  the  present  time,  some  1,200  or  1,400  children,  who  have  been 
saved  from  poverty  and  vice,  who  have  found  good  homes,  and  are  now 
useful  and  industrious  citizens. 

Rev.  David  Mukton  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South)  :  It  seems  to 
me  that  we  are  shut  up  to  this  dutj'^  in  America  by  the  consideration  that 
the  numerous  benevolent  societies  and  secret  societies  which  exist  in  that 
country  have  taken  the  matter  largely  in  hand,  and  in  very  many  localities 
are  actually  outstripping  the  Church  in  making  provision  for  the  orphans 
and  the  widows.  As  a  result  of  this  state  of  afl'airs,  a  comparison  disparaging 
to  this  state  of  things  is  instituted  in  the  minds  of  very  many  persons.  I 
hold  in  my  hand  at  this  time  the  tenth  report  of  a  Masonic  Widows  and 
Orphans'  Home  and  Infirmary  in  Louisville,  Kentucky.  Those  homes, 
grounds,  and  buildings  have  cost  considerably  in  excess  of  100,000  dollars, 
and  they  have  an  endowment  fund  of  125,000  dollars  more.  They  are 
caring  at  present  for  more  than  a  hundred  orphan  children,  beside,  perhaps, 
twenty  or  thirty  widows.     This  is  not  tlie  only  institution  of  the  kind  in 


464  HOME   MISSIONS. 

our  country  ;  it  is  the  only  one,  I  believe,  imrler  tlie  fostering  care  of  that 
especial  order  in  our  particular  part  of  the  country  ;  but  there  are  many  in 
the  hands  of  other  organisations  and  benevolent  societies.  Very  many  of 
our  church  members  are  members  of  these  organisations.  I  have  nought 
to  say  against  them  ;  I  am  proud  to  confess  my  connection  with  one  of 
these  orders.  I  am  glad  to  acknowledge  that  I  am  directly  associated  with 
the  management  of  this  great  Institution,  but  at  the  same  time  it  is  not  to 
be-questioned  at  all  that  iu  the  mind  of  very  many  persons  the  Methodist 
people  and  Christians  of  other  denominations  are  allowing  these  purely 
secular  organisations  to  outstrip  them  in  this  work,  and  as  a  consequence 
they  are  getting  the  advantage  of  us  in  very  many  respects.  I  am  glad  to 
find  that  the  Conference  looks  upon  this  subject  in  the  light  in  wliich  it  does, 
and  I  trust  it  will  result  in  the  inauguration  of  a  great  revival  that  shall 
sweep  over  the  entire  Methodist  Connexion,  and  bring  our  people  to  a  re- 
alisation of  the  fact  that  Christianity  is  tha  grandest  system  of  philanthropy 
that  the  world  has  ever  known. 

Eev.  C.  H.  Kelly  (VVesleyan  IVIethodist)  :  It  is  well  to  remember  that 
many  Methodists  are  doing  very  splendid  work  in  connection  with  refor- 
matorj'  and  industrial  schools.  I  should  like  to  ask  the  attention  of  British 
Methodists  especially  to  this  point.  The  boys  who  are  taken  before 
magistrates  charged  with  various  oll'ences  are  sent  to  prison  for,  say,  three 
weeks,  and  then  to  reformatories  for  five  years.  Now  there  is  no  reforma- 
tory directly  under  Goveri-nnent  control  ;  they  are  under  Government 
inspection  ;  but  they  are  conducted  by  philanthropic  and  Christian  people. 
Some  of  tiiem  are  e3tal>lished  by  private  individuals,  and  by  the  labours 
of  the  boys  in  many  instances  they  are  largely  supported.  In  several  cases 
Wesleyans  are  at  the  head  of  these  institutions,  so  that  every  week 
hundreds  of  these  lads  are  marched  to  our  chapels,  and  our  ministers  have 
access  to  the  institutions,  and  so  good  work  has  been  done.  It  is  well 
that  our  friends  should  know  that  this  is  a  field  still  open  for  enterprise, 
that  the  whole  cost  does  not  come  from  private  benevolence,  but  is  partly 
borne  by  the  State,  and  that  an  immense  amount  of  good  may  be  done 
among  a  class  of  children  very  much  neglected.  I  am  quite  sure  it  would 
be  wrong  for  us,  in  dealing  with  this  subject,  to  overlook  this  fact,  and 
that  mention  ought  to  be  made  of  the  exceeding  great  and  blessed  work 
that  is  being  done  quietly  by  men  and  women  whose  names  are  not  known, 
members  of  our  own  and  other  churches  in  this  department  of  Christian 
toil. 

The  President  :  I  should  like  to  be  permitted  to  say  one  word,  not  in 
the  way  of  a  speech,  but  simply  a  testimony,  a  word  of  personal  regard  to 
what  has  taken  place  in  our  own  history,  the  institution  of  Mr.  Stephenson, 
and  other  movements  of  that  kind.  I  look  upon  them  as  God's  blessing  to 
us  to  supply  for  us  and  through  us  a  lack  that  we  have  permitted  to  arise, 
and  I  believe  great  blessing  will  come  out  of  it.  But  I  particularly  wish 
to  say  this,  that  last  j-ear  when  I  had  the  honour  of  visiting  the  United 
States  as  deputed  by  my  own  Conference,  some  of  the  happiest  hours  I 
spent  there  were  spent  in  visiting  the  homes  for  the  aged.  At  Cincinnati 
I  was  taken  by  my  excellent  hostess,  I\lrs.  Sargeant,  from  her  charming 
home  to  the  home  for  old  people  ;  and  at  New  York  I  was  taken  by  my 
own  daughter  to  a  delightful  day  among  the  old  people  in  the  park  ;  and 
above  all,  at  Philadelphia,  I  was  present  when  the  old  Methodist  body, 
soul,  and  spirit  of  the  great  city  met  together  in  a  great  fielil  outside  the 
city,  and  a  happier  set  of  people  and  a  happier  day  I  never  saw,  all 
rejoicing  over,  and  all  finding  means  to  support  this  home  for  the  aged. 
I  almost  hoped  that  our  friend  Dr.  Todd  was  going  to  give  us  some 
account  of  one  such  day  spent  in  the  City  of  Philadelphia,  the  city  of 
brotherly  love.     I  believe,  as  we  go  on,  such  institutions  will  more  and 


GENERAL   REMARKS,  465 

more  arise  among  us,  and  a  very  great  blessing  from  heaven  will  attend 
those  labours. 

This  concluded  the  discussion  on  the  subject,  and  the  Conference 
then  proceeded  to  pass  the  following  resolution  concerning  the  State 
regulation  of  vice  : — 

*'  That  this  CEcumenical  Conference,  while  ready  to  support  all  legitimate 
and  effectual  means  of  alleviating  human  suffering,  and  all  Christian 
regulations  for  the  preservation  of  public  order  and  decency,  hereby  records 
its  solemn  and  emphatic  protest  against  anj'  system  for  the  State  regula- 
tion of  vice,  as  being  absolutely  incmisistent  with  the  moral  teaching  of  our 
Lord,  and  as  being  utterly  demoralising  in  its  results.  The  Conference 
further  expresses  its  deep  conviction  that  no  method  of  dealing  with  the 
social  evil  can  be  of  any  real  service,  unless  it  is  based  upon  the  pi-inciple 
that  the  same  moral  standard  is  imposed  by  Almighty  God  upon  both  sexes." 

The  resolution  was  passed  unanimously  without  discussion. 

Eev.  Dr.  Walden,  on  behalf  of  the  Publication  Committee, 
stated  that  the  sub-committee  on  publication,  having  considered  the 
question  of  publishing  the  Journal  at  a  lower  price  than  that  already 
named,  reported  that,  if  the  Conference  would  furnish  the  sum  of 
£200  towards  the  expense  of  producing  the  first  edition,  the  volume 
would  be  furnished  by  the  publishing  houses  at  a  retail  price  of  5s., 
members  of  the  Conference  to  receive  one  copy  each  at  4s. 

The  question  was  referred  to  the  Business  Committee,  and  the 
Session  closed  with  the  Benediction. 


H  H 


TENTH  DAY,  Saturday,  September  17th. 


Prm<fe»f— Rev.  Bishop  Daniel  A.  Payne,  D.D.,4/V-ica»  Methodist  Episcoj^al 

Cliurch  of  America. 


Subject  : 
"FOKEIGN     MISSIONS." 


rjlHE  CONFERENCE  resumed  this  morning  at  Ten  o'clock.  The 
-*-  Rev.  Jas.  Hocart,  of  Paris,  conducted  the  Devotional 
Services. 

Rev.  Dr.  Walden  brought  forward  a  resolution  with  regard  to 
the  responses  to  those  bodies  that  had  sent  written  letters  to  the 
Conference. 

In  reply  to  inquiry,  the  Rev.  J.  Bond  stated  that  the  Business 
Committee  had  not  yet  been  able  to  deal  with  the  resolution  on  the 
Temperance  question. 

It  was  reported  from  the  Business  Committee  that  they  did  not 
recommend  the  adoption  of  the  last  suggestion  of  the  Publication 
Committee,  but  adhered  to  the  action  already  taken  by  the  Con- 
ference. Also  that  the  following  resolution  as  to  Woman's  Work 
had  been  adopted  : — 

"  Resolved,  that  this  Conference  recognises  the  usef  uhiess  of  those  Christian 
women  who  are  engaged  in  providing  orphanages,  homes  for  tlie  aged  and 
worthy  poor,  and  in  other  forms  of  philanthropic  work  ;  and  the  Conference 
liereby  expresses  its  interest  in  such  work,  and  its  sympathy  witli  those 
engaged  in  its  promotion." 

The  report  was  agreed  to. 

The  resolution  on  the  Opium  Traffic  was  then  considered  : — 

"  That  the  growth  and  manufacture  of  opium  in  India  and  its  export  to 
China  under  the  direct  sanction  of  the  Imperial  Government,  and  as  vhtually 
a  Government  monopoly,  is  a  serious  obstacle  to  the  spread  of  Christianity  in 
China,  and  injurious  to  the  credit  and  influence  of  England  throughout  the 
Eastern  world." 


BUSINESS   PROCEEDINGS.  467 

Kev.  J.  Bond  moved  the  adoption  of  the  resolution. 

Rev.  E.  E.  Jenkins  (Wesleyau  Methodist)  seconded  the  motion. 

Rev.  S.  L.  Baldwin,  D.D.  (IMelhodist  Episcopal  Church) :  I  wish  to  say  that 
if  I  were  asked,  after  twenty-three  years'  experience  in  our  mission-field  in 
China,  "  What  is  the  greatest  obstacle  to  the  progress  of  Christianity  there?" 
I  think  I  should  be  obliged  to  reply,  '•  The  opium  trade."  I  do  not  consider 
that  idolatry  itself  is  so  much  in  the  way  of  our  progress  just  now  as  this 
thing,  for  I  maj'-  go  into  any  Chinese  audience  and  say  the  hardest  things  I 
choose  against  idolatry,  and  almost  always  there  will  be  men  in  the  audience 
who  will  stand  by  my  side,  and  who  will  say  to  their  countiymeu,  "  Surely, 
it  is  a  foolish  thing  for  us  to  worship  idols."  But  when  I  am  speaking  of  the 
morality  of  the  Christian  religion,  it  is  very  often  the  case  that  some  man 
will  rise  in  the  audience  and  say,  "  Teacher,  what  you  say  is  very  true.  We 
believe  in  the  doctrine  that  you  are  preaching,  and  Confucius  taught  us  that 
doctrine  many  hundred  years  ago  ;  but  you  are  not  the  people  who  practise 
it.  Where  does  all  this  opium  come  from  ?  Have  you  never  pushed  open 
the  doors  of  these  opium  dens  all  around  j^our  church,  and  looked  in  and 
seen  the  haggard  faces  and  the  wasted  forms  of  the  victims  of  that  traffic  ? 
Where  does  this  opium  come  from?  Was  it  not  brought  here  by  a 
Ctiristian  nation  ?  Was  not  the  traffic  forced  on  us  against  our  will  ? 
and  did  not  our  Emperor  sign  the  ir^'aty  which  legalised  it,  protesting 
before  heaven  that  it  was  against  his  will,  and  that  he  did  it  only  under 
compulsion  ?  And  then  you  come  to  us  and  preach  to  us  that  we  ought 
not  in  any  way  to  injure  our  fellow-men.  Your  doctrine  is  good,  but 
your  practice  is  not  consistent  with  it."  And  this  is  not  a  mere  captious 
objection  ;  it  is  deep-seated  in  the  heart  of  the  Chinese  people ;  they  feel  that 
a  great  wrong  is  being  done  to  them  in  this  matter,  and  it  is  one  of  the  most 
important  things  for  the  Christian  world  to  consider  at  this  day  how  to 
remove  this  great  obstacle  out  of  the  way  of  the  progress  of  missions  in 
China.  Now,  in  our  country,  we  have  come  to  this  point  in  regard  to  the 
matter,  that  the  United  States  Government  has  recently  ratified  a  treaty  with 
Cliina,  which  provides  that  no  American  citizen  shall  engage  in  any  way  in 
the  traffic  of  opium  ;  he  shall  not  buy  or  sell  it,  and  it  shall  not  be  carried 
between  the  ports  of  China  in  any  American  steamer.  We  believe  this  is  a 
step  in  the  right  direction,  and  we  hope  the  time  will  soon  come  when  every 
Christian  nation  will  give  the  same  amount  of  moral  support  to  the  Chinese 
Government  in  its  effort  to  put  down  the  traffic.  Sometimes  doubt  is 
expressed  as  to  whether  the  Chinese  Goverimient  will  faithfully  carry  out  the 
restrictions,  and  whether  the  result  Avill  not  be  that  they  will  grow  more 
opium  in  China.  But,  I  believe  with  our  best-informed  public  men,  including 
Sir  Thomas  Wade,  the  British  Minister,  and  our  own  Minister,  that  the 
Chinese  Government  would  rigidly  prohibit  the  growth  of  opium  within  the 
limits  of  the  Chinese  Empire,  and  then  we  should  soon  come  to  the  abolition 
of  this  traffic.  I  hope  a  strong,  earnest  voice  will  go  forth  from  this  Con- 
ference on  this  subject,  and  that  all  Christian  bodies  will  unite  in  a  consistent 
and  determined  effort  to  bring  the  traffic  to  an  end. 

Rev.  E.  E.  Jenkins,  M.A.  (Wesleyan  ]\Icthodist)  :  We  are  not  here  as 
an  (Ecumenical  Conference  to  arraign  any  Government.  I  should  feel  at 
liberty  to  speak  in  strong  terms  concerning  the  action  of  our  own  Govein- 
ment  if  this  was  only  and  purely  an  English  meeting  ;  but  I  rejoice  in  this 

uu  2 


468  BUSINESS   PROCEEDINGS. 

opportunity  of  Americans  and  Englishmen  uniting  together  as  Christian 
men,  patriots  of  their  respective  countries,  and  philanthropists  as  well  as 
Christians,  in  agreeing,  first,  that  the  opium  traffic  in  China  is  a  serious 
obstacle  to  the  spread  of  Christianity  among  that  people.  There  can  be  no 
doubt  in  the  mind  of  any  thoughtful  person  that  this  is  so  ;  and  some  of  ua 
who  have  visited  China,  and  have  seen  and  estimated  the  difilculties,  feel 
more  strongly  on  tliis  subject  than  we  can  well  express.  On  this  ground,  sir, 
I  am  glad  to  have  been  preceded  by  an  American  missionary  of  many  years' 
standing,  who  has  briefly  and  succinctly,  but  very  graphically,  described  to 
us  the  evil  of  opium  indulgence,  and  the  iniquity  of  the  opium  traflic  in 
China.  I  am  afraid  the  fault  is  om*  own  very  largely.  When  I  say  "our 
own,"  I  speak  of  Englishmen.  I  cannot  forget  the  history  of  the  opium 
question.  However  I  may  attempt  to  be  neutral  on  the  subject,  I  cannot 
speak  of  it  without  my  mind  being  touched  with  indignation  and  pain  when 
I  review,  as  I  can  now  distinctly,  step  by  step,  the  progress  of  this  most 
iniquitous  traflic.  I  shall  be  excused  if  I  blurt  out  a  strong  expression.  As 
for  the  resolution  itself,  it  has  been  worded  with  great  care  ;  and  I  think  Dr. 
Peck's  objection,  taken  the  other  day  with  regard  to  another  point,  has  been 
anticipated,  and,  I  hope,  met  in  this  resolution.  One  thing  let  me  say,  that 
in  the  House  of  Commons,  where  an  annual  debate — thanks  to  some  noble  men 
among  us— brings  this  subject  before  the  Christian  world — in  that  Parliament 
there  is  scarcely  a  man  who  will  venture  to  aflii'm  that  this  is  a  moral  trafBc, 
who  will  venture  to  affinn  that  England  has  no  spot  upon  her  hand  and  no 
stain  ;  who  will  venture  to  aflirm  that,  if  it  were  possible,  it  would  be 
inexpedient  to  abolish  it.  The  strong  argument  with  which  we  are 
encduntered  by  the  Secretary  of  State  for  India  is  this:  How  shall  we  get 
the  nine  millions  or  eight  millions  of  revenue,  especially  when  India  is 
supposed  to  be  on  the  verge  of  bankruptcy  ?  Well,  sir,  I  do  hope  that  the 
time  is  not  distant  when  the  Government  of  India  will  at  least  take  its  first 
step  towards  discouraging  the  traffic  in  opium  from  India  to  China,  will  not, 
in  a  certain  sense,  farm  the  opium  land,  and  make  advances  to  opium 
growers.  I  think  the  revenue  is  a  very  precarious  one.  The  acreage  of 
the  opium  poppy  is  increasing  fast  in  China,  and,  as  Christian  men,  I 
believe  it  is  our  duty  to  protest  against  a  Christian  Government  monopolising 
an  iniquitous  traflic. 

Rev.  J.  W.  Lewis,  D.D.  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South):  Mr.  Presi- 
dent, I  approve  of  the  object  of  the  resolution,  and  I  approve  most  fully  and 
most  heartily  of  the  condemnation  of  that  traffic  ;  but  I  do  protest  against  this 
Conference  delivering  itself  in  anywise  against  the  English  Government  and 
its  administration.  I  am  in  favour  of  a  resolution  that  will  express  in  general 
terms  our  opinion  as  to  the  result  of  the  opium  culture  and  the  opium  traffic, 
and  I  heartily  agree  with  the  brother  who  has  just  preceded  me  and  the  one 
who  preceded  him  in  the  belief  that  it  is  wrong,  and  that  the  moral  sentiment 
of  Christendom  ought  to  declare  against  it ;  but  I  am  opposed  to  specifying 
any  Government;  and  as  a  foreigner  upon  British  soil,  I  have  not  any 
criticism  to  pass  upon  the  administration  of  the  British  Government.  Now, 
if  that  part  of  it  be  struck  out  and  there  should  be  a  general  expression  on 
this  subject,  just  as  the  United  States  Government  has  done,  condemning  it, 
Dot  as  agreed  on  specifically  by  any  one  nation,  but  upon  general  principles, 
I  should  be  glad  to  vote  for  it. 

Rev.  J.  Wenn  (Primitive  Methodist):    I  should  like,  if  it  be  in  order, 


I 


BUSINESS   PROCEEDINGS.  469 

to  move  an  addition  to  the  resolution.  I  thoroughly  go  with  the  resolution 
so  far  as  it  does  go;  but  I  do  not  think  it  goes  far  enough.  So  far  from 
sharing  the  view  of  my  brother  who  has  just  sat  down,  I  think  we  ought 
to  be  prepared  to  sustain  our  positions  respecting  any  traffic,  whether  in 
England  or  America,  if  it  be  an  immoral  one,  and  to  call  upon  those  who 
are  responsible  for  promoting  such  traffic  to  put  it  down.  It  may  be  bold- 
ness on  my  part,  but  I  confess  I  should  not  be  quite  so  squeamish  re- 
specting the  American  Government  if  that  Government  were  upholding 
a  traffic  of  this  sort.  The  addendum  I  should  like  to  move  is  tliis  :  "  And 
we  most  respectfully  but  earnestly  call  upon  the  Government  to  deliver  this 
country  from  all  further  responsibility  arising  from  such  an  iniquitous 
traffic" 

Rev.  W.  Arthur  (Wesleyan  Methodist)  :  It  seems  to  me  that  that 
addendum  would  be  strictly  for  an  EngUsh  Government — we  call  upon  the 
Government,  that  would  mean  the  Government  of  England  We  are 
(Ecumenical ;  but  as  to  the  original  resolution,  it  does  not  seem  to  me  that  it 
departs  from  the  lines  by  which  an  Ecumenical  Council  ought  to  be  guided. 
Its  reference  to  our  Government  is  purely  and  strictly  historical.  This  traffic, 
it  sa3's,  is  carried  on  under  the  direct  sanction  of  the  Indian  Government. 
That  is  the  very  smallest  part  of  the  truth  that  could  he  said.  It  does  not 
say  that  this  traffic  was  inaugurated,  initiated,  stimulated,  defended  at  tre- 
mendous cost.  Now,  my  view  of  the  part  of  an  (Ecumenical  Conference  is 
certainly  that  it  should  guard  itself  veiy  carefully  against  any  intermeddling 
with  the  affairs  of  any  one  nation;  but  that  it  should  feel  itself  perfectly  free 
to  raise  a  protest  in  the  e3-es  of  all  the  world  against  any  wrong-doing,  be 
that  wrong-doing  performed  by  a  Power  however  dignified,  or  defended  by 
forces  however  considerable.  Now,  this  traffic  the  public  mind,  not  only  of 
Christendom,  but  of  all  heathendom,  recognises  and  fastens  upon  as  a  blot 
upon  any  Christian  Government  upon  the  Christian  morals  of  the  world. 
I  feel  it  wherever  I  mingle  with  foieigncrs.  Any  one  who  was  at  the  Con- 
ference of  the  Evangelical  Alliance  at  Basle  a  few  years  ago,  must  have  felt 
there  how  deep,  how  intense,  was  the  sentiment  of  all  Christians  that  we 
could  gather  there  upon  this  question.  And,  sir,  I  feel  that,  as  patriots,  our 
duty  is  not  to  boast  of  our  respective  countiies ;  for,  of  all  things,  there  are 
few  for  which  I  have  a  more  perfect  contempt  than  for  the  thing  calling 
itself  patriotism,  which  consists  in  a  man  praising  his  own  country  people  to 
the  flice  of  his  own  country  people,  and  abusing  other  people  beliind  their 
backs.  That  I  take  to  be  to  make  enemies  for  your  country,  and  not  to 
make  friends  for  it.  The  highest  kind  of  patriotism  is  first  to  serve  your 
country  so  as  to  elevate  its  rigliteousness.  by  doing  which  you  will  exalt  the 
nation,  and  then  to  serve  your  country'  by  so  treating  the  people  of  all  other 
countries  as  to  make  friends  for  it,  and  not  enemies.  I  hope,  sir,  that  we 
shall  pass  this  resolution  which  the  committee  has  brought  in.  One  thing  I 
feel  very  strongly,  which  was  .said  by  Mr.  Jenkins.  He  said  truly  that  in  the 
House  of  Commons  men  do  not  defend  it  on  the  ground  that  it  is  not  wrong. 
They  acknowledge  that  it  is  wrong,  morally  ;  but  that  it  is  necessary  in  order 
to  get  money.  I  feel  that  that  jilea  made  and  admitted  in  the  high  halls  of 
the  legislature  of  my  country  lowers  the  moral  standard  of  every  conscience 
in. the  countr}', 

Bisnop  Peck  :  As  I  first  raised  an  objection  to  the  original  resolution.  I 
feel  it  incumbent  on  me  to  say  that  the  present  fonn  of  the  action  projiosed, 
reported  by  the  Business  Committee,  seems  to  me  to  obviate  that  objection, 


470  BUSINESS  PROCEEDINGS. 

and  as  it  is  approved  by  our  dislinguished  brethren  of  England,  my  difficulty 
is  removed  by  the  phraseology  of  the  resolution  as  it  now  stands.  I  beg 
merely  to  inquire  whether  the  preface  to  the  resolution  mentioned  by  Dr. 
Baldwin  is  still  a  part  of  it— stating  that  the  traffic  in  opium  is  a  formidable 
difficulty  in  the  way  of  missionary  enterprise.  I  think  we  ought  to  precede 
the  wording  as  reported,  otherwise  I  feel  satisfied  with  it.  and  can  vote  for  it  as 
it  stands  ;  but  the  addition  of  the  statement  that  it  is  a  formidable  obstruction 
to  the  progress  of  missionary  work  is  the  pivot  on  which  our  meddUng  with 
tlie  affair  turns.  I  wisli  that  that  might  be  put  in. 
Eev.  E.  E.  Jenkins  :  I  think  it  is  included. 

Rev.  H.  Gilmore  (Primitive  Methodist):  I  have  an  addendum  to  propose  to 
this  resolution.     I  think  we  are  all  agreed  in  regard  to  the  immorality  of  this 
traffic,  and  that  that  whicli  is  morally  wrong  cannot  be  politically  right.     All 
that  we  do,  however,  in   the  resolution  before  the  meeting,  is  simply  to 
express  an  oiDinion  concerning  the  moral  character  of  the  traffic.    Now,  I 
think  it  wcAild  not  be  amiss  for  this  Conference  to  express  to  the  Methodist 
peojjle  generally  a  wish  that  they  should  exercise  their  influence  personally 
and  politically  to  induce  their  several  Governments  to  have  nothing  to  do 
with  this  traffic  ;  and  I  will  propose  an  addendum  to  the  resolution  to  that 
effect :  "  That  we  urge  upon  all  the  Methodist  peoples  to  use  their  personal 
and  political  influence  in  order  to  induce  their  Governments  to  abandon  all 
connection  with  the  opium  traffic." 
Rev.  J.  Travis  (Primitive  Methodist) :  I  will  second  that. 
Rev.  Dr.  Soxjtherland   (Methodist  Church  of  Canada)  :  I  just  wish 
to  say  that  when  the  original  resolution  was  read,  it  struck  me  as  stopping 
too  soon,  though  I  cannot  say  that  either  of  the  additions  proposed  exactly 
meets  my  own  views  of  the  case.     1  do  not  ihii-ik  that  the  original  resolution 
speaks  too  strongly  by  any  means.     It  is  doubtful  if  it  could  speak  too 
strongly  on  a  question  of  this  description.    But  when  we  stop  with  merely 
expressing  our  own  judgment  or  conviction  that  this  traffic  is  wrong,  I  think 
we  stop  a  little  too  soon.     Instead  of  the  proposed  additions,  the  thought  in 
my  mind  was  like  this,  that  we  should  call  upon  all  the  Churches  of 
Christendom  to  use  their  best  endeavours  to  create  such  a  state  of  public 
sentiment  as  will  render  the  continuance  of  this  traffic  an  impossibility ;  and 
I  am  the  more  disposed  to  that  course,  because  I  think  the  time  has  fully 
come  when  the  utterances  of  Methodism  in  her  councils,  be  they  OEcumenical 
or  otherwise,  ought  to  be  heai'd,  and  will  be  heard,  by  universal  Christendom. 
I  can  understand  the  view  the  mere  politician  takes  ;  and  I  suppose,  in  his 
mind,  this  question,  "  Hoav  shall  we  meet  the  tremendous  deficit  in  revenue 
which  would  be  caused  by  the  abolition?"  may  seem  imanswerable ;  but  I 
think  we  have  a  more  serious  question  to  face  and  answer^  "  How  shall  we 
meet  the  judgment  of  Almighty  God,  which  sooner  or  later  must  come  upon 
a  nation  that  legalises  a  traffic  of  this  nature  ?  "    And  if  we  can  rouse  the 
Churches  to  more  energetic  effort  in  creating  a  right  state  of  public  sentiment, 
[  have  good  hope  that  it  will  be  with  this  traffic,  as  it  has  been  with  certain 
Dther  evils  that  formerly  existed  among  the  nations,  that  public  sentiment 
will  very  soon  demand  its  entire  abolition. 

Rev.  Dr.  Gardiner  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church  of  Canada) :  I  do 
QOt  think  it  is  the  province  of  this  Conference  to  counsel  the  people  of 
Methodism  in  their  political  line.  I  believe  it  is  the  business  of  the  several 
Churches.  I  think,  therefore,  that  the  original  motion  is  very  much  to  be 
preferred  to  the  proposed  amendment    I  hope  the  amendment  will  not  obtain. 


BUSINESS   PROCEEDINGS.  471 

Rev.  J.  Slater  (Primitive  IVrethodist)  :  I  am  in  favour  both  of  the  resolu- 
tion and  the  addition  by  Mr.  Gilmore,  and  I  prefer  that  the  addition  should 
be  made,  on  the  ground  that  it  seems  to  me  that  the  original  resolution  is  like 
a  sermon  without  an  application.  I  should  like  to  state  what  has  not  been 
stated  iu  this  Conference  in  relation  to  this  matter,  that  there  is  a  very  strong 
agitation  growing  up  in  the  country  against  this  traffic.  The  head-quarters  of 
the  organisation  are  in  this  city,  but  auxillari«s  to  the  society  are  being  formed 
all  over  the  country,  and  a  very  important  guarantee  finid  is  being  raised. 
Some  gentlemen  have  already  put  their  names  down  for  thousands  of  pounds 
in  aid  of  the  agitation  for  the  suppression  of  this  unjust  traffic.  I  think  if 
we  were  to  adopt  in  tliis  Conference  the  course  recommended  by  some 
gentlemen,  we  should  not  be  acting  consistently  with  our  conduct  at 
previous  sessions.  We  have  not  been  afi'aid  to  denounce  the  drink  traflfic, 
and  I  do  not  see  why  we  should  be  afraid  to  denounce  this  traffic  in  a  re- 
solution. I  have  yet  to  learn  that  we  ought  to  be  afraid  of  any  Government 
because  it  is  deriving  revenues  from  that  which  is  immoral,  and  this  traffic 
has  not  only  been  forced  upon  the  Chinese  against  their  will,  but  is — I  am 
corrpcth^  informed.  I  believe— continued  to  be  forced  upon  them  against  the 
will  of  the  Chinese  Government,  and  the  Chinese  people;  and  it  is  one  of  the 
worst  and  most  ruinous  traffics  in  any  part  of  the  world. 

Mr.  J.  Edge  (Weslej'an  IMethodist) :  I  differ  from  the  last  speaker.  He 
has  stated  that  the  resolution  is  like  a  sermon  without  an  application.  I 
tliink  differently.  It  is  a  sermon  that  is  all  application,  as  every  sennon 
ought  to  be. 

Rev.  J.  Travis  (Primitive  Methodist) :  I  just  wish  to  say  one  word  in 
reply  to  Dr.  Gardiner.  He  says  we  are  not  here  to  advise  Methodist  people  in 
regard  to  their  political  action.  We  are  not  here  to  advise  them  in  regard  to 
party  pohtics;  but  the  principles  of  morality  should  be  carried  into  politics, 
and  if  we  have  a  degraded  Methodist  politician,  what  on  earth  becomes  of  the 
Methodist  Christian  ?  I  think  we  ought  to  exert  all  the  influence  we  can, 
personally  and  politically,  to  put  down  such  a  traffic.  No  naiion  can  live 
that  gets  its  revenue  out  of  the  vices  and  immoralities  of  the  people. 

Rev.  E.  E.  .Jenkins  (Wesleyan  Methodist)  :  I  would  just  like  to  state  that 
political  action  will  be  s\u"e  to  take  place  without  any  express  instruction 
from  us  when  this  resolution  goes  out. 

Eleven  o'clock  having  arrived,  an  animated  discussion  followed  as 
to  whether  the  debate  should  be  adjourned  to  Monday,  or  whether 
the  order  should  be  suspended  to  allow  a  continuance  of  the  debate 
Ultimately  the  original  resolution  was  agreed  to,  with  the  addition 
proposed  by  the  Rev.  J.  Wenn. 

Rev.  Dr.  Walden  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church)  :  I  rise  simply  to  ask 
what  Imperial  Government  is  meant?  There  is  more  than  one  Imperial 
Government,  and  there  is  nothing  iu  the  resolution  to  show  which  is  intended. 

Rev,  J.  Bond  (Secretary) :  I  daie  say  the  Conference  will  allow  the  word 
••  British  "  to  be  put  m. 

The  names  of  the  enlarged  committee  for  preparing  a  pastoral 
address  were  then  read  by  the  secretary,  and  the  report  of  the 
Business  Committee  was  agreed  to. 


472  FOREIGN   MISSIONS. 

The  Conference  then  proceeded  to  the  consideration  of  the  topic 
for  the  day,  "  Foreign  Missions." 

Rev.  J.  M.  Reid,  D.D.  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church),  read  the 
following  paper  on  The  Results  of  Methodist  Missions  in  Heathen 
Lands. 

Even  a  glance  at  the  efforts  of  Methodists  for  the  evangelisation  of 
the  heathen  will  sufl&ce  to  indicate,  at  once,  how  much  and  how  httle 
they  have  accomplished  in  this  direction.  It  may  appear  little  as  com- 
pared with  the  achievements  of  some  other  branches  of  the  Church  of 
Christ,  but  it  has  been  much,  considering  the  lateness  of  our  denomi- 
national origin  and  our  peculiar  circumstances. 

Methodism  was  born  of  God  less  than  a  century  and  a  half  agp,  and 
evidently  for  a  special  purpose,  namely,  that  of  vitalising  institutions 
■well-nigh  dead,  arousing  dormant  spiritual  energies,  making  manifest 
latent  Bible  truths,  irradiating  the  old  Gospel  with  a  forgotten  beauty, 
and  carrying  all  this  new-born  glory  to  the  lowliest  home  and  the 
humblest  heart.  For  many  years  it  scarcely  had  an  autonomy,  but  was 
rather  a  force  Divinely  excited  and  active  within  the  bosom  of  existing 
Churches.  Even  by  the  time  it  had  acquired  a  name  and  form  there 
were  not  half  a  dozen  Protestant  missionary  societies  in  existence 
that  were  engaged  in  work  among  the  heathen.  Its  own  contribution 
to  this  work  could  only  be  quickening  the  religious  life  of  the  Churches, 
which  always  develoj)s  missionary  zeal  and  activities,  or  in  the  co- 
operation of  individual  Methodists  with  some  of  the  few  missionary 
organisations  that  had  struggled  into  a  sickly  being  through  the  sterile 
spiritual  soil  of  the  age. 

Isolated  instances  there  were,  indeed,  among  Methodists,  of  which 
Dr.  Coke  was  the  most  illustrious  example,  of  unparalleled  devotion  to 
the  interests  of  the  heathen,  and  these  antedated  by  several  years  the 
origin  of  the  Wesleyan  Missionary  Society  in  1817,  and  entitle  British 
Methodists  to  date,  as  they  do,  the  actual  beginning  of  their  mission- 
work  at  1813,  or  even  as  early  as  1769.  John  Wesley,  who  himself  went, 
while  yet  unconverted,  as  a  missionary  to  the  Indians  in  the  wilds  of 
Georgia,  could  not  in  his  converted  state  give  birth  to  a  people  who  had 
no  heart  to  feel  for  the  heathen.  Methodists  were  not  such,  but  in  the 
very  nature  of  things  they  could  not  carry  life  to  those  afar  off  till  they 
had  themselves  struggled  into  life. 

The  blessed  Master  Himself  never  went  beyond  His  own  land  to 
preach  His  kingdom,  for  there  He  must  first  lay  its  deep  and  broad 
foundations,  and  even  His  commission  to  His  disciples,  which  was  as 
wide  as  the  world,  contained  the  added  obligation  to  begin  at  Jerusalem. 
There  was  Cliristly  wisdom  in  the  policy  of  our  fathers,  for  which 
they  had  both  the  example  and  the  precept  of  the  Great  Master  Him- 
self.    The  spirit  of  the  fathers  is  shown  by  the  watchwords  that  from 


REV.   J.    M.    REID*S   ADDRESS.  473 

the  beginning  have  been  ringing  with  exceeding  emphasis  along  our 
•whole  denominational  line.  They  are  such  as  these  :  "  The  field  is  the 
world,"  "  The  world  is  my  parish,"  "  Go  j^e  into  all  the  world,"  "  He 
tasted  death  for  every  man,"  and  such  hke.  The  fathers  seemed  eager 
to  change  these  words  into  Christian  realities.  They  have  done  it, 
until  John  Wesley,  from  out  of  the  excellent  glory,  can  now  say,  "My 
parish  is  the  world." 

When  Methodism  leaped  across  the  ocean  it  became  apparent  that  it 
was  peculiarly  adapted  to  meet  the  exigencies  of  a  new  world.  It 
could  go  uncalled,  unsalaried,  and  ungowned,  into  any  field.  It  needed 
no  cathedral  for  its  services,  nor  ritual  for  its  prayers,  nor  manuscript 
for  its  sermons.  It  was  salvation,  unfettered  by  conventionalities  or 
antiquated  restraints,  let  loose  among  the  common  people.  It  was  the 
Gospel  on  horseback,  outstripping  the  pioneer's  waggon,  to  be  on  the 
spot  to  welcome  him,  homesick  and  weary,  to  his  wilderness  home,  and 
cheer  him  with  songs  of  joy  and  hopes  of  heaven.  It  could  found  a 
Church  without  a  bishop  in  a  State  without  a  king,  that  should  after- 
wards achieve  some  of  its  greatest  victories  under  Eioiscopal  super- 
vision and  beneath  Imperial  sway.  Like  a  willow  whip,  it  could  live 
and  grow  with  either  end  stuck  in  almost  any  soil.  To  these  qiialities 
of  the  Methodist  itinerancy  the  United  States  is  chiefly  indebted  for  the 
cementing  of  its  ever-receding  border  into  a  homogeneous  Christian 
society.  It  would  have  been  sin  for  Methodism,  a  sin  unto  death,  to 
have  been  blind  to  the  Divine  purpose,  or  to  fail  to  exhaust  its 
resources  and  energies  in  this  heaven-designated  field. 

The  nations  were  coming  to  America — coming  by  thousands  and 
scores  of  thousands.  They  are  still  coming,  some  of  them  from  heathen 
lands,  and  building  their  idol  shrines  in  that  republic  of  universal 
toleration.  The  limited  resources  of  our  people  in  the  New  World 
were  so  fully  taxed  to  provide  the  bread  of  hie  for  these,  that  those 
afar  off  must  wait  for  their  coming. 

As  Methodism  spread,  all  the  apparatus  of  Church  life  was  to  be 
created,  and  that  by  a  j)eople  literally  without  a  purse.  This  was  true 
in  England  and  Ireland,  but  more  emphatically  true  in  the  broader 
domain  of  the  United  States.  Even  now  the  Methodist  Episcoi^al 
Church  is  dedicating  to  God  more  than  one  church  for  every  day  in  the 
year,  not  excepting  Sundays,  and  yet  not  fully  meeting  the  demands 
of  her  growth.  Moreover,  all  branches  of  Methodism  have  had  to 
buUd  and  endow  within  the  century  their  universities,  colleges,  semi- 
naries, hospitals,  and  charitable  homes.  It  has  not  been  easy  for  us  to 
add  to  this  all  that  our  hearts  prompted  us  to  do  for  the  heathen. 

There  were,  however,  thousands  of  heathen  in  the  wide  home  field 
to  whom  American  Methodists  went  as  promptly  and  as  joyously  as 
to  others  for  whom  Christ  died,  and  among  them  were  achieved  some 
of  the  greatest  and  most  glorious  successes — great  enough  at  the  time 
to  thrill  and  inspire  all  Christendom.     Such  was  the  work  among  the 


474  FOREIGN   MISSIONS. 

Wyandots  of  Ohio,  the  Creeks,  Seminoles,  Choctaws,  and  other  tribes, 
chiefly  in  llie  more  southern  fields.  All  this  before  a  Methodislj 
missionary  organisation  existed  in  the  United  States.  This  early  work 
among  the  aborigines  was  chiefly  supported  by  the  sacrifices  of  the 
preachers,  by  funds  personally  soHcited  by  Bishop  Asbury,  who  always 
carried  a  subscription-book  for  the  purpose,  and  by  aid  voluntarily  ten- 
dered by  individuals,  congregations,  or  Sunday-schools.-  Only  a  few 
local  societies  existed  to  aid  in  missionary  work  of  any  kind.  Through 
these  labours  many  Indian  nations  have  been  Christianised  and  are 
still  being  Christianised.  We  are  even  now  triumphing  over  heathenism 
in  Yakima  and  other  fields  beyond  the  Eocky  Mountains  in  the  United 
States,  and  also  far  to  the  North-West  in  the  British  Dominion,  even  to 
the  borders  of  Alaska,  while  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  is 
holding  faithfully  much  of  the  fruit  of  our  former  united  toils  garnered 
iuto  an  Annual  Conference. 

The  coloured  population  of  the  United  States  and  the  West  Indies, 
largely  neglected  by  others,  became  special  objects  of  interest  to 
Methodists.  They  were  numbered  by  hundreds  of  thousands,  who  had 
been  forcibly  and  iniquitously  transferred  from  well-nigh  bestial 
heathenism  to  unrequited  toil.  Faithful  Methodist  preachers  so  dili- 
gently cultivated  this  field  that  we  find  to-day  by  far  the  greater 
number  of  this  people  in  the  various  Methodist  communions.  They 
have  furnished  worthy  bishox^s  to  the  Church,  and  noble  missionaries  to 
their  fatherland,  and  I  believe  them  to  be  the  chief  human  reliance  for 
the  redemption  of  the  Dark  Continent.  It  would  not  be  right  in  this 
account  of  what  Methodism  has  done  for  the  heathen,  to  leave  this 
work  entirely  vnimentioned. 

The  Missionary  Society  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  was 
organised  in  1819.  Its  first  foreign  mission  was  opened  in  1833,  when 
Rev.  Melville  B.  Cox  went  to  Liberia,  and,  beside  his  work  among  the 
colonists,  attempted  something  for  the  surrounding  heathen.  In  1847 
this  society  entered  China,  that  vast  heathen  empire.  They  entered 
India  in  1856,  and  Japan  in  1872.  These  are  their  chief  heathen  fields. 
To  assign  1839  as  the  date  of  the  origin  of  the  foreign  work  of  this 
society,  as  some  tables  do,  seems  therefore  to  be  a  manifest  error.  The 
very  latest  must  be  1833 ;  but  labour  among  the  heathen,  if  we  take 
into  account  the  heathen  of  the  land,  began  with  the  earliest  domestic 
mission-work,  which  the  annual  reports  obstinately  persist  in  putting  at 
1814,  or  five  years  before  the  birth  of  the  society. 

The  same  or  similar  laws  have  governed  in  the  case  of  all  the  lesser 
bodies  of  Methodists.  Engi'ossed  by  more  immediate  claims,  most  of 
them  have  as  yet  been  unable  to  enter  heathen  fields,  and  several  of 
them  are  entirely  without  missionary  organisations.  Of  the  twenty- 
seven  bodies  represented  in  this  Ecumenical  Conference,  but  nine  have 
entered  foreign  heathen  fields,  namely,  the  Wesleyans  of  Great  Britain, 
the    Methodist  Episcopal  Church,   the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 


REV.    J.    M,    EEID'S   ADDRESS.  475 

South,  the  Methodist  Church  of  Canada,  Methodist  New  Connexion, 
United  Methodist  Free  Churches,  Primitive  Methodisty,  Uiiited 
Bi-ethren,  and  Austrahan  Methodists. 

I  say  foreign  heathen  fields,  thereby  excluding  from  this  statement 
work  among  Americo-Liberians  and  the  American  Indians.  Several  of 
these  Churches,  however,  as  yet  occupy  but  a  single  heathe-i  field — the 
promise  and  prophecy,  as  we  trust,  of  still  more.  Thu.-i  the  Canada 
Wesleyans  and  Evangelical  Association  are  only  in  Japan ;  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  only  in  China  ;  the  Primitive 
Methodists  only  in  I  fri  :a ;  the  Methodist  New  Connexion  only  in 
China,  &c. 

The  residue  of  our  list  of  Methodists  have  yet  to  begin  work  among 
the  heathen.  The  African  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  have  lately 
taken  a  noble  step  in  entering  Liberia,  which  we  anticipate  may  lead  to 
most  aggressive  work  on  their  part  among  the  Ethiopian  heathen. 
The  labours  of  this  Church,  however,  will  at  least  for  a  time  be  mostly 
confined  to  Americo-Liberians. 

A  careful  statistician  finds  the  Methodist  communicants  of  India, 
Ceylon,  and  China  to  be  13,157,  with  315  ministers  and  156  local 
preachers.  Most  of  these  should  be  placed  under  the  category  of 
heathen  work.  The  Methodist  communicants  in  Africa,  Australia, 
and  Polynesia  are  said  by  the  same  authority  to  number  126,700 
members,  with  612  ministers,  and  3,823  local  preachers.  A  goodly 
portion  of  these  grand  results,  not  easy  to  be  specified,  will  be  con- 
fessed to  be  trophies  gathered  from  heathen  fields.  The  remarkable 
figures  thus  given  we  are  sure  do  not  overstate  the  facts. 

But  the  quality  of  the  work  is  as  remarkable  as  its  extent.  I  might 
as  well  try  to  show  you  the  Atlantic  in  a  spoon  as  to  hope  to  teU  you 
in  twelve  hundred  flying  seconds  what  Methodism  has  done  for  the 
heathen.  The  Wesleyans  of  England  rightfully  bear  the  banner,  not 
only  for  the  thoroughness  of  their  giving,  but  also  for  the  heaven- 
directed  sagacity  with  which  they  have  made  their  expenditures.  We 
can  hear  the  islands  of  the  Pacific  clapping  their  hands  from  afar 
because  the  Wesleyans  came  to  them  with  the  tidings  of  salvation. 
In  1813,  four  years  before  the  Wesleyan  Missionary  Society  was  organ- 
ised, Dr.  Coke  was  authorised  by  the  Conference  to  associate  with 
himself  six  others,  and  proceed  to  establish  missions  in  Ceylon  and 
Java;  and  the  mission  thus  founded  has  to-day  nearly  five  thousand 
members.  The  society  entered  New  South  Wales  in  1815,  and  five 
years  later  Van  Diemen's  Land.  In  two  years  more  they  went  to  the 
Friendly  Isles  and  neighbouring  groups,  and  one  year  still  later  to  New 
Zealand.  In  twelve  years  more  they  undertook  the  conquest  of 
cannibal  Fiji.  In  three  years  more  they  were  in  "  Australia,"  and  in 
yet  another  year  in  West  Australia.  Not  all  heathen  work,  but  bearing 
upon  it. 

The  bare  mention  of  these  undertakings,  like  the  naming  of  Waterloo, 


476  FOREIGN   MISSIONS. 

leaves  no  necessity  for  explaining  what  has  been  the  result :  five 
hundred,  it  may  be,  of  the  beautiful  isles  of  the  Pacific,  so  lately 
heathen,  are  now  gemming  the  crown  of  the  Adorable  Redeemer,  and 
the  Weslej^ans  were  no  unimportant  part  of  the  agencies  by  which  this 
has  been  accomplished.  Tables  once  covered  with  human  flesh  are  now 
spread  with  the  emblems  of  a  Saviour's  dying  love,  and  lips  that  once 
keenly  relished  the  awful  feast  are  now  proclaiming  the  melting  mercies 
of  the  blessed  Christ.  It  is  truly  wonderful  that  in  Fiji,  but  yesterday 
horribly  heathen,  and  murderous  as  only  Thakombau  could  be  mur- 
derous, out  of  a  population  of  120,000  there  should  be  102,000  regular 
attendants  on  Divine  worship,  and  that  42,000  children  sliould  be 
receiving  instruction  in  the  1,500  Christian  day-schools  that  have 
been  established  in  the  land.  The  victory  is  so  complete  that  almost 
every  trace  of  heathenism  has  been  effaced. 

Australia,  more  properly  a  continent  than  an  island,  has  now  its  four 
Conferences,  and  Methodists  are  found  everywhere  within  it.  Our 
British  brethren  are  also  pushing  from  the  South  far  up  into  the  Dark 
Continent,  and  they  have  their  Sierra  Leone  side  by  side  with  the 
American  Liberia,  both  Churches  seeking  to  operate  eastward  upon 
the  almost  impenetrable  darkness  of  Equatorial  Africa. 

Methodism  is  one  of  the  most  effective  of  the  evangelising  agencies  of 
India.  American  Methodism  has  there  two  Conferences,  with  all  the 
apparatus  of  Church  life,  and  a  large  body  of  native  preachers ;  and 
British  Methodism  is  scarcely,  if  at  all,  behind  them.  The  whole  land, 
from  the  Himalayas  to  Cape  Comorin,  now  receives  the  Gospel  at  our 
hands.  We  have  helped  to  extinguish  the  fires  of  the  suttee,  and 
to  abolish  infanticide.  We  enter  as  an  important  factor  into  all 
impending  changes,  as  we  have  done  into  those  already  accomi)lished. 

American  and  British  Metliodists  are  both  of  them  in  China — the 
Wesleyans  in  the  south,  and  the  Americans  in  the  central  and  northern 
parts.  The  Foochow  Annual  Conference  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
has  by  some  been  pronounced  the  most  thorough  mission  in  the  world, 
possessing  in  itself  helpful  and  self-perpetuating  qualities  in  such 
degree,  that  if  the  missionary  society  should  be  forced  from  her  child,  it 
would  survive  the  separation,  and  the  Fokien  province  continue  to 
have  a  prosperous  Methodist  Church.  And  this  is  but  one  mission  of 
this  Church  out  of  four  in  the  Chinese  Empire.  One  other  has  its 
centre  at  Peking,  and  its  apjiointments  extend  right  up  to  the  Great 
Wall  on  the  north.  Another  is  in  the  interior  at  Kiukiang,  midway 
between  the  sea  coast  and  the  empire's  western  boundary ;  and  the 
last  of  the  four  has  just  been  established  in  Tschuen,  the  most  westerly 
province  of  the  etnpire. 

The  mission  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  centred  at 
Shanghai,  has  like  excellent  qualities,  and  is  a  power  in  China  rapidly 
extending  itself.  Our  doctrines  and  usages  have  been  well  received  in 
this  celestial  land,  and  we  have  taken  deep  root,  and  spread  widely. 


REV.  J.  M.  reid's  address.  477 

Taking  the  Methodist  family  together,  we  now  compass  the  whole  land. 
The  Chinese,  scattered  over  the  United  States  and  parts  of  tlie  British 
Empire,  are  being  taught  and  converted  through  Methodist  and  other 
missions,  and  the  converts  are  returning  to  China  to  exercise  no  little 
influence  on  the  Cantonese  part  of  the  empire.  Canadian  and  American 
Methodisms  have  been  but  a  few  years  in  Japan  ;  but  their  united  suc- 
cesses have  been  great,  and  inspire  good  hope  that  we  shall  be  well 
represented  when  this  vast  insular  Empire  of  the  Rising  Sun  shall  fall 
into  line,  as  it  soon  will,  and  swell  the  triumphal  train  of  the  Blessed 
Jesus  as  He  marches  on  to  the  conquest  of  the  whole  world. 

This  essay  must  at  least  advert  to  the  literary  labours  of  Methodist 
missionaries  among  the  heathen.  They  have  not  been  behind  others  in 
producing  books  for  the  instruction  of  natives,  and  to  facilitate  their 
own  successors  in  acquiring  the  languages  in  which  they  must  preach. 
They  have  taken  their  full  share  in  translating  the  Word  of  God, 
printing  it,  and  distributing  it ;  they  have  written,  translated,  and 
scattered  tracts  by  the  million  ;  they  have  founded  schools  and  colleges ; 
they  have  been  foremost  to  introduce  among  the  heathen,  especially 
women,  the  study  and  practice  of  medicine,  and  may  boast  of  being  first 
to  send  medical  women  to  the  women  of  heathen  lands.  The  volumes 
produced  by  Methodist  missionaries  to  the  heathen  would  alone  make  a 
library,  without  which  the  world  would  be  much  the  poorer. 

We  conclude  that  Methodism  has  fully  committed  herself  to  the  gi'eat 
work  of  teaching  the  heathen  to  cast  their  idols  to  the  moles  and  the 
bats.  Her  calling  and  condition  have  permitted  thus  far  only  the 
initiative  of  what  she  will  some  day  undertake,  by  the  favour  and  help 
of  the  Highest.  Assembled  now  from  all  parts  of  the  world,  she  may 
well  ask — 

1st.  Whether  the  perishing  condition  of  the  heathen  does  not  call  at 
this  period  of  Methodist  development  for  an  immediate  increase  of 
effort,  notwithstanding  the  many  other  engrossing  demands  upon  us  ? 

2nd.  Whether  there  be  not  several  bodies  of  Methodists  that  have  not 
yet  entered  heathen  fields,  who  should  at  once  prepare  to  do  so  ? 

3rd.  Whether  those  who  feel  too  weak  of  themselves  for  such  an 
undertaking  should  not  seek  alliance  with  some  other  Methodist  body 
already  in  these  fields,  through  which  they  might  co-operate,  and 
whether  the  influence  of  so  doing  would  not  elevate  and  intensify  their 
own  Church  life  ? 

Finally,  ought  any  considerable  body  of  Methodists  at  the  present 
time  be  without  some  missionary  organisation,  either  their  own  or  in 
fellowship  with  others,  and,  if  possible,  one  embracing  a  heathen 
field  ? 

Rev.E.E.  Jenkins  (Wesleyan  ]Methodist),in  giving  the  invited  address, 
said :  Mr.  President,  Within  the  few  minutes  allotted  to  this  address, 
I  shall  not  attemj)t  a  review  of  Methodist  missions,  nor  present  for 


478  FOREIGN   MtSSIONS. 

valuation  the  arithmetic  of  statistical  returns,  nor  will  I  exhibit  the 
subject  in  the  several  aspects  in  which  it  niay  be  considered,  of  diffi- 
culty, of  failure,  and  of  j)rogress.  I  will  occupy  my  time  in  placing 
before  the  Conference  a  result  of  foreign  missionary  operations,  which 
will  come  back  to  the  home  Churches  as  a  new  evidence  and  defence 
of  the  Gospel.  In  addressing  myself  to  this  task,  it  will  be  necessary 
to  go  outside  Methodist  missions ;  and  when  the  topics  discussed  at 
this  Conference  from  day  to  day  relate  almost  exclusively  to  Methodism, 
we  can  afford  for  once  to  extend  our  view  to  other  Churches,  and  con- 
nect their  position  with  ours  as  divisions  of  the  one  elect  host  and  army 
of  Christianity.  It  has  happened,  and  no  thoughtful  observer  can  be 
surprised  that  it  should  happen,  that  the  progress  of  science  has 
awakened  a  parallel  inspection  of  Christian  evidence.  The  scientific 
fact  brought  to  light  is  immediately  associated  with  some  Biblical 
doctrine  whose  authority  it  is  supposed  to  affect;  and  during  the 
last  fifty  years — that  is,  from  the  time  that  geology  and  biology 
ascended  to  the  rank  of  sciences — Christianity  has  been  regarded  with 
increased  assurance  as  passing,  in  the  progress  of  things,  from  its 
early  place  as  a  truth,  deeply  grounded  in  history  and  experience,  and 
standing  unmoved  like  a  rock  to  measure  the  tidal  rising  of  other 
sciences,  to  an  unhistorical  position,  retaining  its  hold  of  society  for  the 
present,  because  tradition  has  hallowed  its  formulas,  and  also,  inas- 
much as  it  has  incorporated  itself  with  the  literature,  the  institutions, 
and  the  governments  of  those  communities  which  have  grown  up 
under  its  inspiration.  It  has,  therefore,  come  to  pass  that  a  consi- 
derable number  of  scientific  and  literary  men  in  England,  Europe, 
and  America,  affect  to  consider  the  religion  of  Christ  as  no  longer  in 
the  van  of  progress,  but  as  falling  out  of  the  march  of  human  thought, 
and  that,  being  illogical  now,  it  will  be  impossible  in  the  future.  I  do 
not  think  I  misrepresent  our  opponents  in  putting  their  case  thus — 
that  if  our  minds  were  cleared  of  the  old  growths  of  ancestral  attach- 
ment, of  reverence  for  usage,  and  of  transmitted  imaginations  of  the 
supernatural,  and  Christianity  were  to  present  herself  to  us  de  novo,  the 
modern  educated  mind  would  not  entertain  her  credentials  for  a 
moment.  That  she  is  indebted  for  her  place  among  us,  and  her 
influence  over  us,  to  great  names,  to  great  institutions,  and  to  financial 
implications  both  wide  and  deep  ;  that  the  progress  of  scientific  revo- 
lution, begun  in  the  schools,  and  advancing  on  the  masses,  must  effect 
the  removal  of  these  supports,  some  of  them  disappearing  by  efface- 
ment  and  some  by  adjustment ;  and  that  the  Christian  faith  will,  in  a 
future  and  not  remote  generation,  cease  to  be  a  living  thing,  and 
will  take  its  place  among  .the  classic  relics  of  antiquity.  This 
argument  is  specious,  subtle,  and  indirectly  impressive,  because,  first, 
being  an  argument  drawn  from  position,  it  seems  to  admit  of  no 
direct  reply  except  the  uncritical,  "  We  shall  see ;  "  and,  secondly, 
it  is  not  urged  by   our   opponents   as   an   objection   to   Christianity. 


REV.  J.    M.    REID'S   ADDRESS.  479 

They  affect  to  regard  it  as  the  status  quo  to  be  accepted  ad  interim,  and 
this   assumptiou  pervades    more   or   less    palpably    the   literature  of 
science,  of  criticism,  and  of  journalism.     The  refutation  of  this  argu- 
ment we  entrust  to  Mission  Churches.     If  Christianity  continues  with 
us  for  the  present  because  she  is  held  fast  by  ancestral  attachment,  by 
reverence  for  usage,  by  transmitted  imaginations  of  the  supernatural, 
and  by  structural  incorporation  with  society,  she  ought  not  to  be  able 
in  the  present  day  to  find  a  place  where  none  of  these  things  exist. 
For  although  among  peoples  of  elementary  superstition,  the  religion  of 
Jesus  might  repeat  her  triumphs,   and  create  again  these  very  ties 
which  bind  her  to  us  (and  if  she  is  a  lie  and  not  a  truth,  scientific  men 
ought  not  to  give  her  the  chance  of  doing  so),  yet  there  are  nations 
with   a  religious  civilisation  much  older  than  our  own,  and  equally 
lettered  and  elaborate.    If  Christianity  be  another  idolatry — for  if  there 
be  no  j)ersonaI  God  all  worship  is  idolatry — her  disciples  should  not 
hope  for  success  in  measuring  her  against  the  philosophic  polytheism 
of  Brama,  or  the  colossal  hierarchy  of  Buddha,  or  the  political  mono- 
theism of  Mohammed.     These  great  systemts  are  as  deeply  rooted  in 
the  hearts,  in  the   literature,  and  in  the  societies  of  their  respective 
disciples  as  are  the  doctrines  of  Jesus  in  the  nations  of  Christendom. 
It  should  be  impossible  at  this  time  of  day  to  propagate  the  venerable 
delusions  of  the  New  Testament  among  the  votaries  of  the  Vedas  and 
the  Puranums,  because  the  pantheism  of  the  Veda  and  the  scientific 
scepticism  concerning  a  First  Cause  prevailing  in  Europe,  have  so  close 
an  affinity  that  they  are  the  same  thing,  but  reached  by  two  different 
pathsk     The  Aryan  poets  felt  after  God,  and  their  devout  musings  met 
Him  everywhere,  and  they  called  Nature  God.     The  modern  philo- 
sophers feel  after  Nature,   and  their   scientific  researches    find  the 
Divinity   nowhere,   and  they   call  God    Nature.     Moreover,    there  is 
another  reason  why   we  ought  to  despair  of  planting  the  Gospel  in 
India,  if  that  Gospel  is  falling  back  before  the  advancement  of  science. 
The  Hindus  are  nearly  abreast  of  us  in  modern  education.     Every  new 
literary  work  finds  its  way  into  the  schools  and  book-marts  of  Calcutta, 
Madras,  and  Bombay ;  every  new  fact  in  science  is  telegraphed  to  the 
Indian  universities.     Sir  John  Lubbock's  recent  review  of  the  scientific 
history   of    the   past  half-century,   and  all    the  transactions    of  the 
British  Associations,    have    been  read   with   learned   apprectatiou  by 
thousands   of   Hindus.      The    philosophy   of    Spencer     and    of    Mill 
are  better  understood  in  India  by  the  average  student,  and  by  readers 
whose  tastes  are  allured  by  psychological  speculations,  than  they  are 
among  similar  classes  in  England  and  America.     If  now  it  be  main- 
tained and  assumed  that  the  Christian  faith  is  losing  its  power  in 
England,  and  must  ultimately  lose  its  place,  because  science  is  invali- 
dating its  credentials,  and  time  will  gradually  hberate  us  from  the 
yoke  of  its  associations,  then  since  science  has  forestalled  it  in  India, 
and  there  is  no  bondage  of  sentiment  and  of  usage  to  bind  it  to  the 


480  FOEEIGN    MISSIONS. 

Hindus,  it  looks  like  an  enterprise  of  knight-errantry  to  attempt  a 
Gospel  crusade  in  the  East.  And  yet  it  is  a  fact  which  we  must  leave 
our  opponents  to  explain,  that  the  most  popular  book  in  India  to-day 
is  the  discredited  Bible — popular  not  merely  as  a  deposit  of  ancient 
literature,  and,  in  its  Anglo  version,  a  well  of  English  undeliled,  but  as 
a  revelation  of  man,  as  a  new  authority  of  duty  and  of  life,  as  discover- 
ing to  the  student  new  springs  of  strength  and  of  peace,  and  opening  a 
distinct  and  coherent  prospect  of  immortality.  But  more  than  this,  I 
hesitate  not  to  affirm  that  as  the  Bible  is  the  most  popular  book,  Jesus 
is  the  most  popular  name  in  India,  not  the  most  loved  and  honoured, 
but  next  to  Vishnu  and  Buddha,  the  most  widely  known,  the  most  fre- 
quently upon  men's  lips;  and  without  auy  exception,  from  a  human 
point  of  view,  the  most  powerful.  Jesus  is  the  avowed  leader,  and  the 
New  Testament  the  avowed  text-book,  of  the  most  recent  philosophic 
school  of  India.  The  chief  leader  of  this  school,  a  gentleman  who  has 
not  professed  the  Christian  religion,  said,  a  few  months  ago,  that  so  far 
as  he  could  see,  the  future  sovereign  of  India  would  be  Jesus  of  Nazareth. 
I  desire  you  to  connect  with  this  the  flourishing  Christian  Churches 
which  have  taken  root  in  India,  the  swift  circulation  of  Christian  truth 
outside  churches,  sweeping  through  schools  and  colleges,  and  pene- 
trating the  sacred  enclosures  of  Hindu  life,  and  then  I  think  you  will 
conclude  with  me  that  the  home  Churches  will  be  richly  recompensed 
for  the  sacrifices  they  have  made  for  heathen  lands  by  the  accumu- 
lating and  irresistible  evidence  they  will  receive  from  mission  churches 
of  the  indestructible  vitality  of  the  Gospel,  and  of  the  help  which  they 
will  thus  render  us  in  contending,  against  the  infidel  assumptions  of 
infidelity,  for  the  faith  which  was  once  delivered  to  the  saints. 

Rev.  J.  L.  Humphrey,  D.  D.  (M.  E.  Church):  I  wish  to  speak  of  the 
objection  we  often  hear  with  regard  to  the  slowness  of  the  progress  o± 
Christianity  in  India.  I  need  not  remind  this  Conference  that  it  is  im- 
possible to  show  the  actual  progress  of  Christianity  in  any  land  by  mere 
statistics,  and  especially  is  it  so  in  reference  to  India.  But  I  wish  to  call 
attention  to  a  few  figures  which  I  think  bear  upon  this  subject,  and  at 
least  aii'ord  us  an  approximate  view  of  what  God  has  been  doing  in  that 
wondei-ful  land.  But  before  reading  the  few  figures  which  I  have  before 
me,  let  me  call  attention  to  a  few  circumstances  wliich  are  apparent  to 
every  close  observer,  indicating  the  wonderful  progress  of  the  Gospel  in 
India.  In  the  first  place,  if  you  go  back  to  the  time  when  that  dis- 
tinguished man — who  became  such  by  liis  scholarly  attainments  and 
devotion  to  Christ  in  India, — William  Carey,  went  to  India,  and  if  you  go 
back  to  the  time  when  Henry  Martin,  the  devoted  servant  of  the  Lord 
Jesus,  went  there,  and  if  you  compare  the  condition  of  the  morals  of  the 
representatives  of  Christianity  in  that  land  in  those  times  and  the  present, 
you  will  see  a  wonderful  advance  in  this  direction.  It  used  to  be  said  in 
the  early  part  of  this  century,  of  European  Christians  who  went  out  to 
India,  that  they  seldom  took  their  I'eligion  with  them  beyond  the  Cape  of 
Good  Hope.  How  changed  is  society  in  this  respect  now  !  I  state  from 
years  of  experience  that  some  of  the  best  and  the  brightest  examples  of 
consecration  and  devotion  to  God  are  often  met  with  in  the  military  and 
civil  services  in  India.     I  will  speak  also  of  progess  among  the  natives  in 


GENERAL    REMARKS.  481. 

moral  sentiment.  The  degradation  of  these  people  in  past  times  cannot  be 
imagined  by  those  who  have  not  witnessed  it,  and  yet,  as  years  have  passed, 
we  can  see  an  elevation  of  moral  sentiment  among  the  masses  of  the 
people.  Therf^  is  now  some  sense  of  responsibility  as  regards  speaking  the 
truth  manifested  in  a  public  way,  so  that  in  the  courts  there  is  far  less  of 
false  swearing  than  has  been  the  case  formerly,  and  the  great  principles 
of  morality  that  we  rely  npon  are  seldom  dissented  from  in  our  preaching 
in  the  bazaars,  and  elsewhere  among  the  people.  The  thoughtful  among 
the  people  have  generally  this  impression,  that  the  country  is  destined  to 
be  a  Cliristian  country  at  no  distant  day.  The  old  men  say.  It  is  not  worth 
while  for  us  to  change  ;  but  the  boys  will  become  Christians  ultimately,  and 
there  are  thousands  upon  thousands  of  cultivated  young  men,  leading  minds 
in  India  to-day,  that  have  been  tauglit  in  mission-schools,  that  are  not 
Christians,  but  who  would  embrace  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ  but  for  the 
peculiar  impediments  and  obstructions  put  in  their  way  by  the  horrid 
system  of  caste.  That  system  is  relaxing  its  holil  somewhat,  though  it  is 
still  formidable  in  its  character.  We  have  been  accustomed  in  India  for 
several  decades  past  to  collect,  as  far  as  possible,  the  statistics  showing 
the  number  of  Christians  in  evangelical  Christian  communities.  I  think 
Dr.  ]\Iullens,  the  distinguished  secretary  of  the  London  Missionary  Society, 
collected  these  statistics  for  three  decades.  In  1851  we  had  127,000  native 
Christians  in  India  in  evangelical  churches  and  missions.  In  ISGl  we  had 
213,000  ;  in  1871  we  had  318,363.  Now,  in  1881,  we  clearly  have  in  India 
proper  half  a  million  of  Christians. 

Rkw  James  Calvert  (Wesleyan  Methodist  Church)  said:  Forty- 
three  years  ago  English  Methodists  were  aroused,  and  deepest  interest 
created,  by  a  powerful  appeal  on  behalf  of  cannibal  Fiji.  Earnest  and 
believing  prayers  were  offered,  liberal  gifts  made,  and  three  of  us,  with 
our  wives,  were  sent  to  join  the  two  who  were  already  suffering  man}' 
things  and  working  there.  The  Fijians  are  a  line  race,  and  industrious. 
Eighty  of  the  two  hundred  and  twenty  islands  iT,re  inhabited.  Their  houses, 
canoes,  mats,  cloth,  and  mosquito  curtains,  their  fishing  nets,  crockery, 
baskets,  sinnet,  clubs,  and  spears  are  superior.  They  were  pre-eminent 
for  their  wars,  fearfully  damaged  by  polygamy,  guilty  of  strangling  and 
infanticide,  and  degraded  exceedingly  by  the  prevalence  of  cannibalism  to 
an  extent  beyond  any  other  people — eating  up,  on  some  occasions,  as  many 
as  a  hundred  persons.  The  renowned  Ila  Undreundre  relished  human  flesh 
intensely,  gloried  in  his  shame,  and  kept  count  by  placing  a  big  stone  in  a 
row  for  each  of  the  872  of  whom  he  ate  after  he  became  a  man.  One  day 
I  obtained  and  buried  eighty-four  limbs,  all  ready  cooked,  with  teeth-marks 
left  upon  the  liver.  We  found  the  Fijians  as  bad  as  human  beings  could 
possibly  be  when  left  to  themselves  and  to  the  undisturbed  control  of 
demon  spirits  in  all  past  ages,  "  being  filled  with  all  unrighteousness, 
wickedness,  covetousness,  maliciousness ;  full  of  envy,  murder,  strife, 
deceit,  malignity."  A  small  band  of  Wesleyan  missionaries,  without 
prestige  or  high  notions,  or  any  human  protection,  have  been  employed  in 
Fiji  for  forty-six  years.  God  wonderfully  preserved  our  lives  ;  and  no 
one  of  us  was  sacrificed  for  thirty-two  years,  when  Thomas  Baker  was  slain 
and  eaten  with  seven  native  Christiims.  We  lalioured  constantly  every 
day,  and  all  day  Jong,  in  every  possible  way,  and  prayed  to  God  earnestly 
and  perseverin;jly  for  the  salvation  of  any  and  all.  Reading-books  and 
portions  of  the  Scriptures  were  provided  at  once  ;  and  God  was  with  us, 
and  confirmed  with  signs  following  the  word  spoken.  Some  were  con- 
vinced of  sin  by  the  Word  and  Spirit  of  God.  They  bitterly  repented, 
earnestly  sought  and  found  mercy,  and,  when  saved,  were  very  clear  in 
tlieir  experience.  They  were  very  diligent  and  regidar  at  all  the  means  of 
grace,  and   especially  attentive  to  their  meeting   in   class.     And  as  soon 

I  I 


482  FOREIGN   MISSIONS. 

as  any  were  converted  and  gained  life  in  their  souls,  they  were  deeply 
earnest  in  prayer  and  effort  for  the  benefit  of  otliers.  We  had  several 
blessed  revivals  that  told  much  upon  our  work ;  and  a  grand  and  glorious 
work  of  God  has  been  wrought  upon  that  long-neglected  and  deeply- 
degraded  cannibal  race,  which,  being  real,  deep,  and  abiding,  none  can 
gainsay,  but  is  most  manifest  to  all  who  honestly  examine  it.  The 
labourers  have  never  exceeded  twelve.  The  glorious  Gospel,  proclaimed 
in  a  straightforward  and  earnest  way,  has  done  its  old  work.  The  Spirit 
accompanied  the  truth  with  His  convincing  and  saving  power,  and  the 
results,  on  a  grand  scale,  are  marvellous.  Cruel  practices  and  degrading 
superstitions  are  extinct.  Many  thousands  have  been  savingly  converted, 
bore  well  persecution,  trial,  the  loss  of  all  things,  and  martyrdom  in  a  few 
instances  ;  they  maintained  good  conduct,  died  very  happy  in  Christ,  and 
are  for  ever  with  the  Lord.  Marriage  is  sacred,  the  Sabbath  well  kept, 
family  worship  regularly  conducted,  schools  established  everywhere,  law 
and  good  government  firmly  laid,  and  spiritual  churches  formed.  A  native 
ministry  is  raised  up  and  trained  for  every  branch  of  the  Church's  work. 
The  language  has  been  reduced  to  written  form;  a  grammar  and  dictionaries 
have  been  printed  ;  5,000  copies  of  the  entire  Bible,  and  more  than  30,000 
of  the  New  Testament,  with  innumerable  portions  of  God's  Word,  have 
been  supplied,  and  purchased  by  the  converts  ;  catechisms  with  Scripture 
proofs,  a  large  edition  of  Bunyan's  Pilgrim,  two  editions  of  an  invaluable 
system  of  Christian  Theology,  by  John  Hunt,  have  been  widely  circulated 
and  very  profitably  used.  And  now,  though  the  scourge  and  calamity  of 
measles  took  away  40,000  of  the  people,  our  i-eturns  are  1,132  chapels  and 
other  preaching  places,  1,603  schools,  forty-eight  native  ministers,  and  996 
catechists  and  head  teachers,  all  of  whom  are  paid  for  by  the  people  for 
whose  benefit  they  labour  ;  2,252  school  teachers,  1,405  local  preachers, 
2,733  class-leaders,  38,019  scholars,  102,384  attendants  on  public  worship, 
23,274  members  of  society,  and  5,438  on  trial  for  membership.  This  work 
in  Fiji  stinmlates  and  enheartens  the  universal  Church,  and  Methodism 
especially,  for  mission-work  ;  it  proves  the  Gospel  to  be  still  adapted  to 
man,  and  still  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation  ;  and  it  is  a  grand 
specimen  of  what  will  assuredly  be  done  in  India,  China,  Japan,  Africa, 
and  in  all  the  world.  The  work  of  missions  to  every  creature  is  still  in  its 
infancy.  Oh,  that  the  love  of  Christ  may  constrain  our  truly  missionary 
portion  of  Christ's  Church  to  much  greater  and  more  extensive  efforts  and 
triumphs  for  Him  who  promised  to  draw  all  men  unto  Himself !  Let  us 
arise  to  attempt  great  tilings  for  God,  and  expect  great  things  from  Him, 
with  whom  is  the  residue  of  the  Spirit.  The  glory  of  the  Lord  shall  be 
revealed,  and  all  flesh  shall  see  it  together  ;  for  the  mouth  of  the  Lord 
hath  spoken  it.     He  hath  said  it,  and  He  will  bring  it  to  pass. 

Rev.  Dr.  Buckley  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church)  :  It  is  somewhat 
difficult,  under  the  classification  of  topics  relating  to  foreign  missions,  to 
touch  anything  of  great  practical  value  to  the  operations  of  missionary 
societies,  and  the  w  ork  of  maintaining  the  spirit  of  our  home  Churches 
with  regard  to  them.  I  shall  try,  however,  to  touch  for  a  moment  upon 
two  or  tliree  points  which  seem  to  me  of  great  importance,  relating  to  the 
utilisation  of  returned  missionaries.  In  the  first  place,  I  hold  that  the 
utilisation  of  returned  missionaries  for  the  perpetuation  of  stimulus  and 
interest  in  this  subject  is  of  far  more  importance  than  it  is  generally 
supposed  to  be.  Returned  missionaries  are  of  several  classes  :  men  at 
home  on  leave  of  absence  after  many  years'  service  ;  men  at  home  with 
impaired  health;  men  at  home  in  good  health  on  account  of  the  health  of 
their  families  ;  and  men  who  have  come  home  to  stay.  These  men  ought 
certainly  to  be  more  efficient  than  many  of  them  are  in  stimulating  the 
feelings  of  the  Church  with  respect  to  those  great  results,  of  which  they 


EEV.    DR.    KIGG'S   ADDRESS.  483 

are  supposed  to  be  cognisant  by  personal  knowledge.  I  hold  that  some  of 
these  men  themselves  are  to  lilanie,  because  thej-  make  serious  errors  in 
instructing  us  concerning  statistics  and  geograph}^,  rather  than  giving  us 
vivid  accounts  of  the  work  of  grace  in  the  sections  in  which  they  have 
laboured.  Again,  I  hold  that  the  managers  of  our  great  missionary 
societies  do  not  make  that  use  themselves  by  suggestions,  by  recommenda- 
tions, by  throwing  the  whole  weight  of  their  influence  behind  and  under 
the  returned  missionary  which  might  be  done,  in  order  to  give  him  access 
to  the  hearts  and  minds  of  the  people.  In  the  next  place,  I  believe  tliat 
the  general  presentation  from  official  sources  of  the  great  results  of 
missionary  labour  lacks  variety  and  animation.  In  making  this  statement 
I  have  no  particular  person,  or  society,  or  class  of  persons,  in  view,  but  I 
speak  from  the  observation  of  a  great  many  years.  Too  often  the  official 
reports  to  the  Church  of  its  results  are,  to  say  the  least,  very  dry,  and  they 
lack  variity  and  animation.  I  hold  that  ordinary  lawyers,  with  matters 
under  their  control  to  represent  to  a  jury  of  twelve  men,  matters  that  have 
as  much  to  stir  the  soul  in  them  as  these  results  ought  to  have  in  them  to 
stir  the  souls  of  Christians,  would  create  an  excitement  and  perpetuate . 
from  week  to  week,  and  from  year  to  year,  an  intensity  of  feeling,  which 
we  do  not  see  with  regard  to  these  matters.  It  is  not  for  me  to  say  any 
particular  person  is  to  blame,"  but  it  is  for  me  to  say  that  many  official 
representatives  succeed  in  presenting  this  cause  in  a  very  dry  wav.  Let 
their  statistics  of  facts  be  set  out  in  papers  and  circulars  ;  but  let  the 
public  addresses  of  secretaries  and  official  representatives  be  diversified, 
fresh,  and  animated. 


Eev.  Dr.  Eigg  (Wesleyan  Methodist)  read  an  essay  on  Hoio  to 
Avoid  Waste,  Rivalries,  and  Confusion  arising  from  different  MetJwdist 
Bodies  occupying  the  same  or  contiguous  Fields. 

The  question  which  has  been  stated,  and  which  is  to  be  considered 
by  us  to-day,  is  essentially  the  same  as  one  which  has  been  often  the 
subject  of  Missionary  Conferences,  and  as  to  which  evangelical  mis- 
sionaries in  all  parts  of  the  world  have  long  ago  come  to  a  substantial 
agreement — at  least,  in  their  own  convictions. 

As  to  mutual  relations  and  co-operation,  as  to  waste  of  power  on  the 
same  ground,  and  as  to  mutual  rivalries,  no  rules  could  be  laid  down 
for  the  guidance  of  the  different  branches  of  the  Methodist  family  in 
their  missionary  enterprises,  but  such,  in  general,  as  are  founded  on 
the  same  principles  of  Christian  brotherhood  and  equity  which  should 
regulate  the  mutual  relations  of  all  evangelical  missionary  societies  that 
eome  within  reach  of  each  other.  Only  that  in  the  case  of  the  different 
branches  of  the  Methodist  familj',  just  in  proportion  to  the  nearness  of 
their  kinshi])  and  the  closeness  of  their  likeness  to  each  other,  is  likely 
to  be  at  once  the  bitterness  of  their  mutual  unhappiness  and  the  scandal 
of  their  disagreement,  if  they  come  into  collision  or  jealous  competition 
"with  each  other. 

Three-and-twenty  years  ago  the  principles  "which  ought  to  regulate 
the  relations  of  missionary  churches  vdth  each  other  in  the  same  field 
"were  excellently  set  forth  by  the  Kev.  G.  M.  Pope,  of  the  Propagation 

Il2 


484  FOREIGN   MISSIONS. 

Society,  in  a  paper  which  he  read  before  the  first  South  Indian  Mis- 
sionary Conference  at  Ootacamund  (in  1858). 

After  premising  that  "the  maintenance  of  friendly  relations  among 
the  various  missionary  societies  is  of  so  great  importance  that  scarcely 
anything  can  render  the  disturbance  of  them  in  the  missionary  field 
expedient,"  and  insisting  on  the  obligation  of  the  law  of  love  between 
missionaries  and  missionary  societies,  having  recognised  also  the  spirit 
of  brotherly  Christian  affection  as  the  best  preservative  against  unkind 
controversies  and  unfriendly  rivalries,  he  lays  down  the  following 
rules. 

When  the  missionaries  of  one  society  are  in  possession  of  a  field  of 
labour,  other  societies  should  not,  as  a  general  rule,  enter  it  without 
their  cordial  consent.  Where  the  field  is  so  wide,  Mr.  Pope  urges  that 
new-comers  should  be  pioneers,  and  enter  into  new  fields.  Such  advice 
(I  may  here  observe  parenthetically)  could  not  but  come  with  special 
force  when  urged  by  a  missionary  of  the  Society  for  the  Propagation 
of  the  Gospel — of  all  Protestant  missionary  societies  the  one  which 
might  have  been  expected  to  be  the  least  liberal,  the  most  exclusive. 

He  admits,  however,  that  some  exceptions  to  this  rule  may  be 
necessary — as,  for  example,  that  the  presidential  or  capital  cities  of  a 
vast  region  may  need  to  be  occupied  by  all  the  bodies  that  have  mis- 
sions anywhere  within  the  area  in  which  such  a  city  is  the  chief  centre 
of  influence.  He  further  allows  that  an  exception  may  sometimes  be 
properly  made  in  the  case  of  missionaries  who  devote  themselves  to 
particular  departments  of  labour,  as,  for  instance,  medical  missionaries, 
or  itinerating  missionaries  of  a  special  class.  Such  labourers  may 
often,  he  thinks,  co-operate  beneficially  with  the  missionaries  of  various 
Churches  throughout  a  wide  region  ;  but  not  without  a  distinct  under- 
standing having  been  secured  between  such  special  agents  and  the 
representatives  of  the  various  missions  established  on  the  ground.  He 
would  make,  also,  a  further  exception  in  the  case  of  towns  or  districts 
of  country  which,  standing  far  apart  from  the  nearest  missions  estab- 
lished within  the  territory  to  which  such  towns  or  districts  belong, 
may  be  more  conveniently  reached  from  the  base-line  of  anothet 
mission,  established  in  a  different  territory  ;  or  might,  with  advantage, 
be  taken  up  as  a  special  and  separate  mission  by  some  new-coming 
Church  or  Society. 

Indeed,  even  where  such  an  isolated  sphere  of  labour  had  already 
been  entered  by  a  missionary  society,  but  could  not  be  effectively 
occupied,  he  thinks  that  a  new  evangelical  organisation  coming  forward 
to  occupy  it  should  be  welcomed.  He  goes  so  far,  indeed,  as  to  intimate 
that,  with  a  view  to  more  convenient  collocation  or  mutual  adjustment, 
certain  wide  portions  of  the  missionary  field  might  well  be  resurveyed, 
and  new  arrangements  and  combinations  be  agreed  npon.  He  lays  it 
down  as  an  absolute  condition  of  good-will  and  well-working  among  the 
different  societies  that  the  missionaries  should  absolutely  abstain  from 


REV.    DR.    RIGG'S   ADDRESS.  485 

proselj^tising,  and  as  far  as  possible  alistain  from  anything  and  every- 
thing in  the  nature  of  mutual  controversy. 

Upon  these  rules  thus  laid  down  by  a  distinguished  missionary  of 
the  Pi-oprigation  Society,  the  Protestant  missionaries  of  different  names 
have,  with  hut  few  exceptions,  and  those  recent,  steadily  worked  for  a 
generation  past  in  India.  Different  parts  of  the  territory  have  been 
assigned  respectively  to  different  societies,  and  the  missionaries  have 
recognised  each  other  heartily  as  fellow-labourers  in  a  common  cause. 

The  results,  as  we  know,  have  been  most  gratifying  and  impressive. 

Similar  principles  have  in  general  guided  the  various  missionary 
societies  in  their  African  operations,  especially  ia  Southern  Africa. 

Li  China,  perhaps  because  of  the  stupendous  vastness  of  the  field, 
and  the  wonderful  magnitude  of  the  chief  cities,  these  principles  have 
been  much  less  strictly  observed,  although  not  altogether  lost  sight  of. 
Very  recently  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  and  the 
Church  Missionary  Society  have  in  that  empire  come  to  a  beneficial 
mutual  arrangement. 

Earnest  missionaries,  however,  of  other  denominations  in  China 
complain  of  waste,  and  that  while  in  one  city  there  are  fifty  mis- 
sionaries of  many  different  societies,  there  are  immense  regions  of  the 
country  left  without  any  missionary  whatever ;  and  there  are  urgent 
demands  on  the  part  of  more  than  a  few  of  the  most  fervid  and 
energetic  among  the  missionaries  that  among  the  various  societies  an 
understanding  should  be  arrived  at  without  delay,  by  means,  in  the 
first  instance,  of  a  truly  representative  Missionary  Conference,  as  to 
the  boundaries  of  their  respective  provinces  of  labour,  and  that,  where 
necessary,  some  redistribution  should  be  made  of  the  agencies  now  at 
work. 

As  to  Japan  I  have  little  information,  but  Dr.  Maclay,  who  is  to 
follow  me,  will  give  us  the  fruit  of  his  personal  knowledge. 

It  must  not  be  kept  out  of  sight,  however,  that  the  arrangements 
of  mutual  abstinence  and  exclusion  agreed  upon  among  the  different 
societies  have  not  always  worked  satisfactorily.  It  was  agreed,  for 
example,  between  the  Wesleyau  and  the  London  Missionary  Societies 
labouring  in  the  Pacific,  that  the  Tonga  and  Fiji  groups  being  left  to 
the  Wesleyans,  the  Samoa  group  should  be  left  to  the  London  Mis- 
sionary Society.  But,  after  not  a  little  diffieulty  and  misunder- 
standing, it  has  been  found  impossible  to  adhere  to  this  agreement. 
Some  of  the  Samoans  had  been  evangelised  by  the  labours  of  Tongans, 
converted  by  the  instrumentality  of  Wcsleyan  missionaries,  and  these 
Samoans,  having  thus  received  Methodist  forms  and  influences  of 
evangelical  life,  would  no4;  be  content  with  any  arrangement  that  took 
bhese  away  from  them.  In  truth,  they  had  not  only  become  Methodists 
themselves,  but  they  could  not  be  restrained  from  spreading  Methodist 
forms  and  influences  among  others ;  they  became  Wesleyan  mission- 
aries.    The  arrangement,   accordingly,   which   the  parent  Wesleyan 


486  FOREIGN   MISSIONS. 

Missionary  Society  had  entered  into  has  been  disregarded  by  the 
Australasian  Wesleyan  Missionary  Society,  which  now  has  independent 
authority,  and  which  has  relieved  the  parent  body  of  all  direct  re- 
sponsibility in  regard  to  the  Polynesian  field.  And  if  the  arrangement 
to  which  I  have  referred  has  thus  broken  down  in  Polynesia,  it  may  be 
doubted  whether,  in  somewhat  similar  circumstances,  the  under- 
standing arrived  at  among  the  societies  in  South  India  has  not  some- 
times been  too  rigidly  carried  out.  "  More  than  once,"  says  a  well- 
known  Indian  m.issionary  of  our  Society  in  a  communication  with 
which  he  has  favoured  me,  "  during  my  recent  aiipointment  to  Madras, 
I  was  importuned  by  native  Christians  in  Tinnevelly,  some  of  whom 
professed  to  have  been  converted  in  our  South  Ceylon  Mission,  to 
establish  among  them  a  Wesleyan  Mission.  Assurances  came,  which 
seemed  highly  probable,  that  large  congregations  might  soon  be  raised, 
chiefly  among  the  heathen.  To  have  complied  with  this  attractive 
invitation  would  have  been  to  intrude  on  a  field  long  successfully 
worked  by  the  Church  Missionary  Society,  and  would  certainly  have 
incurred  the  general  condemnation  of  the  missionary  community.  Of 
course  the  overtures  were  declined." 

The  decision  to  decline  the  overtures  may  have  been  perfectly  right 
in  this  case.  There  may  not  have  been  funds  to  spare  for  this  par- 
ticular extension.  It  may  have  been  within  the  power  of  the  Church 
Missionary  Society  to  do  the  work  which  the  Wesleyan  Society  was 
unequal  to  perform.  But  if  the  Wesleyan  Society  had  had  the 
means  to  establish  a  mission  which,  so  far  as  could  be  judged, 
would  be  likely  to  prove  spiritually  successful,  and,  in  due  time,  self- 
supporting,  it  is  at  least  open  to  question  how  far  it  was  right  to 
decline  the  overtures  of  these  natives  seeking  of  their  own  accord  for 
the  estabHshment  among  them  of  a  Wesleyan  Mission. 

It  seems  needful,  also,  to  remark,  in  order  to  a  distinct  and  true 
appreciation  of  the  lessons  to  be  learnt  from  missionary  experience  in 
India,  in  regard  to  the  question  before  ns,  that  in  some  cases  the 
societies  seem  to  have  had  assigned  to  them  a  wider  territory  than  they 
can  effectually  cultivate  ;  and  it  may  reasonably  be  doubted  whether 
the  entrance  into  such  territory  of  some  other  Church  or  Churches 
ought  not,  under  proi)er  arrangements  of  mutual  respect,  to  be  wel- 
comed by  those  at  present  on  the  ground.  As  a  Wesleyan — speaking, 
however,  only  in  my  private  and  personal  capacity,  and  in  no  sense  or 
degree  officially — I  will  even  venture  to  say  that  the  resources  of  our 
own  society  have  seemed  to  me  to  be  unequal  to  the  adequate  occu- 
pancy of  the  Mysore  territory,  and  that  promising  openings  into  wide 
regions  of  heathenism  have  too  long  been  neglecte  because  of  our 
want  of  means  to  make  provision  for  entering  them.  The  like  also 
is  said  by  experienced  missionaries  to  be  true  as  respects  the  London 
Missionary  Society  in  the  territory  which  it  occupies  in  the  South 
of  India. 


I 


REV.    DR.    RIGG'S   ADDRESS.  487 

These  observations,  which  include  the  results  of  a  wide  induction, 
will  enable  us  to  approach  with  intelligence,  and  with  some  impartial 
and  independent  light  for  our  guidance,  the  delicate  subject  which  asks 
to-day  for  our  practical  wisdom  in  order  to  its  settlement — viz.,  the 
relations  of  Methodist  Missionary  Churches  to  each  other  when  brought 
into  mutual  contact — and  in  danger,  it  may  be,  of  mutual  colHsion — on 
the  mission-field.  This  question  has  originated  in  facts  for  which  no 
clear  logic  has  been  found,  facts  which  have  actually  arisen  in  the 
missionary  field,  and  chiefly  in  India.  In  the  numbers  of  the  Harvest- 
Field  for  last  December,  last  January,  and  last  July,  the  matter  is  dis- 
cussed by  Methodist  missionaries,  who  ai)pear  to  have  been  looking  to 
this  CEcumenical  Conference,  sometimes,  I  fear,  with  exaggerated  and 
impossible  expectations,  as  to  a  body  whose  influence  may  be  available 
towards  a  solution  of  difl&culties  which  they  feel  to  be  of  a  serious  and 
more  or  less  threatening  character. 

There  are  two  names  around  which,  historically,  two  sets  of  facts 
group  themselves  in  India.  With  the  name  of  Dr.  Butler — an  American 
Irishman,  beloved  and  honoured  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic — is 
associated  the  observance  of  the  established  Indian  rules  of  missionary 
procedure,  and  all  that  is  brotherly  and  pleasant  in  experience  and  in 
remembrance.  With  the  name  of  the  Rev.  W.  Taylor,  of  Californian 
and  South  African  fame,  is  associated,  at  least  in  the  minds  of  many, 
the  thought  of  intrusion  and  irregularity,  and  much  that  is  more  or  less 
disturbing  and  perplexing.  Both  were — as  both  still  are — ministers  of 
the  same  Church,  the  American  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  but  Dr. 
Butler  represented  the  American  Methodist  Missionary  Board,  whereas 
Mr.  Taylor  rei)resented  only  his  own  convictions  and  his  own  methods 
and  enterprises. 

Dr.  Butler,  in  the  year  185G,  occupied  a  centre  in  the  north-west  of 
India,  with  the  cordial  good-will  of  the  existing  missionary  bodies  in 
India,  having  first  of  all  taken  counsel  with  the  Wesleyan  missionaries 
of  Madras  and  Bangalore — I  may  say,  of  South  India.  Mr.  Taylor 
took  counsel  with  himself  alone,  and  went  on  lines  altogether  special 
and  personal. 

Mr.  Taylor's  principle  was,  in  the  first  instance,  to  form  self- 
supporting  churches  of  Europeans  and  Eurasians  ;  churches  organised 
in  entire  independence,  at  least  in  the  first  instance,  of  all  other 
churclies,  although  loosely  united  with  each  other  from  the  first 
through  their  common  relationship  to  Mr.  Taylor,  and  eventually 
brought  into  some  relation  both  with  each  other,  and  with  the 
American  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  the  United  States,  by  being 
collected  under  a  distinct  Conference,  and  visited  by  the  same  Bishop 
of  the  American  Methodist  Church  who  visits  the  regularly  constituted 
and  organised  Indian  Conference  of  Missionary  Churches,  which  has 
been  formed  through  the  labours  of  Dr.  Butler  and  his  successors. 
Mr.  Taylor  appears  to  have  succeeded,  to  some  extent,  in  liis  object  of 


488  FOREIGN    MISSIONS. 

forming  self- supporting  churches,  having  obtained  American  pastors 
for  them,  who  accepted  the  position  on  the  understanding  that  they 
were  not  to  look  to  any  foreign  or  distant  sources  for  support.  It 
may  well  be  believed  that  Mr.  Taylor  has  set  an  example  of  energy, 
and  that  some  of  the  pastors  he  has  brought  over  have  set  an 
exarcple  of  self-denial  and  self-reliance,  from  which  missionaries  and 
missionary  churches  may  have  something  valuable  to  learn.  But  he 
has  done  little  or  nothing  in  the  way  of  founding  native  missionary 
societies,  while  he  has  divided  existing  Anglo-Indian  Churches  in  the 
process  of  founding  his  own  organisations.  Moreover,  by  intro- 
ducing a  second  Conference  into  India,  which  has  never,  in  any 
of  its  churches,  owned  any  organic  connection  with  the  previously 
existing  Conference,  and  which  proceeds  in  its  organisation  on  dif- 
ferent methods  and  principles,  while  he  has  given  his  mother  Church 
an  opportunity  of  showing  her  wonderful  elasticity,  he  has  at  the 
same  time  set  an  example  of  unco-ordinated  action  within  the  same 
Church  which  has  its  dangerous  side.  In  what  way  these  churches  of 
Mr.  Taylor  will  be  able,  in  consistency  with  his  main  principle,  to  carry 
out  effectively  or  extensively  missions  among  the  heathen,  remains  to 
be  seen.  That  principle  is  that  no  church,  not  even  a  missionary 
church,  should  be  statedly,  and  by  any  organic  arrangement,  dependent, 
even  in  its  inception,  in  its  first  initiatory  stages,  u]pon  another  church 
or  system  of  churches.  On  this  point  I  will  only  say  that  Mr.  Taylor 
herein  reminds  one  somewhat  of  Edward  Irving ;  and  that  if  from  both 
these  powerful  men  missions  and  missionaries  may  have  some  fine  in- 
spii'ations  and  some  valuable  hints  to  gain,  yet  that  both  alike  seem  to 
teach  Avhat  is  incompatible  with  the  very  basis  of  missionary  organisa- 
tions, and  cannot  be  sustained  by  the  authority  of  apostolic  teaching. 

The  princij)le  of  Methodism,  at  all  events,  from  the  first  has  been, 
that  as  the  circuit  centre  helps  to  support  the  work  in  the  needy  and 
distant  village ;  as  the  Connexion,  as  a  whole,  helps  to  maintain  the 
needy  and  dependent  circuit,  and  is  evermore  originating  some  new 
mission  at  home  ;  so  the  whole  Home  Connexion  is  bound  to  establish 
and  to  maintain,  according  to  its  power,  the  work  of  evangelisation  in 
foreign,  and,  above  all,  in  heathen  lands. 

In  China,  I  am  not  aware  that  any  difficulties  have  as  yet  arisen 
from  the  presence  of  at  least  four  different  Methodist  Missionary 
Societies  within  so  vast  a  field,  but  it  seems  to  be  desirable  that  timely 
arrangements  should  be  made  to  prevent  any  collision  or  inconvenient 
complication  in  the  future. 

In  Italy  the  American  and  the  Wesleyan  Methodist  Missionary 
Societies  come  into  contact  with  each  other,  but  not,  I  apprehend, 
into  anj'thing  like  collision  or  misunderstanding.  Capital  centre  as 
Eome  is,  in  Europe,  for  American  travellers  and  students  of  art,  it  is 
not  to  be  wondered  at  that  American  Methodism  should  have  its 
representative  at  Eome.    We  may  be  sui-e  that  Mr.  Piggott  would  not 


REV.  DR.  RIGG'S   ADDRESS.  4S9 

be  happy  to  lose  the  comradeship  of  Dr.  Veruon  in  the  eternal  city 
If  American  missions  are  destined  to  general  extension  in  Italy,  it  is 
not  to  be  doubted  that  the  spirit  of  the  American  and  Wesleyan 
Churches  towards  each  other  will  be  not  less  magnanimous  than  that 
which  enabled  Abraham  and  Lot  to  agree  as  to  the  territory  which 
each  respectively  should  occupy. 

A  more  difficult  question  is  presented  by  the  relations  of  the  different 
branches  of  Methodism— in  this  case  three  branches,  two  American 
and  one  English — in  Germany.  So  difiBcult,  indeed,  is  this  question, 
so  much  is  to  be  saidp?-o  and  con.  on  the  various  aspects  of  it,  that  I 
cannot  pretend,  especially  as  the  limit  of  my  time  is  already  almost 
reached,  to  deal  with  it  in  detail.  One  thing  only  I  will  say,  which 
seems  to  me  to  be  a  vital  consideration,  included  within  the  general 
scope  of  my  theme,  and  to  have  a  direct  bearing  on  this  particular 
branch  of  the  subject.  The  case  is  essentially  different  when  any 
Church  is  asked  to  retreat  from  ground  it  has  occupied,  to  hand  over 
churches  it  has  founded,  from  the  case  of  refraining  to  occupy  ground 
for  the  first  time  with  a  ^^ew  to  create  a  church.  If  it  was  accounted 
a  violation  of  political  liberty  for  the  inhabitants  of  Savoy  and  Nice, 
without  any  will  of  their  own,  to  be  transferred — transferred  really  by 
the  stroke  of  a  diplomatic  pen — from  king  to  emperor,  from  Italy  to 
France,  is  it  consistent  with  the  i^rinciples  of  true  religious  freedom, 
with  the  spiritual  rights  of  human  souls  and  human  churches,  for 
societies  and  congregations  to  be  transferred — in  virtue  of  a  nego- 
tiation between  foreign  and  distant  Church  powers — from  one  Church 
jurisdiction  to  another  ?  I  confess,  to  me  this  appears  to  be  a  very 
serious  question  indeed,  and  would  suggest  that  whatever  arrangements 
in  any  case  might  possibly  be  made,  whether  in  Germany  or  elsewhere, 
for  the  transfer  to  other  ecclesiastical  authorities  of  existing  mission 
churches,  means  should  always  be  taken  to  ensure  that  nothing  sliould 
be  done  of  this  kind  without  the  genuine  concurrence  of  at  least  the 
great  majority  of  the  societies  and  congregations  so  to  be  transferred. 

This  point  being  duly  guarded,  so  great  and  obvious  are  the 
benefits  which  would  result  from  the  consolidation  of  the  Methodist 
work  in  Germany,  with  a  view  to  its  development,  as  speedily  as 
possible,  into  a  truly  national,  self-regulating,  and  self-suiiiaorting 
German  Methodist  Church,  that  I  cannot  but  hope  the  subject  will 
receive  the  best  attention  of  the  American  and  British  Churches 
directly  interested. 

There  is  one  proposal,  lately  made  in  India,  which  some  may  be 
surprised  that  I  have  not  made  a  principal  point  of  discussing  in  this 
paper.  It  is  that  American  and  Wesleyan  Methodism  throughout  India 
should  be  united,  and  placed  under  the  direction  of  one  united  Con- 
ference, to  be  indeijeudent  alike  of  British  and  of  American  Metliodism, 
but  to  derive  support  from  both.  My  limited  time,  however,  to-day 
iid  not  allow  of  my  dealing  with  any  but  practical  ideas.    In  the  case 


490  FOREIGN  MISSIONS, 

of  missionary  churches  planted  among  heathen  races,  unsupported  by 
any  natural  basis,  national  or  colonial,  of  fully  organised  British  or 
American  Churches,  powerful  enough  to  be  not  only  self-supporting, 
but  effectively  missionary — in  the  case  of  such  weakling  and  dependent 
missionary  churches  in  a  country  like  India — the  idea  embodied  in  the 
proposal  to  which  I  have  referred  did  not  seem  to  me  to  be  practipal. 

How  imperfectly  I  have  dealt  with  my  subject,  I  know  full  well. 
But  to  have  dealt  with  it  fully  and  effectively  would  have  required  not 
minutes  but  hours.     I  have  done  what  I  could  in  the  time. 

Rev,  R.  S.  Maclat,  D.D.  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church)  said:  The  best 
and  perhaps  the  only  adequate  way  to  avoid  the  evils  referred  to  in  the  topio 
now  under  discussion,  is  to  avoid  the  cause  or  causes  which  are  likely  to  pro- 
duce them.  It  may  be  true  that  hitherto  these  evils  have  not  assumed 
alarming  proportions  ;  and  yet  probably  we  are  all  prepared  to  admit  that, 
at  least  in  some  degree,  the  evils  referred  to  really  exist,  or  are  to  be  appre- 
hended. If  it  is  even  only  approximately  true  that  the  policy,  or  absence  of 
policy,  underlying  our  present  plans  for  aggressive  church  work  tends  to 
produce  evils  similar  to  those  already  referred  to,  it  is  certainly  well  for  us  to 
give  the  subject  our  most  serious  consideration.  I  am  aware  that,  in  the 
judgment  of  many  able  men  among  us,  the  policy,  or  absence  of  policy,  with 
regard  to  this  subject,  according  to  which  the  Churches  represented  in  this 
Conference  are  now  acting  is  the  best,  and,  indeed,  the  only  course  for  us  to 
pursue.  It  is  said  that  the  evils  referred  to,  wherever  they  exist,  have  arisen 
from  indiscretion  or  perhaps  maladministration  ;  and  that  any  attempt  at 
present  to  modify  our  plans  or  to  institute  a  common  policy  in  regard  to  the 
subject  will  inevitably  create  difficulties  greater  than  those  of  which  we  now 
complain.  But  even  the  most  strenu&us  advocate  of  our  present  policy  will 
probably  admit  that  the  evils  in  question,  wherever  they  exist  or  may  be 
imminently  possible,  are  sufficiently  important  to  demand  the  most  earnest 
attention  ;  that  such  evils  constitute  charges  of  the  gravest  character  against 
any  policy  of  which  they  may  be  legitimately  predicated ;  and  that  if  these 
evils  do  not  result  from  indiscretion  or  maladministration,  but  indicate  the 
necessary  tendency  of  the  policy  itself,  it  manifestly  is  high  time  to  take  the 
matter  into  our  most  searching  and  prayerful  consideration.  Emergencies 
and  questions  of  high  importance,  in  connection  with  our  missionary  work, 
have  already  arisen,  for  the  adjudication  and  control  of  which  no  adequate 
regulations  exist ;  and  it  is  quite  certain  that  consequent  upon  the  expansion 
of  our  evangelistic  work,  both  in  the  home  countries  and  also  in  lands  beyond 
the  seas,  more  serious  complications  may  arise  in  the  near  future.  Ordinary 
prudence  would  seem  to  indicate  that,  at  as  early  a  day  as  practicable,  the 
Churches  here  represented  should  jointly  enunciate  such  principles,  and  enact 
such  rules  with  reference  to  the  subject,  as  shall  meet  the  requirements  of  the 
case.  Without  attempting  at  present  an  exhaustive  treatment  of  the  subject, 
it  may,  perhaps,  be  appropriate  for  me  to  offer  a  few  suggestions  having 
leference  chiefly  to  the  prosecution  of  the  missionary  work  in  which  we  are 


I 


EEV.  E.  S.  MACLAY'S   ADDRESS.  491 

engnged.  In  the  first  place,  if  the  other  suggestions  in  regard  to  this  subject 
that  may  be  offered  are  impracticable  at  present,  may  it  not  be  practicable 
that  in  missionary  operations  the  Churches  represented  in  this  Conference, 
while  retaining  their  present  organisations  and  denominational  characteristics, 
should  combine  their  efforts  and  make  common  cause,  at  least,  in  initiating 
and  supporting  educational,  literary,  medical,  eleemosynary,  and,  perhaps, 
other  departments  of  Christian  work'/  Secondly,  If  the  preceding  sugges- 
tion is  deemed  inadequate,  is  it  not  practicable  and  desirable  that,  with 
reference  at  least  to  missionary  efforts,  the  Churches  here  represented  should 
adopt  some  plan  in  accordance  with  which  the  countries,  or  portions  of  the 
countries,  to  be  evangelised  shall  be  distributed  so  that  to  each  branch  of 
Methodism  co-operating  in  the  great  missionary  movement  a  separate  and 
adequate  field  shall  be  assigned  for  its  occupancy  ?  Thirdly,  If  the  pre- 
ceding suggestions  do  not  meet  all  the  requirements  of  the  case,  is  it  not 
practicable  and  desirable  that  the  branches  of  Methodism  represented  in  this 
CEcumenical  Conference  should  come  into  closer  communion,  and,  at  least  in 
their  missionary  work,  unite  in  raising  up  one  common  Methodist  Native 
Church  in  each  great  mission-field — a  Church  which,  loyal  to  the  unchanging 
and  unchangeable  principles  of  God's  Holy  Word,  identifying  and  empha- 
sising the  original  spirit  of  Methodism,  and  in  non-essential  points  adapting 
itself  to  race  and  national  idiosyncrasies,  shall  be  an  element  of  power 
wherever  established  ? 

In  support  of  this  suggestion  it  may  be  urged  that  it  will  be  an  eloquent 
expression  of  Christian  brotherly  love  and  confidence  ;  that  it  will  tend  to 
remove  a  prolific  source  of  objection  to  Protestant  Christianity  ;  that  it  will 
accord  with  the  growing  spirit  of  catholicity  among  the  Churches,  both 
at  home  and  abroad,  at  the  present  time  ;  that  it  will  tend  to  bring  us 
nearer  to  other  Protestant  communions  ;  that  it  will  partially,  if  not  wholly, 
remove  the  evils  now  under  discussion  ;  that  it  wiU  enable  us  most  economi- 
cally and  effectively  to  utilise  the  appliances  and  resources  at  command 
in  the  prosecution  of  our  missionary  work ;  that  it  will  at  once  emphasise 
and  illustrate  our  belief  in  the  essential  union  and  unity  in  Christ  of  all  true 
Christians ;  and  that  it  will  be  at  least  an  approximate  fulfilment  of  our 
Saviour's  prayer  "  that  they  all  may  be  one."  Whether  or  hot  the  suggestion 
offered  is  practicable  at  present,  remains  for  us  and  the  Churches  we  represent 
to  say.  The  objections  that  may  be  arrayed  against  it  are  numerous  indeed, 
but  perhaps  not  unanswerable  ;  the  obstacles  in  the  way  of  its  accomplish- 
ment are  formidable  indeed,  but  pei'haps  not  insurmountable.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  considerations  supporting  it,  and  the  results  to  be 
legitimately  expected  from  it,  are  so  beneficent  and  important,  and 
harmonise  so  completely  with  the  spirit,  the  instructions,  and  the  example 
of  the  Great  Teacher,  tliat  it  is  impossible  to  repress  the  desire  for  its 
immediate  accomplishment,  or  to  conceive  of  any  other  answer  to  the 
important  question  now  before  us  that  will  so  adequately  meet  all  the 
demands  of  the  emergency  contemplated,  and  the  salutary  influence  of 
which  will  be  more  acceptable  to  Him  whose  we  are  and  whom  we  delight 


492  FOREIGN  MISSIONS. 

to  serve.  In  the  event  of  our  continuing  to  employ  in  our  aggressive 
Church -work  the  policy  we  have  hitherto  pursued,  I  beg  leave  to  offer  a 
few  remarks  on  the  subject.  First :  With  regard  to  initiating  new 
missionary  work,  it  is  extremely  desirable  that  no  branch  of  Methodism, 
without  previous  consultation  and  agreement  between  the  two  parties,  shall 
enter  a  mission-field  where  another  branch  of  the  same  Church  is  operating, 
and  employs  appliances  and  resources  even  approximately  commensurate 
with  the  demands  of  the  field .  Secondly  :  With  regard  to  mission-fields 
where  two  or  more  Methodist  missionary  societies  are  already  operating,  it 
is  of  the  highest  importance  that  whenever  in  the  territory  thus  occupied 
one  society  has  commenced  work,  and  employs  in  its  prosecution  a  corps 
of  labourers  sufficient  to  meet  the  reasonable  claims  of  the  place  in  question, 
no  other  society  shall  enter  it.  Thirdly  :  With  regard  to  arrangements  for 
the  translation  of  God's  Holy  Word,  the  preparation  of  Scripture  com- 
mentaries, the  translation  or  composition  of  hymns,  and  all  other  efforts 
to  provide  a  Christian  literature  for  the  native  churches,  in  countries  where 
two  or  more  branches  of  Methodism  are  operating,  it  is  extremely  desirable 
that  the  efforts  in  this  direction  of  any  one  branch  should  be  utilised  and 
supported  by  the  other  branches.  Lastly:  That  while  adhering  to  our 
denominational  organisations  and  characteristics,  we  ought,  as  far  as  possible, 
to  endeavour  to  hold  in  abeyance  minor  points  of  difference,  and  to  bring 
prominently  before  the  minds  of  the  native  Christians  under  our  care  the 
great  points  of  doctrine,  method,  and  usage  concerning  which  we  are  in 
accord,  to  the  end  that  these  Christian  converts  may  be  united  in  mutual 
love  and  confidence.  A  little  over  one  hundred  years  ago  Methodism, 
guided,  as  we  believe,  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  commenced  her  career  by  planning 
for  the  conquest  of  a  continent,  and,  with  God's  blessing,  the  approximate 
execution  of  the  programme  has  made  her  great.  At  the  opening  of  a  new 
centurj^  let  us,  in  humble  dependence  on  the  same  Divine  Spirit,  and  by 
a  judicious  use  of  our  resources,  rise  to  the  grandeur  of  our  opportunity,  and 
plan  wisely  for  the  conquest  of  the  world. 

.  Rev.  a.  C.  George,  D.  D.  (M.  E.  Church):  No  more  practically 
important  question  for  Methodism,  I  suppose,  can  be  brought  before  tliis 
Conference  than  we  have  to  consider  to-daj-.  There  is  no  doubt  but  that 
those  engaged  in  these  mission-fields  at  the  ends  of  the  earth  are  looking 
to  this  Conference  for  the  expressions  which  it  may  make  on  this  subject. 
I  was  intensely  interested  in  the  very  fervent,  practical  papers  which  have 
been  presented  to  us.  There  are  a  few  principles  with  regard  to  this 
missionary  work  which  ought  to  be  kept  constantly  in  mind.  If  we  ^ould 
somehow  transfer  through  all  our  missionary  societies,  boards,  conferences, 
and  churches  this  feeling,  that  we  are  operating  in  foreign  missions  not 
to  convert  a  country  to  the  Methodism  of  the  British  Wesleyan  Society,  or 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  or  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
South,  or  to  any  other  particular  family  of  the  one  great  Methodist 
denomination,  but  to  Methodism — that  the  result  must  be  in  the  end  a 
Methodist  Church  in  India,  a  Methodist  Church  in  China,  a  Methodist 
Church  in  Japan,  a  Methodist  Church  in  Germany  and  Italy,  where- 
ever  we  go,  then  a  feeling  of  oneness  and  commonness  in  the  ultimate 


GENERAL   REMARKS.  493 

end    would   be   realised,   and    a    great    many   of   the    difficulties   which 
arise,    in    these    seA'eral    fields,    and    which    are    likely    to   arise,   would 
be  avoided.     We  should  not  enter   Germany,  for  instance,  as  Wesleyan 
Methodists,    as    Methodists    connected    with    the    Methodist    Episcopal 
Church  of  the  United  States,  or  with  the   P]vangelical   Association  ;    we 
should   not  enter  the    same  town  or  the   same  quarter  of  the  town  and 
undertake   to  establish  two  or  three  Methodist  Societies,  of  necessity  in 
each  other's  way,  impairing  the  common  resources,  and  exciting  almost 
certainly  some  jealousies  and  rivalries.     There  are,  as  the  essayist  said, 
great  cities  like  the  capital  of  the   world,  where   two   or   three   distinct 
Methodist  organisations  may  very  appropriately  have  a  head,  a  capital,  a 
centre   of   operations  ;    but,   nevertheless,  we  are  to  create   a   Methodist 
Church — I  do  not  say  a  Wesleyan  Methodist  nor  a  Methodist  Episcopal, 
but  a  Methodist  Church — in  Italy,  in  Germany,  and  in  those  other  countries. 
I  think  if  this  is  kept  in  mind  we  shall  keep  out  of  each  other's  way  ;  we 
shall   avoid  a  waste  of  our  resources,  we  shall  remove  the  occasion  for 
feelings  of  rivalry,  we  shall  regard  ourselves  as  different  armies  of  occu- 
pation entering  a  great  country  for  its  sultjivg'ation  to  the  one  great  central 
power  which,  we  all  represent,  and  we  shall  expand  om-  means  and   our 
energies,  therefore,  only  in  respect  to  the  ultimate  result.     The  suggestion 
is  made  that  in  certain  things — literary,  theological,  educational  institutions, 
seminaries  for  theological  training — there   may  not   only  be   conferences 
amongst  Methodist  missionaries  representing  dilferent  Methodist  societies 
in  dilt'erent  parts  of  the  world,  but  practical  co-operation.     Why  may  we 
not  have  one  theological  training-school  in  India,  in  China,  in  Japan,  in 
which  all  these  different  Methodist  bodies  may  be  represented,  and  towards 
the  support  of  which  they  may  all  contribute?     I  do  not  suppose  it  is 
possible  in  many  cases  to  make  a  distribution  of  territory  amongst  different 
denominations — different  branches,  I  will  say,  of   this   great   Methodist 
denomination,  for  we  are  one — that  can  be  strictly  and  absolutely  adhered 
to,  but  there  are  certain  exceptional  cases  that  must  be  charitably  con- 
sidered.    One  was  referred  to  by  Dr.  Rigg,  for  instance,  where  he  speaks, 
I  believe,  of  a  certain  stipulation  with  the  Church  Society.     Persons  con- 
verted under  the  ministrations  of  certain  missionaries  going  beyond  their 
geographical  territory  into  another  locality  will  gather  together  and  will 
naturally   seek   ministration    and   help   from   the   same   source,   and   the 
prosperity  of  the  common  cause  is  to  be  secured  by  yielding  to  a  certain 
extent.     It  will  be  found  wise  and  practicable  to  yield  in  some  measure  to 
the  demand.     I  believe  that  is  a  question,  with  all  its  difficulties  and  with 
all  its  embarrassments,  that  we  only  need  to  look  in  the  face,  to  consider  it 
calmly  and  kindly  in  all  its  bearings,  and  in  all  its  great  possible  practical 
results.     If  we  can  thoroughly  harmonise  our  work  in  foreign  lands  it  will, 
perhaps,  be  a  rebuke  to  us  at  home,  which  we  deserve  to  receive  ;  it  may 
be  that  voices  will  come  to  us  from  these  foreign  fields,  saying,  "  Is  there 
not  some  waste  of  men   and  of  money,  of  resources  and   opportunities, 
amongst  you  in  England  and  in  America?     Would  it  not  be  well  for  you 
more  thoroughly  to  co-operate?"     I  think  one  of  the  blessed  results  of 
practical  un(lerstanding  and  unity  and  co-operation  in  the  foreign  field  will 
be  that  we  shall  come  more  practically  and  thoroughly  to  harmonise  and 
co-operate  at  home,  and  that  tlie  unification  of  the  great  power  of  ]\Ietho- 
dism,  not  only  in  Christendom,  but  heathendom,  through  all  lands,  will  be 
the  grand  and  glorious  result. 

Rev.  E.  H.  Dewart,  D.D.  (Methodist  Church \Df  Canada):  Mr.  President,  I 
believe  there  is  no  topic  placed  on  the  programme  for  discussion  in  this 
Conference  that  awakens  more  profound  interest  throughout  the  Methodist 
world  than  the  one  that  is  now  before  us  for  discussion,  and  that  our 
people  are  looking  more  anxiously  at  to  see  what  solution  or  what  suggestion 


494!  FOREIGN   MISSIONS. 

may  be  proposed,  I  do  not  think  that  it  is  among-  the  teeming  masses  of 
heathenism  that  the  evil  is  seen  at  the  worst ;  but  in  the  mission-fields  of 
oar  sparsely-settled  districts  the  evil  is  still  more  apparent.  I  know,  for 
instance,  in  my  own  country,  a  A'illage  of  about  2,500  or  3,000  popu- 
lation, in  which  there  are  three  Methodist  churches — good  substantial 
buildings — and  three  Methodist  ministers,  each  of  them  having  small 
congregations  ;  and  it  does  seem  as  if  a  good  deal  of  money  was  paid  for 
tlie  simple  purpose  of  having  the  privilege  of  worshipping  apart,  for  I  can 
see  no  other  good  really  to  come  of  it.  I  would  not  for  a  moment 
express  any  sympathy  with  those  who  are  constantly  speaking  against  de- 
nominational feelings.  I  believe  that  without  denominational  loyalty  and 
denominationl  attachment  we  cannot  successfully  maintain  our  position  and 
promote  our  work.  But  there  is  something  higher  and  dearer  and  more 
important  than  loyalty  to  our  denominational  interests,  and  that  is  loyalty 
to  one  common  Christianity  and  to  the  cause  of  our  common  Master,  and  all 
our  missionary  operations,  and  all  our  adjustments  of  our  work,  and  all  our 
occupations  of  our  different  fields,  should  be  in  harmony  with  the  grand 
sentiment,  "  One  is  your  jMaster,  even  Christ,  and  all  ye  are  brethren." 
With  regard  to  the  proposal  to  meet  this  difficulty  by  establishing  Methodist 
Churches  in  Germany  and  other  foreign  fields,  there  is — however  fine  this 
may  sound  as  regards  liberality — a  serious  practical  difficulty,  and  that  is 
that  our  different  missionary  societies  will  not  continue  to  contribute  the 
funds  necessary  for  the  support  and  prosecution  of  the  work  after  they 
cease  to  have  any  direction  over  it.  This  may  become  accomplished  in  the 
future  when  the  missionary  societies  in  these  different  countries  are  suffi- 
ciently strong  to  maintain  themselves  and  to  prosecute  their  work  with 
vigour  ;  but  it  seems  to  me  there  is  a  practical  difficulty  as  long  as  these 
Churches  are  not  self-sustaining  and  sufficiently  vigorous  in  the  occupation 
of  the  fields  that  are  allotted  to  them.  I  believe  there  can  be  very  little 
done  for  the  present  in  the  mere  withdrawal  of  missionaries  from  certain 
quarters  ;  but  upon  the  lines  indicated  by  the  papers  read,  and  fey  the 
speeches  already  delivered,  I  believe  much  can  be  done — that  is  in  the 
general  policy  pursued.  For  it  is  not  a  mere  waste  of  labour  and  of  money 
that  we  have  to  meet  in  this  question,  but  there  is  a  waste  of  moral  influence 
and  religious  power  also  through  our  contentions  and  rivalries  ;  and  I  hope 
and  trust  that  thongh  we  may  not  be  able  to  withdraw  missionaries  in  order 
to  form  churches,  an  influence  will  go  forth,  especially  upon  the  missionary 
authorities  of  the  different  Churches  we  represent,  that  will  enable  them  to 
work  upon  the  general  lines  of  unity  and  amicable  understanding,  which 
will  prevent  that  loss  of  moral  influence  and  that  waste  of  labour  and  money 
which  we  all  so  much  deprecate  in  the  past. 

Kev.  J.  C.  Barratt  (British  Wesleyan  Church)  :  It  must  be  admitted 
that  in  Germany  there  have  been  waste  and  friction  arising  from  occupation 
of  the  same  fields  by  various  Methodist  missionary  bodies.  Let  me  give 
one  illustration.  In  a  certain  city  of  South  Germany  at  the  time  to  which 
I  refer,  two  Methodist  missionary  bodies  had  been  established  for  some  years 
— the  one  body  seventeen  or  eighteen  years;  the  second  body  about  half  as 
long.  At  that  time  the  third  Methodist  missionary  body  at  work  in  Germany 
sent  in  a  preacher,  the  only  ground  for  which,  as  given,  v/as  this  :  "  Members 
of  our  own  connnuuity  have  removed  from  various  parts  of  the  land,  and 
are  now  found  centred  in  this  city."  But  surely  that  cannot  be  a  sufficient 
reason  for  establishing  a  ncyv  section  of  Methodist  agency  in  any  place 
occupied  by  one  or  two  such  bodies  already.  If  each  Methodist  body 
possesses  all  the  essentials  of  Methodism,  surely  the  Methodist  Churches 
not  represented  in  such  a  city  maj-  send  their  members  to  the  bodies  already 
existing  there.  If  this  reason  be  followed  out  to  its  logical  sequence,  we 
must  have  a  multiplication  of  triple  representations  of  Methodism,  for,  in 


GENERAL  REMARKS.  ¥0i 


\ 


nearly  every  large  town  and  city  of  South  Germany,  members  are  to  be 
found  belonging  to  each  of  these  Methodist  Churches.  What  is  the  remedy  ? 
We  are  told  amalgamation,  organic  union.  I  can  onlj'  say  that,  beautiful 
as  the  ideal  of  a  National  I\Iethodist  Church  is,  at  present  it  seems  to  me  to 
be  impracticable.  I  can  speak  with  reference  to  one  of  the  Methodist 
bodies  represented  in  Germany,  and  I  am  within  the  limits  of  truth  when  I 
say  that  seven-eighths  of  the  preachers  •  and  people  are  not  prepared  for 
such  union.  As  to  a  second  Methodist  body  represented  there,  certainly 
the  majority  are  against  such  an  organic  union  ;  and  I  submit  that  if  any 
blessing  is  to  come  out  of  such  a  union,  the  impulse  nmst  come  from 
within,  not  from  outside  agitation.  As  soon  as  this  becomes  a  necessity, 
and  the  affinities  draw  together,  then  the  work  of  union  will  be  easy,  and 
unquestionably  will  be  most  blessed.  I  think  tbat  the  remedy  for  this 
state  of  things  is  the  cultivation  of  the  spirit  of  brotherly  love  between  the 
(preachers  of  the  various  denominations,  and  the  fair  and  legitimate  use  of 
every  opportunity  that  offers  for  united  action,  so  that  it  may  be  seen  that 
these  various  Methodist  bodies  are  not  opposing  forces,  but  that  they  are 
branches  of  one  great  Church — that  they  are  various  corps  of  one  great 
army.  I  will  only  add  an  expression  of  a  hope  that  when  France  is  to  be 
occupied — as  we  were  told  the  other  day  would  most  probably  be  the  case 
by  another  Methodist  body — sufficient  care  in  the  selection  of  centres  and 
in  the  organisation  of  the  working  plan  will  be  taken  to  manifest  to  the 
world  that  Methodist  brotherhood  is  not  a  sentiment  merely,  but  a  fact. 

Bishop  Peck  :  I  rise,  sir,  to  make  a  motion  which  is  in  accordance,  I 
think,  with  the  feelings  of  this  body.  This  is  a  matter  about  which  we 
ought  to  do  something.  It  is  not  sufficient  merely  to  talk  about  it.  I 
therefore  move  tliat  a  Select  Committee  be  appointed  of  four  men  to  draft 
such  suggestions  as  this  Conference  may  submit  to  the  respective  Mis- 
sionary Boards.  If  I  were  to  express  my  desire,  I  would  have  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Macluy  the  chairman  of  that  Select  Committee.  I  will  not,  however, 
go  further.  I  think  that  four  careful  men,  knowing  missionary  fields,  and 
understanding  them  as  Dr.  Eigg  understands  them,  can  draw  up  a  brief 
form  of  recommendation  to  the  respective  Missionary  Boards  that  will 
make  this  Conference  somewliat  influential  in  avoiding  future  difficulties, 
if  not  in  correcting  those  of  tlie  past.  I  move  that  such  a  committee 
be  appointeil. 

Rev.  W.  Akthuk  :  I  do  not  rise  to  oppose  the  motion,  but  I  do  rise 
with  very  great  earnestness  to  give  serious  caution  to  the  Conference  with 
regard  to  the  direction  which  it  now  seems  to  be  taking.  I  believe  there 
are  very  few  things  from  wiiich  greater  danger  may  be  apprehended.  I 
have  watched  the  rise  of  this  tendency  from  a  very  early  time  of  my 
connection  with  missionary  operations,  and  I  confess  that  practically,  in 
all  the  cases  in  which  I  have  known  our  missionary  society  to  enter  into 
a  formal  arrangement  with  another  missionary  society  to  keep  out  of  or  to 
forsake  a  given  territory,  the  result  has  been  much  more  trouble  than  ever 
had  arisen  from  the  presence  upon  the  same  ground  of  two  or  more- 
denominations.  I  state  a  simple  fact.  Dr.  Rigg  has  already  alluded  to' 
one  case,  the  celebrated  one  of  the  Samoan  Islands.  Now,  that  was  a 
misfake  that  must  never  be  repeated  anywhere.  No  two  missionary  com-^ 
mittees  anywhere  must  sit  down  behind  the  backs  of  the  native  churches 
of  any  country  and  arrange  that  those  churches  should  be  handed  over  to 
anybody  else.  Methodist  work  has  spread  far  more  by  liberty  than  by 
uniformity,  and  divisions  in  all  church  history  have  arisen  much  more  from 
the  craving  for  uniformity  tlwn  from  the  free  exercise  of  liberty.  So  long 
as  a  man  is  a  missionary  in  a  great  city,  I  can  never  understand  his  feeling 
offended  when  another  man  comes  into  that  city  to  do  Christ's  work.  I  am 
in  {ho  midst  of  50,000  Roman  Catholics,  and  to  thiuk  it  a  great  intrusion 


496  FOREIGN  MISSIONS. 

upon  me  if  another  minister,  not  of  the  same  denomination,  comes  into  the 
district  to  do  mission-work,  is  to  me  perfectly  monstrous.  The  way  to  show 
union  in  such  a  case  is  not  to  claim  that  such  territory  should  be  left  to 
me,  but  to  take  the  brother  by  the  hand,  and  to  say,  "  If  God  gives  you 
more  success  than  He  has  given  me,  I  shall  praise  His  name."  I  should  be 
very  glad  of  any  steps  tending  to  correct  cases  such  as  Dr,  Dewart  has 
pointed  out,  cases  of  real  waste.  When  you  come  to  deal  with  village 
populations,  with  dispersed  populations,  then  I  believe  a  great  deal  of  good 
may  thus  be  done  ;  but  when  you  come  to  deal  with  city  centres,  when 
you  come  to  deal  with  great  territorial  tracts  in  India,  it  is  to  me  perfectly 
absurd  to  try  to  fix  the  future  so  that  such  tracts  should  be  left  to  any 
one  denomination.  Go  on  the  Methodist  principle  of  union — union  in 
diversity — and  when  actual  combination  arises,  let  it  arise  from  an  internal 
feeling  in  the  bosoms  of  the  brethren,  and  of  the  Churches  themselves,  of 
the  want  of  union.  Do  not  let  it  arise  from  external  action  proceeding 
from  any  one  centre  whatever. 

Bishop  Peck  :  I  have  no  idea,  if  the  Conference  should  appoint  this 
committee,  that  they  will  in  principle  recommend  any  policy  differing 
essentially  from  the  broad  and  clear  ideas  of  our  brother  Arthur;  but  this 
is  a  fact  which  we  have  to  meet.  There  is  a  general  expectation  that  this 
Conference  will  suggest  something  in  regard  to  this  matter.  If  they  only 
report  that  there  can  be  nothing  done,  they  will  help  us  throughout  all  our 
Churches.  If  they  should  report  that  there  can  be  some  prudential 
measures  adopted,  and  can  name  what  they  are — nothing  of  the  radical 
changes  which  my  brother  deprecates — that  report  would  give  us  rest  with 
regard  to  the  matter.  Without  having  any  idea  that  a  committee  would 
be  appointed  which  would  attempt  anything  revolutionarj^  or  radical,  I  still 
believe  that  a  judicious,  wise  committee  can  do  something  which  will  give 
the  Church  rest,  even  if  everything  remains  just  as  it  is  now. 

Rev.  Dr.  J.  M.  Reid  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church)  :  I  desire  but  a  few 
words  now  that  Mr.  Arthur  has  said  what  he  has  so  well  and  so  appropriately; 
but  I  do  desire  to  say  a  word  or  two.  In  the  first  place,  it  seems  to  me  that 
these  differences,  so  far  as  the  foreign  fields  are  concerned,  are  greatly 
exaggerated.  I  have  in  one  instance,  where  there  was  much  complaint 
in  regard  to  this  matter,  diligently  inquired  into  it,  and  I  could  find  in  that 
whole  mission-field  but  one  single  case  of  collision,  and  yet  there  were 
more  than  eighty  men  on  our  part  employed  in  the  field  ;  and  where  there 
are  150  preachers  at  Avork  it  ought  not  to  have  been  surprising  if,  in  their 
activity  and  zeal,  there  had  been  at  least  one  case  of  thwarting  or  crossing 
each  other's  track.  Now,  sir,  I  would  deplore  the  impression  going  out  to 
the  world,  on  whom  we  depend  for  our  missionary  contributions,  that  we 
are  in  a  state  of  wrangle  in  our  foreign  fields.  I  know  of  no  such  thing, 
and  I  have  diligently  looked  into  the  matter.  I  have  my  anxieties  in  regard 
to  it,  and  I  know  there  are  points  of  danger  to  which  the  excellent  essayist 
referred.  The  society  of  which  I  am  secretary  stands  upon  the  general 
principles  established  years  ago.  We  went  into  the  north-west  of  India, 
where  there  was  not  a  missionary  among  all  those  millions,  and  where  it 
was  hard  to  go,  for  we  had  no  railroads,  and  other  means  of  travel  were 
not  very  swift  or  easy.  In  the  same  way  we  went  to  Foochow,  a  city 
'where  there  was  no  mission,  in  the  heart  of  the  country,  and  when  there 
was  no  thought  of  its  becoming  a  commercial  city.  These  have  been  our 
general  principles  ;  but  in  the  case  of  Germany,  for  instance,  we  have 
grown  so  rapidly  by  the  blessing  of  God  that  it  has  become  an  Annual 
Conference.  There  are  now  eighty-five  preachers  making  up  that  Con- 
Eerence,  and  they  are  zealous  men,  and  it  would  not  be  astonishing  at  all 
if,  in  the  prosecution  of  their  independent  %vork,  each  man  for  himself,  and 
each  responsible  to  his  Conference,  there  should  be  some  little  overstepping 


GENERAL   REMARKS.  497 

now  and  then.  I  wonld  rather  have  a  man  overstepping  twice  or  three 
times  every  year  of  his  life,  than  doins,"  nothins;'  in  his  conservatism  ;  I 
would  immensely  rather  that  there  should  be  a  little  overplus  of  zeal,  than 
a  staid  conservatism  that  brings  about  no  results.  Now  I  desire  to  say  that 
I  have  never  heard  until  this  morning  from  anybody  in  the  universe — and 
I  have  tried  to  study  missions — I  have  never  heard  that  there  was  ever  a  pro- 
position from  any  body,  or  any  society,  to  transfer  churches,  or  societies, 
or  congregations,  without  their  consent ;  I  never  heard  of  an  instance  in 
which  there  was  a  proposition  that  there  should  even  be  a  consultation 
about  the  matter.  So  far  as  our  society  is  concerned,  we  simply  go  on  and 
prosecute  our  work.  There  has  never  been  a  discussion  either  in  our 
private  committees  or  in  our  public  board,  or  in  our  general  committee, 
upon  this  subject.  We  have  no  policj^  in  respect  to  it.  We  are  going 
forward,  awaiting  God's  providence.  I  confess  to  you,  when  I  saw  there 
were  some  150  IMethodist  preachers  in  Germany,  I  desired  to  see  them 
united,  not  for  the  sake  of  preventing  their  crossing  each  other's  path — for 
I  do  not  believe  they  would  do  it  nuich — but  for  the  sake  of  having  the 
whole  150  presenting  one  grand  front,  to  speak  to  the  Emperor,  to  speak  to 
the  legislature,  to  speak  to  tlie  great  people  of  Germany,  whenever  their 
rights  were  involved.  I  said  over  and  over  again  in  Germany,  in  the 
presence  of  all  classes  of  people,  that  I  hoped  the  time  would  come  when 
German  Methodism  would  be  one,  and  that  was  for  the  sake  of  influencing 
persons  of  all  our  denominations  to  hasten  the  result.  I  have  not  any  faith 
in  Ecumenical  Methodism  :  I  mean  a'cumenical  in  the  sense  of  an  organic 
Methodism  all  over  the  world.  I  believe  that  just  as  inevitably  as  we 
needed  American  Methodism  when  we  became  au  independent  nation,  so 
there  must  be  in  the  end  a  German  Methodism,  an  Italian  Methodism.  I 
only  wait  till  God  says  the  time  is  at  hand. 

Eev.  E.  E.  Jenkins  (Wesleyan  Methodist)  :  I  agree  with  the  general 
sentiments  which  I  have  heard  on  this  subject,  but  we  must  come  from 
general  sentiments  to  facts.  I  hope  Dr.  Peck's  suggestion  will  be  carried 
out.  Even  if  it  fail,  I  am  for  attempting  something.  I  was  in  Madras 
three  or  four  j^ears  ago,  and  I  found  there  that  the  brethren  of  America 
were  preaching  the  Gospel,  and  earnestly  doing  it  too,  in  neiglibourhoods 
where  our  own  missionaries  were  preaching  the  Gospel,  thus  disturbing 
each  other's  success.  This  has  been  the  case  in  Bangalore  as  well  as 
Madras,  to  my  certain  knowledge.  Now,  the  brethren  there,  and  probably 
in  other  fields,  are  expecting  this  Conference  to  say  something.  I  do  not 
believe  there  is  any  important  difference  in  the  views  entertained  in  the 
(Ecumenical  Conference  to-day  on  this  point,  and  if  the  committee,  suggested 
by  Bishop  Peck,  could  meet  together  and  recommend  for  the  consideration  of 
the  separate  societies  represented  liere,  certain  rules  for  the  mapping  out  of 
districts  and  working  together,  I  think  we  should  secure  a  more  harmonious 
co-operation  in  our  great  work  hereafter. 

Bishop  Peck's  resolution  was  then  agreed  to,  with  the  suggestion 
that  the  Business  Committee  should  nominate  the  members  of  the 
committee. 

The  proceedings  closed  with  a  hymn  and  the  Beuedictiou, 


E  K 


ELEVENTH  DAY,  Monday,  September  l^h. 


President — Rev.  R.  Chew,  United  Methodist  Free  Churclieu 


Subject  : 
"FOREIGN  MISSIONS"— Cojiimwecf. 


nnHE  CONFEEENCEresumedthismorning  at  Ten  o'clock     The 
-*-      Kev.  J.  KiRSOP,  of  Manchester,  conducted  the  Devotional 
Services. 

Rev.  J.  Bond  brought  up  the  report  from  the  Business  Committee 
with  reference  to  the  closing  meeting.     They  recommend : 

"  That  Dr.  Osborn  be  requested  to  preside  at  that  meeting  and  give  a 
resume  of  the  Conference  with  regard  to  the  initiation  of  the  movement,  its 
progress,  &c.,  and  responses,  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  George,  the  Hon.  Oliver  Hoyt, 
Rev.  Dr.  McFerrin,  Bishop  Wood,  Rev.  Dr.  Buckley,  Rev.  W.  Arthur,  and 
others,  closing  prayers  to  be  offered  by  the  Rev.  Bishop  iMcTyeire  and  the 
Rev,  Dr.  Rigg,  the  Benediction  by  Bishop  Simpson," 

Mr.  S.  D.  Waddy  moved  an  amendment  to  the  report.  He 
thought  that  by  that  time  they  would  have  had  quite  enough  of 
speeches  and  risumis,  and  proposed  that  the  closing  meeting  should 
take  the  form  of  a  good  earnest  Methodist  prayer-meeting  from 
beginning  to  end.  They  did  not  want  anybody  to  write  tlieir 
biographies,  or  to  tell  them  what  they  had  been  doing  during  the 
last  few  days. 

Bishop  Peck  seconded  the  amendment,  which  was  supported  by 
Rev.  Dr.  Walden,  Dr.  Marshall,  and  Mr.  Newton. 

Rev.  Dr.  Rigg  supported  the  recommendation  of  the  Committee. 
Of  course  the  opportunity  for  prayer  would  be  desired  and  provided, 
but  at  the  same  time  it  would  scarcely  be  right  to  part  with  their 
visitors  without  giving  them  an  opportunity  to  say  farewell. 

A  second  amendment  was  proposed  by  the  Rev.  W.  Arthur,  to 
the  effect  that  the  half-hour  at  the  tlose  of  the  morning  session,  and 


REV.   W.   H.   potter's  ADDRESa  499 

the  half-hour  closing  the  first  session  in  the  afternoon,  should, 
instead  of  being  occupied  by  the  usual  five-minute  speeches,  be 
occupied  by  Dr.  Osborn  and  Bishop  Simpsou  for  the  purpose  of 
farewell  addresses. 

After  a  long  discussion,  Mr.  Waddy's  amendment  was  put  to  the 
Conference,  and  declared  caiTied. 

This  having  now  become  the  substantive  motion,  Mr.  Arthur's 
amendment  was  put  to  the  Conference,  and  declared  by  the  chair- 
man to  be  carried.  The  decision  being  challenged,  a  second  vote 
was  tak^,  and  in  the  result  the  amendment  was  declared  lost, 

Mr.  Waddy's  motion  was  then  put  as  a  substantive  motion,  and 
agreed  to. 

Bishop  Simpson  brought  up  a  communication  from  the  officers  of 
the  Woman's  National  Christian  Temperance  Union,  which  was 
read,  and  sent  to  the  Business  Committee. 

Rev.  W.  H.  Potter,  D.D.  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South), 
read  an  essay  on  The  Establishment  and  Suppmi  of  Training-Scliools  for 
Native  Converts  and  Native  Ministers  in  the  Foreign  Field, 

In  the  preparation  of  this  paper  I  have  kept  my  eye  steadily  fixed 
upon  the  erection  of  native  converts  and  native  ministers  in  the  foreign 
fields  into  independent,  self-supporting,  self-perpetuating  Churches,  as 
the  goal  of  our  missionary  endeavour.  When  such  converts  can  safely 
be  left  to  themselves  to  work  out  their  own  salvation  before  God,  and 
the  salvation  of  their  fellow-countrymen,  then,  but  not  till  then,  does 
the  work  of  the  home  Churches  in  their  behalf  come  to  an  end.  To 
attain  this  result  the  training-school,  or  some  other  method  of  sys- 
tematic teaching,  must  accompany  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel.  It  is 
not  enough  to  convert  the  heathen  to  Christianity,  that  is,  to  make 
disciples  of  them  ;  to  do  that  and  go  no  farther  would  be  to  have  the 
heathen  nations  on  the  shoulders  of  Christendom  for  ever.  We  must 
also  fulfil  the  second  part  of  the  great  commission,  and  teach  the  con- 
verts to  obfierve  all  things  whatsoever  the  Lord  Jesus  has  commanded. 
We  must  also  train  them  for  self-help,  self-dependence  in  religious 
thought  and  action,  purge  their  views  of  all  that  is  strictly  anti-Christ, 
and  leave  them  eventually,  and  at  the  earliest  day  possible,  to  continue 
the  work  with  their  children — leave  them  with  Pauline  liberty  in  all 
things,  but  with  such  thorough  indoctrination  into  the  Christian 
religion,  and  with  such  mental  resources  as  to  render  their  continuance 
in  the  faith  reasonably  certain. 

The  phrase  "  Training- School"  has  two  very  different  and  almost 
opposite  significations,  as  used  by  Protestants  and  Romanists.  It  is 
well  to  note  this.     Says  Dr.  Morris  :  "  Eomanism  trains,  Protestantism 

K  K  2 


500  FOREIGN   MISSIONS. 

educates."  It  is  not  claiming  too  mucli  to  say  that  in  this  antithetical 
distinction  Methodism  has  occupied  a  chief  place  ;  not  decrying  special 
training  in  the  Protestant  sense,  it  has  heen  preoccupied  -with  the 
broader  work  of  education.  But  before  advancing  further  into  this 
subject,  I  wish  to  say  that,  compelled  equally  by  the  great  principles  of 
Protestantism,  the  traditions  of  Methodism,  and  my  own  conscience,  I 
cast  out,  once  for  all,  whatever  is  purely  Romish  in  this  phrase,  "train- 
ing-schools." Methodism  does  not  want  schools  to  train  men's  con- 
sciences to  a  blind  obedience  to  Church  order,  but  schools  to  prepare 
men  to  give  intelligent  direction  to  their  work  in  the  vineyard  of 
the  Lord.  The  limits  of  this  paper  compel  abruptness  of  spftech  here. 
The  character  of  my  audience  makes  elaboration  unnecessary. 

The  toi)ic  seems  to  contain  four  logical  propositions,  but  I  feel 
quite  sure  that  I  shall  compass  the  entire  purpose  of  the  committee 
who  arranged  the  programme  if  I  treat  the  topic  under  two  propositions 
only.  First,  the  establishment  of  training-schools  for  native  converts 
and  native  ministers  under  one  management.  Secondly,  the  support 
of  such  schools.  The  history  of  the  topic  indicates  this  to  be  the 
course  desired  by  the  committee.  Dr.  George  wrote  me  that  the  topic 
was  first  suggested  to  his  mind,  in  force,  by  some  remarks  of  Dr.  Hay- 
good,  of  Emery  College,  Oxford,  Georgia.  He  presented  it  to  the 
Western  Division,  by  whom  it  was  accepted  and  proposed  to  the 
Eastern  Division,  the  words  "  native  converts  "  not  being  included. 
The  Eastern  Division  inserted  those  words,  and  the  amendment  was 
accepted  by  the  Western  Division,  and  it  was  put  into  the  programme 
as  we  have  it.  Moreover,  practical  reasons  for  this  treatment,  of  a  con- 
trolling character,  will  appear  as  we  further  consider  the  subject.  Are 
training-schools  for  native  converts  and  native  ministers  in  the  foreign 
fields  necessary  ?  I  am  almost  ashamed  to  raise  this  question  in  this 
body  of  intelligent  men,  but  some  very  stubborn  facts  compel  to 
the  inquiry.  Methodism  has  scarcely  any  literature  on  the  subject. 
Why  is  this?  Many  Methodist  missions  in  large  and  important 
fields  which  it  has  occupied  for  years  have  no  schools  for  converts. 
Schools  for  making  converts  by  bringing  the  pupils  under  Christian 
influence  there  are,  but  none  for  training  them.  Why  ?  Appeals  have 
recently  been  made  by  the  ablest  and  most  experienced  of  Methodist 
missionaries  to  the  home  Boards  and  Committees  for  the  estabhshment 
of  such  schools,  backed  up  by  such  elaborate  arguments  in  their 
favour  as  indicate  a  fear  that  the  requests  may  not  be  granted.  By 
every  token,  then,  these  schools,  though  an  urgent  need  in  many  of 
our  foreign  fields,  are  not  so  considered  by  the  Churches  at  home. 
As  a  basis  of  thought  in  our  answer  to  this  question,  we  may  consider 
the  needs  of  members  brought  into  our  home  churches.  When  people 
are  converted  and  added  to  tlie  Church,  the  most  exigent  question 
with  the  faithful  minister  is  how  he  may  train  such  members  to 
useful  work  in  the  Church  of  God  ;  and  it  will  generally  be  found  that 


REV.    W.    H,    potter's   ADDRESS.  601 

the  efficiency  of  any  local  church  is  in  exact  proportion  to  the  wisdom 
and  success  of  such  training.  Now,  if  with  all  our  Christian  schools 
and  other  religious  influences  surrounding  the  young  converts  at  home, 
some  further  special  training  bo  found  needful  for  their  symmetrical 
growth  and  general  usefulness,  with  a  thousandfold  emphasis  may  it 
be  asserted  that  the  converts  in  heathen  lauds  need  special  prepara- 
tion for  their  work.  Even  where  general  education  is  religious  in  its 
character,  special  training  is  necessary  to  furnish  the  seeing  eye,  the 
deft  hand,  the  ready  selection  of  the  best  means  to  accomplish  the 
end  desired.    But  I  need  not  speak  at  greater  length  on  this  point. 

The  training-schools  should  be  established  in  the  foreign  fields. 

1st.  It  would  be  too  expensive  to  bring  heathen  converts  into  Christian 
countries. 

2nd.  It  would  limit  the  number  so  trained  to  a  very  few. 

3rd.  It  would,  by  virtue  of  their  different  surroundings,  the  culti- 
vation of  tastes  foreign  to  their  home  life,  and  the  breaking  up  of 
family  ties,  in  which  the  strength  of  the  Church  so  much  depends, 
unfit  them  for  their  work  when  they  return  to  their  own  country. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  school  established  among  the  natives  would 
sufficiently  segregate  the  converts  from  the  general  mass  of  idolaters 
and  evil-doers  to  give  the  Gospel  a  fair  chance  with  them.  For,  as  is 
well  known,  a  school  very  soon  creates  a  community  for  itself,  a  com- 
munity of  ideas  and  sentiments  which  abide  with  the  students. 

The  school  being  established  in  the  midst  of  the  people  where  the 
missionary  work  is  to  be  done,  it  will  enable  the  pupils  who  are  so 
disposed  to  combine  much  practical  work  with  the  duties  of  the  school- 
room. In  America,  the  best  normal  schools  are  those  which  connect 
practical  teaching  with  instruction  in  the  art  of  teaching ;  and  the 
best  theological  training-schools  are  those  in  which  the  students  do  a 
great  deal  of  class-meeting,  evangelistic,  and  home-missionary  work. 
The  converts  in  the  missionary  training-school  could  accompany  their 
teachers  on  preaching  tours,  assist  in  tract  distribution,  Bible  readings, 
and  all  other  work  required  of  a  missionary. 

The  school  for  converts  and  for  ministers  should  be  under  one  board 
of  instruction.  There  are  many  reasons  for  this.  I  mention  only  two. 
1st.  The  number  of  native  ministers  to  be  trained  in  most  of  the 
foreign  fields  is  so  small,  that  it  would  be  an  unnecessary  waste  of 
men  and  means  to  organise  a  separate  school  for  them.  2nd.  Even 
if  men  and  money  were  abundant,  the  native  ministers  would  be  better 
trained  for  special  work  in  a  school  of  liberal  education,  as  they  are 
generally  men  of  little  culture. 

The  curriculum  of  the  school  should  therefore  embrace  rudimen- 
tary studies,  classical  and  scientific  courses,  Christian  doctrines, 
pastoral  work,  and  Church  polity,  and  also  instruction  in  some  of  the 
industrial  arts. 

Mixed  schools — that  is,  schools  for  boys  and  girls,  men  and  women — 


502  FOREIGN  MISSIONS. 

seem  to  me  to  be  indicated  as  best  for  our  foreign  work.  Besides 
other  advantages,  this  plan  would  lessen  the  expense  and  greatly 
facilitate  the  organisation  of  the  faculty.  A  man  and  his  wife,  or 
perhaps  his  daughters,  could  be  employed  in  the  same  institution.  On 
this  point,  however,  I  cannot  speak  with  certainty,  owing  to  my  want 
of  familiarity  with  the  social  customs  of  heathen  countries.  But  on  the 
main  point  herein  involved  I  may  speak  with  both  certainty  and 
emphasis.  The  education  of  the  women  in  our  missionary  schools 
ought  to  keep  step  with  that  of  the  men  ;  for,  first,  there  is  a  large 
amount  of  missionary  work  which  they  can  do  equally  as  well  as  it  can 
be  done  by  the  men.  2ud.  There  is  much  that  they  can  do  which 
the  men  cannot  do  at  all.  3rd.  The  native  ministers  must  have  native 
Christian  wives  trained  in  the  work  and  in  sympathy  with  it.  Like- 
wise, all  native  Christian  men  must  be  able  to  find  wives  of  their  own 
faith,  otherwise  the  native  Church  will  have  but  an  irregular  and  one- 
sided development.  The  great  pioneer  of  Christian  education  in  India 
from  this  side  of  the  Atlantic,  Dr.  Duff,  in  his  College  Work  in  India, 
has  set  this  matter  in  such  strong  light  that  I  need  add  only  two  words 
to  what  he  has  long  ago  written :  that  we  are  just  beginning  to  find 
out  what  an  educated  Christian  woman  can  do  in  the  Church  of  God ; 
and  that  we  must  provide  for  the  setting  up  of  Christian  homes  in 
heathen  lands,  before  we  can  hope  for  the  permanency  of  the  Church  in 
those  lands. 

Assuming  that  they  should  be  mixed  schools,  they  should  be  officered 
with  ministers  and  laymen,  with  men  and  women,  the  diversity  in  sex 
aud  in  church  orders  being  desirable  in  itself  and  on  social  and  econo- 
mical grounds.  The^e  ofiicers  would  at  first,  very  naturally,  be  foreign 
missionaries,  but  the  natives  should  be  employed  as  teachers  as  early 
as  a  just,  but  not  overdone,  caution  would  allow  it.  The  school  would 
thus  stimulate  its  pupils,  give  employment  to  some,  and  thus  show 
itself  to  be  a  school  among  the  people  for  the  people. 

Pupils. — Admission  into  these  schools  ought  to  be  on  easy  conditionst 
Wisdom  would  seem  to  suggest  that  the  term  "  converts  "  in  this  con- 
nection ought  to  receive  a  liberal  interpretation.  There  should  be  no 
iusistance  upon  such  evidences  of  a  renewed  heart  as  are  required  in 
some  of  the  home  churches  for  admission  into  full  membership.  The 
school  itself  may  properly  become  a  place  of  probation,  in  which  these 
spiritual  things  are  to  be  determined.  All  minor  children  of  native 
Christians  should  be  admitted ;  such  parents  should  not  be  forced  to 
send  their  children  to  heathen  schools.  The  temptation  to  profess 
Christian  faith  in  order  to  obtain  the  benefits  of  the  school  should  thus 
be  reduced  to  its  minimum  influence.  Arrangements  should  also  be 
made  for  the  admission  of  those  already  in  the  active  work  to  short 
terms  of  instruction,  as  the  best  thing  now  available  to  them,  but  very 
seldom  would  it  be  profitable  to  take  an  active  worker  wholly  out  of 
his  field  of  labour  for  a  long  course  of  study. 


EEV.    W,    H.    potter's   ADDRESS.  503 

Support  — I.  Where  Christian  influences  have  been  at  -work  for  some 
considerable  time,  native  help  ought  to  be  evoked  to  the  fullest  possible 
extent  (I  must,  owing  to  the  limited  time,  omit  argument  here). 

II.  Tlie  rule  ought  to  be  to  charge  tuition  fees,  the  amount  being 
determined  by  the  customs  and  habits  of  the  people  ;  but  provision 
should  be  made  to  exclude  none  who  are  unable  to  pay  the  fee.  Let  it 
be  a  charity  only  to  those  who  need  charity,  either  by  reason  of  poverty 
or  the  opposition  of  their  parents  to  the  school.  Covetousness  is  a  sin 
in  heathen  no  less  than  in  Christian  lands,  and  our  schools  ought  not  to 
foster  it. 

III.  By  the  contributions  of  the  home  Churches.  I  have  reserved  to 
this  plrtce  the  proposition  A\hich  I  think  most  vital  to  the  whole  topic, 
viz. :  that  these  schools  should  be  established  and  su])ported  by  the 
hearty  co-oi^eration  of  all  the  Methodist  Churches  having  missions  in 
the  same  field.  Chief  among  the  weighty  reasons  for  this  co  operation 
are  the  following  : — 1.  Economy  of  money.  One  school,  one  endow- 
ment, one  list  of  salaries,  one  general  outfit,  would  supply  the  wants  of 
all  the  Methodist  churches  in  a  large  missionary  district ;  it  would  be 
quite  sufficient,  probably,  until  the  time  of  the  independency  of  the 
native  church. 

2n(l.  Economy  in  the  number  of  teachers  :  that  is,  economy  in 
cultivated  minds.  This  is  a  most  vital  point ;  for  not'svithstanding  our 
urgent  calls  for  money,  brains  for  such  work  as  this  are  less  plentiful 
than  money.  Perhaps  no  one  of  the  various  Methodist  Churches  has 
even  yet  in  any  mission-field  men  and  women  enough  to  officer  a  good 
training-school  without  withdrawing  so  many  from  the  active  work  as 
to  check  progress  and  damage  the  cause.  It  is  too  plain  to  need  more 
than  the  statement  that  a  person  just  entering  upon  the  mission-work 
where  the  language  is  not  his  own  native  tongue,  is  not  quite  ready  to 
become  a  teacher  in  a  training-school.  Thus  in  many  places  a 
training-school  could  not  properly  be  started  by  only  one  Church  for 
want  of  men,  whereas  by  co-operation  a  good  school  might  be  put  into 
efficient  operation  in  a  very  short  time.  Will  God  hold  us  guiltless  if 
we  delay  this  important  work  simply  because  no  one  of  these  separate 
bodies  has  the  men  and  money  to  support  the  institution  ?  It  would 
be  difficult  to  excuse  our  failure  in  this  matter  on  denominational 
grounds.  The  papers  and  speeches  which  we  have  already  listened  to, 
show  no  such  difference  among  us  as  would  indicate  separate  schools  to 
be  the  dictate  of  a  healthy  conscience. 

3rd.  Economy  of  spiritual  force.  Brains  are  scarcer  than  money, 
but  spiritual  force  is  the  rarest  of  the  three.  Persons  wholly  and 
ratiouady  consecrated  to  Christ  are  not  plentiful.  I  would  not  intimate 
that  there  are  now  fewer  consecrated  people  than  in  former  days  ;  no, 
but  that  there  are  fewer  now  than  ever  before  in  proportion  to  the 
magnitude  and  variety  of  work  which  seems  waiting  and  wanting  to 
be  done.      It  will  not  do  to  put  into  the  traimng-schools  for  native 


504  FOREIGN   MISSIONS. 

converts  and  ministers  men  witli  half  a  heart  for  the  -work — men  ^vllo 
may  be  induced  to  go  out  on  a  good  salary,  take  their  time  to  learn  the 
language  of  the  natives,  find  intellectual  compensation  for  the  sacrifice 
of  some  comforts  in  the  broadening  of  their  own  culture,  and  settle 
down  into  a  professor's  chair  for  a  few  years,  with  strong  intent  by-and- 
by  to  return  to  their  own  country  to  spend  an  easy  old  age.  Unless 
the  training-school  in  the  mission  has  as  much  spiritual  power  as  the 
preachers  and  workers  in  the  field,  it  will  prove  a  curse  rather  than  a 
blessing.  This  is  true  of  training-schools  at  home,  but  how  much  more 
will  the  lack  of  consecration  be  felt  in  our  missionary  fields,  when  the 
contrast  between  the  ease-loving  teacher  and  the  hard-working  jjreacher 
is  so  sharp !  Economy,  therefore,  of  money,  men,  and  spiritual  force, 
strongly  pleads  for  co-operation  in  this  work.  Co-operation  in  these 
schools  will  contribute  greatly  to  the  unity,  and  consequently  to  the 
intensity,  of  the  impression  made  by  the  Gospel  upon  the  heathen  mind. 
Although  the  various  Methodist  Churches  may  have  the  unity  of  the 
Spirit,  it  is  all-important  in  heathen  countries  to  give  that  unity  an 
outward  expression.  There  should  be  one  speech.  The  Church  in  the 
midst  of  an  idolatrous  people  is  never  safe  so  long  as  one  says,  I  am  of 
Paul,  another  I  am  of  ApoUos,  and  another  of  Cephas.  A  common 
training-school  for  all  our  Methodist  missions  would  iwwerfully  foster 
sympathy  of  intellectual  views  of  Christianity  in  all  the  native  teachers 
and  ministers.  And  sympathy  of  the  intellect  is  more  lasting  than 
that  of  the  emotions,  on  account  of  its  more  stable  basis  ;  and  it  would 
readily  become  a  surer  foundation  for  the  native  Church.  Such 
co-operation  would  greatly  promote  harmony  of  statement  in  the  pulpit, 
press,  and  schoolroom,  without  which  agencies  in  harmonious  action 
no  Christian  Church  in  a  heathen  country  is  likely  to  be  independent. 

Co-operation,  then,  in  the  establishment  and  support  of  training- 
schools  for  converts  and  ministers  is,  in  my  view  of  the  subject,  the  first 
and  chief  step  towards  the  formation  of  one  native  Methodist  Church 
in  any  of  our  great  mission-fields.  If  there  be  those. who  desire  the 
organisation  and  continuance  of  as  many  native  Churches  in  the  foreign 
field,  as  there  are  now  different  Methodist  Churches  at  work  there, 
they  will  of  course  oppose  such  co-operation.  I  must  think  that  their 
number  is  small.  Certainly  there  is  no  such  desire  on  the  part  of  the 
oldest  and  wisest  men  now  engaged  in  the  foreign  work.  The  strongest 
sentiment  which  found  expression  in  the  papers  and  debates  of  the 
General  Conference  of  Protestant  Missionaries  held  in  Shanghai,  China, 
in  which  were  many  of  the  foremost  men  in  the  missionary  world,  was 
the  need  of  such  co-operation  as  would  ensure  for  China  the  smallest 
number  of  Churches  comi^atible  with  the  present  state  of  conscience  as 
to  doctrine  and  polity.     Such  a  witness  deserves  to  be  heard. 

Should  the  English  language  or  that  of  the  natives  be  made  the  basis 
of  instruction  in  these  schools  ?  This  question  deserves  separate  treat- 
ment ;  but  I  have  time  left  only  for  a  few  statements.    If  the  native 


REV.  J.  kilner's  address.  505 

language  is  likely  to  be  permanent,  then  it  seems  to  me  that  it  ought 
to  be  the  medium  of  instruction ;  for  it  would  appear  to  be  a  needless 
circuity  to  bring  all  the  natives  into  an  understanding  of  the  English 
tongue  in  order  to  gain  a  knowledge  of  Christianity,  to  be  carried  back, 
perhaps  with  much  loss  of  truth,  into  their  own  speech  for  the  purposes 
of  everyday  life.  But  if  Providence  has  oiiened  the  waj'  to  make  the 
natives  an  English-speaking  people,  then  it  would  be  a  twofold  bene- 
diction for  the  Christian  schools  to  give  the  j)eople  at  once  the  language 
of  commerce  and  of  the  Protestant  religion.  A  large  part  of  Africa  just 
now  iuvites  to  this  work.  By  many  wonderful  works  God  has  prepared 
the  way  to  make  the  larger  part  of  that  vast  continent  an  English- 
speaking  and  Christian  people.  Synchronous  with  the  complete  open- 
ing of  that  great  country  to  the  influences  of  the  civilised  world,  God 
has  set  at  liberty  six  millions  of  the  same  race  which  He  has  had  in 
training  for  two  liundred  years.  These  six  millions  speak  the  English 
language,  and  are  thoroughly  orthodox  in  their  belief,  holding  firmly 
the  doctrines  of  the  Divinity  of  Christ,  atonement  through  His  blood, 
the  necessity  of  regeneration,  the  resurrection  of  the  dead,  and  future 
rewards  and  punishments.  God  has  wrought  so  graciously  among 
them  througli  the  Protestant  Churches  of  America,  but  chiefly  those  of 
the  Southern  States,  that  there  are  now  over  one  and  a  quarter  million 
of  that  people  communicants  in  the  Church  of  Christ ;  and  if  there  is  a 
downright  infidel  coloui-ed  man  in  the  Southern  States  I  have  never 
heard  of  him.  If  the  Methodists  alone  of  America  and  Great  Britain 
will  unite  heartily  in  the  work,  heli3  to  educate  the  coloured  people  of 
the  South  in  the  South,  and  gradually  transfer  the  training-schools  of 
the  Southern  States  to  the  now  heathen  portions  of  Africa,  it  will  not 
require  many  generations  to  achieve  the  entire  redemption  of  that 
dark  continent.  But  no  one  of  our  Methodist  Churches  alone  is  equal 
to  this  great  task,  and  hence  I  close  this  paper  with  an  urgent  i)lea  for 
co-operation.  This  is  a  matter  about  which  the  Oecumenical  Confer- 
ence, without  power  to  legislate,  may,  nevertheless,  prove  its  unity  of 
spirit  by  taking  one  step  towards  a  practical  result. 

Rev.  J.  KiLNER("\Vesleyan),  in  delivering  the  invited  address,  said  :  I  am 
here  to  discharge  a  duty.  I  address  myself  to  the  discharge  of  that  duty 
under  the  influence  of  strong  and  somewhat  conflicting  emotions.  I 
shall  endeavour  to  economise  every  moment  for  such  issues  as  arc 
practical.  I  am  painfully  aware  of  the  intense  condensation  which 
is  necessitated  by  the  rigorous  limitations  as  to  time,  and  of  the 
tendency  thus  jn-oduced  to  suggest  either  too  much  or  too  little, 
of  there  arising  more  or  less  of  obscurity  from  the  lack  of  needed 
elaboration,  of  the  danger  of  giving  undue  prominence  to  one  set 
of  j)rinciples  or  events,  of  the  comj^arative  dislocation  of  parts 
and  the  consequent  disturbance  of  the  relative  value  and  fitness 
of  things,  of  the  risk  of  presenting  a  mere  cold  outline  of  some  general 


506  FOREIGN  MISSIONS. 

scheme  minus  the  fillings-in  of  important  detail,  of  the  inevitable 
exaggeration  of  a  fraction  to  the  damage  of  the  whole,  of  the  almost 
irresistible  impulse  to  dress  sober  truths  in  epigrammatic  and  stilted 
phrase,  and  a  sense  of  incipient  despondency  from  a  consciousness  of 
inability  to  make  thought  and  phrase  do  more  than  telegraphic  con- 
densation. We  plunge  into  our  theme.  It  assumes  sundry  facts,  and 
the  right  discussion  of  our  theme  depends  on  the  intelligent  recognition 
of  these  facts.  We  postulate,  firstly,  the  idea  of  a  definite  mission  to 
some  heathen  or  anti-Christian  people ;  secondly,  the  existence  of  a 
native  race  which  has  in  it  the  elements  and  promise  of  continuity — a 
race  not  inevitably  dying  out ;  thirdly,  a  vernacular  language  as  the 
medium  of  intercourse  and  influence ;  fourthly,  some  degree  of  social 
organisation  and  compactness  holding  the  people  together  with  natural 
modes  of  life,  institutions,  laws,  &c. ;  fifthly,  the  existence  of  some  risk 
as  to  climate,  &c.,  at  least  some  felt  necessity  for  economising  the  life 
of  the  foreign  missionary ;  sixthly,  that  a  Christian  mission,  under- 
taken under  one  or  more  of  these  conditions,  has  obtained  some  hold 
of  the  people,  and  taken  some  root  in  their  sympathies  :  in  short,  that  it 
has  made  some  progress  beyond  all  merely  initial  effort.  With  these 
as  our  background,  we  may  venture  on  a  few  bold  outlines  of  what,  at 
least  in  my  judgment,  should  be  attempted.  I  apprehend  that  this 
Conference  will  not  need  that  I  set  myself  to  prove,  first,  that  educa- 
tion, in  its  truest  and  broadest  sense,  has  no  limited  zone  of  special 
growths.  Secondly,  nor  need  I  prove  that  education  has  no  exclusive 
nationalities  or  tribes  of  men  as  its  special,  its  pre-eminent,  or  sole 
charge.  Thirdly,  it  would  be  a  grand  economy  of  my  work  if  you  will 
go  a  step  further,  and  admit  that  education,  broadly  understood,  is  as 
much  a  man's  birthright  as  is  the  franchise,  or  the  air  we  breathe. 
Fourthly,  nevertheless  you  will  concur  with  me  in  the  averment  that 
mental  and  moral  culture-^that  is,  education  in  its  fullest  sense — has 
certain  foundation  facts  and  principles  as  fixed  as  is  man's  nature,  as 
imperious  as  a  law  of  God.  Fifthly,  training  institutions  for  a  native 
agency  are  certain  methods  or  ways  of  applying  those  j)rincii3les. 
Sixthly,  I  would  lay  it  down  as  an  axiom  that  such  institutions  will 
flourish  in  proportion  as  these  principles  are  wisely  applied  and 
prudently  worked.  Now,  I  myself  have  had  long  and  deeply  interest- 
ing connection  with  this  form  of  mission-work.  It  was  an  early  lesson 
learned  in  my  mission  exiJerience,  that  if  any  lasting  impression  is  to  be 
made,  any  real  territory  won  for  Christianity,  any  vital  Church  organisa- 
tion and  work  accomplished,  the  native  must  be  an  essential  factor  in  all 
this  forecasting.  To  leave  him  out  of  the  question,  to  give  him  the  back- 
ground, to  make  him  merely  incidental,  and  an  occasional  helper,  keeping 
the  real  power  and.  the  consequent  responsibility  in  the  hands  of  the 
foreign  missionary  only,  is  a  most  foolish  and  suicidal  policy.  Every 
possible  ofiice  that  the  native  can  fill  should  be  filled  by  him  without 
delay.     Now,  these  being  lessons  ingrained  into  my  very  life  pretty 


EEV.  J.  kilner's  address.  507 

early  on,  you  will  be  prepared  for  sundry  practical  conclusions  at 
which  I  have  arrived,  and  which  I  wish  to  impress  on  the  mind  and 
heart  of  the  Churches.  First.  Every  organised  mission  to  the  heathen 
should  have  some  form  or  other  of  a  training  institution  ;  and  this 
department  of  work  should  be  placed  under  the  very  best  available 
supervision.  Second.  These  institutions  should  be  developed  as 
speedily  in  the  history  of  such  a  mission  as  is  practicable.  Third. 
These  institutions  should  have  a  fair  share  of  the  best  attention, 
talent,  and  every  other  resource  of  the  mission ;  there  should  be  no 
stint  here.  Fourth.  A  missionary  to  the  heathen,  without  such  ap- 
pliances, is  attempting  his  work  under  crushing  disadvantages.  Fifth. 
It  should  ever  be  recognised  that  there  is  great  moral  power  in  such 
institutions.  They  become  centres  of  influence,  models  of  training,  a 
storehouse  of  available  agencies  for  operating  on  adjacent  heathendom. 
Sixth.  Need  I  say  that  great  care  is  needful  to  avoid  the  fatal  mistake 
that  these  institutions  are  identical  with  huge,  costly,  ornate,  and 
sometimes  empty  buildings,  or  with  any  other  kind  of  material  plant 
or  mere  bricks  and  mortar  ?  Seventh.  These  institutions  may,  in  their 
initial  stages,  be  conducted  on  one  or  other  of  the  following  easy 
plans,  namely :  (1)  As  a  part  of  a  general  scheme  of  a  high  school  or 
college  curriculum ;  (2)  Or  the  men  may  pursue  their  training 
whilst  at  work  on  their  several  stations  under  the  practical  supervision 
of  the  missionary,  there  being  periodic  and  fixed  examinations  under 
some  general  standard.  I  have  no  faith  in  grand  imperial  institutions 
for  a  multiplicity  of  tribes  or  for  wide  territories — at  least,  for  some 
generations  to  come.  Eighth.  These  efforts  will  naturally  take  their 
eliape  in  a  larger  or  less  degree  from  the  social  condition  and  character 
of  the  people  among  whom  they  are  planted  and  worked.  Ninth.  Let 
it  never  be  forgotten  that  there  are  many  and  serious  dangers  con- 
nected with  the  aggregation  of  large  numbers  of  native  students.; 
especially  in  such  conditions  oS  public  sentiment  and  morals  as  are  to 
be  found  in  India  and  Africa.  Evils  unbelievable  if  not  seen,  evils 
almost  ineradicable  if  not  rooted,  evils  which  sleepless  vigilance  only 
can  prevent  or  cure.  Tenth.  To  my  missionary  instincts  the  word 
"  training  "  has  a  profound  significancy  and  an  intensified  emphasis 
when  applied  to  such  institutions.  The  missionary  must  himself 
exemplify  the  principles  t"hich  he  inculcates,  and  this  "  must  be,"  like 
a  law,  covers  the  whole  area  of  effort.  The  missionary  is  the  model  as 
to  (1)  The  Teacher  and  the  School;  (2)  The  Preacher  and  the  Pulpit; 
(3)  The  Pastor  and  the  People  ;  (4)  Tiie  Evangelist  and  Aggression ; 
(5)  Organisation  and  Administration ;  (G)  Consecration  and  Whole- 
heartedness ;  (7)  As  to  Patriotism  and  Home  Purity,  &c.  Then,  eleventh, 
Economy  of  Funds  demands  all  care  and  firmness  in  the  management 
of  these  institutions,  both  by  the  home  committees  and  the  men  who 
have  the  actual  working  of  such  institutions.  There  is  a  moral  value 
in  such  economy.    Local  resources  should  be  taxed  to  their  utmost ; 


508  FOREIGN  MISSIONS. 

personal  fees  sliould  be  extracted  whenever  practicable  ;  extravagance 
or  waste  should  be  denounced  as  a  crime  ;  the  utmost  economy 
should  be  wrought  into  the  very  sentiment  and  life  of  the  institution. 
To  this  every  student  should  be  loyal.  Twelfth.  Considerable  as 
has  been  the  range  of  our  observation  and  experience,  we  know 
of  no  royal  or  patented  type  of  such  indtitutions ;  none  that  will 
exactlj'  suit  all  times  and  places  with  equal  completeness  and  efficiency. 
A  salutary  lesson  on  toleration  of  variations  muy  be  learned  here. 
Thirteenth.  There  are,  however,  some  general  principles  which  may 
safely  be  applied  to  all  cases.  For  example,  (1)  Seize  on  and  utilise 
the  best  material  at  command.  (2)  Work  through  the  lower  order  of 
schools  to  secure  better  supplies  or  more  suitable  material :  that  is, 
systematise  school  operations  for  this  purpose  when  practicable  ;  (3) 
Vary  manipulations  as  the  material  may  require,  both  as  to  the  ages  of 
the  pupils  and  as  to  their  mental  capacities,  and  as  to  the  pressure  and 
demands  for  agents ;  (4)  Ever  remember  that  it  is  force  of  character 
rather  than  technical  knowledge  that  is  of  the  highest  value  as  a 
product  of  such  training — this  is  the  supremest  demand,  though,  too 
often,  the  last  result  attained ;  (5)  Physical  science,  as  this  is  illus- 
trated in  the  works  of  God,  should  be  an  early  and  a  constant  element 
in  the  curriculum.  Fourteenth.  Training  institutions  for  girls  should 
have  prompt  and  prominent  attention  in  the  organisation  of  every 
mission  to  the  heathen.  These  should  be  nursed  from  their  earliest 
germ  through  all  the  stages  of  growth  up  to  the  completest  fruitage, 
and  should  be  multiplied  as  rapidly  as  means  admit  and  opportunity 
presents.  Adult  classes  should  be  very  tenderly  cherished  ;  every  form 
of  woman's  agency  in  the  Church  should  be  engaged  in,  and,  as  soon 
as  the  doors  are  open  to  the  worker,  every  door  should  be  entered. 
These  efforts  are  essential  to  the  vitaHty,  vigour  of  growth,  and  per- 
manency of  any  mission.  Ttiere  are  no  agents  that  tell  more 
powerfully  and  salutarily  on  the  genej^al  tone  of  heathen  or  native 
Christian  Society  than  these  of  woman's  agency.  There  are  no 
agencies  that  can  compare  with  these  in  power  to  penetrate,  search 
out,  and  reform  the  evils  of  the  home  and  of  the  family.  If  a  nation's 
moral  life  is  to  be  gauged  by  its  home  life,  and  if  the  home  life  is 
measured  by  the  position  of  woman  in  that  home,  then  have  we  the 
lever  which  is  able,  and  I  may  say  destined,  to  lift  the  heathen  nations 
from  their  barbarism  to  the  region  and  level  of  Christian  freedom  and 
purity  ;  here,  I  say,  in  the  renovation  of  the  home  through  the  moral 
elevation  of  the  woman.  True,  there  are  many  special  difficulties  to 
be  encountered  in  the  successful  working  of  training  institutions ;  but, 
thank  God,  these  are  not  insurmountable,  as  experience  has  again  and 
again  proved.  If  you  take  India,  China,  and  Africa  as  fields  for  labour, 
then  nothing  can  surpass  this  class  of  agencies  for  directness,  economy, 
or  satisfactoriness  of  results.  Finally,  I  would  remark  that  industrial 
departments  should  be  grafted  on  these  training  institutions  whenever 


GENERAL   REMARKS.  509 

practicable.  Is  it  nothing  in  a  ■world's  renovation  to  rescue  labour 
from  the  low  estimate  now  put  upon  it,  to  multiply  skilled  labourers, 
and  to  develop  latent  powers  of  self-support  and  progress  ?  The 
future  religious  life  of  these  native  Christians  will  be  determined  by 
the  social  stock  on  which  it  is  grafted,  and  the  evoking  of  a  spirit  of 
industry.  The  transition  from  a  comparatively  barbarous  or  nomadic 
life  to  the  restraints  which  a  city  imposes,  demands  some  such  means 
of  subsistence  as  skilled  labour  supplies  to  give  the  native  a  chance 
in  the  race  of  national  progress.  These  princii)les  should  shape  the 
policy  of  missionary  societies,  and  should  guide  in  the  choice  of  men 
for  the  work  ;  then  would  there  be  a  grand  ingathering  of  heathen  for 
Christ,  and  rapid  progress  become  the  order  of  the  day. 

Rev.  Dr.  J.  0.  A.  Clark  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South)  :  The  im- 
portance of  the  subject  before  us  to  foreign  inisHions  is  apparent  to  all,  but 
how  the  training-schools  are  to  be  established  and  supported  is  not  so  easy 
to  determine.  The  more  numerous  and  wealthier  Methodisms  may  be  able 
to  organise  and  maintain  them  :  it  will  not  be  so  easy  for  the  less  nume- 
rous and  the  less  wealthy.  Now,  may  not  some  plan  be  devised  to  make 
at  least  a  part  of  this  work  the  work  of  United  Methodism  ?  I  say  a  part, 
for  it  is  manifest  that  each  separate  Methodist  body  must  provide  for  its 
own  converts.  But  may  not  training-schools  for  native  ministers  be  estab- 
lished and  supported  by  universal  Methodism,  to  which  natives  called  of 
God  to  preach  can  be  sent  ?  Here  there  should,  if  possible,  be  no  division 
of  capital  and  labour.  The  work  needs  all  the  capital  and  Ial)our  wliich 
United  Methodism  can  give  to  it.  There  are  no  possible  differences  that 
can  interfere  with  its  success.  The  whole  object  would  be  to  train  the 
natives  for  mission-work,  and  to  see  that  they  are  sound  in  Methodist  doc- 
trine. Nothing  need  be  said  about  Church  polity  ;  each  ti'ained  native 
would  go  to  his  work  prepared  to  labour  for  those  who  sent  him  to  the 
common  training-school.  I  see  less  dilHcuity  here  than  in  anything  pro- 
posed at  this  Conference  for  united  Metliodist  action.  The  only  difficult}'' 
is  the  want  of  the  will  and  the  purpose  to  help  one  another  and  bear  one 
another's  burdens.  I  have  but  little  hope  of  any  great  good  from  this 
OEcumenical  Conference,  unless  it  result  in  some  practical  benefit  to  the 
weaker  Methodisms.  Mere  sentiment  is  common,  cheap,  and  feeble  ;  the 
liberality  which  assists  the  weaker  is  rare,  costly,  and  strong.  If  Metho- 
dism is  that  beautiful  unity  in  diversity  which  it  has  been  represented  to 
be,  then  are  we  all  members  one  of  another  :  if  one  rejoice,  all  rejoice  with 
it  ;  if  one  suffer,  all  suffer  with  it  ;  and  if  one  be  in  need,  all  that  are  able 
will  lend  a  helping  hand.  How  much  more  would  this  be  so  if  indeed  the 
diversity  be  the  great  blessing  that  has  been  claimed  for  it !  But  I  am 
afraid  it  is  not  so  great  a  blessing.  If  it  is,  it  is  only  because  tlun-e  is  real 
love,  and  all  are  endeavouring  to  keep  the  unity  of  the  Spirit  in  the  bond 
of  peace.  If  there  is  such  peace — such  mutual  love,  such  freedtmi  from 
envy  and  jealousy — then  surely  the  dilferent  Methodisms  can  sweetly  work 
together  when  the  common  good  demands  united  work.  I  am  not,  how- 
ever, one  of  those  who  glory  in  Methodist  diversity  as  an  unmixed  blessing. 
The  diversity  has  too  often  been  the  result  of  unseemly  debate.  God  has 
graciously,  no  doubt,  often  overruled  this,  and  caused  our  wrath  to  praise 
Him.  I  Believe  that  He  is  now  saying  to  our  Methodisms,  Be  of  one  soul 
and  of  one  heart,  and,  as  far  as  possible,  of  one  work.  What  means  thi>^ 
oecumenical  gathering  ?  How  is  God  speaking  to  us  ?  He  has  remov.  d 
all  real  causes  of  difference  ;   lay  ordination  and  lay  representation,  whieli 


510  FOREIGN   MISSIONS. 

were  once  so,  are  so  no  longer.  Slavery  was  once  a  fruitful  source  of 
alienation  and  strife  ;^it  is  dead  and  buried  beyond  the  hope  and  power  of  a 
resurrection.  Now,  if  diversity  be  the  blessing  claimed  for  it,  let  us  pray 
that,  when  the  next  CEcumenical  Conference  is  held,  there  may  be  many 
different  Methodisms  for  every  one  represented  on  this  floor.  But  if  unity 
be  best,  let  us  pray  that  Methodist  bodies,  which  ought  to  be  organically 
one,  and  from  which  the  causes  of  alienation  have  been  providentially 
removed,  may  soon  be  welded  together  in  indissoluble  union  ;  and  that  all 
which,  for  good  and  sufficient  reasons,  ought  to  remain  separate,  may  be 
more  of  one  heart  and  of  one  soul,  both  with  themselves  and  with  all  the  rest. 

Rev.  Jas.  Calvert  (Wesleyan  Methodist)  :  In  Fiji  we  have  23,000  church 
members,  and  5,000  on  trial  for  church  membei-ship.  The  great  work  of 
Grod  in  Fiji  has  been  accomplished  mainly  through  the  instrumentality  of 
native  agents.  We  have  employed  there  48  native  ministers,  and  996 
catechists  and  lay  teaclicrs.  All  of  these  are  paid  for  by  the  persons  for 
whose  benefit  they  labour,  and  we  find  that  this  works  remarkably  well.  In 
addition  to  these  helpers  of  our  great  work  there,  we  have  2,252  school 
teachers,  1,405  local  preachers,  and  2,73.3  class-leaders.  We  had  to  employ 
early,  as  our  native  labourers,  persons  who  had  not  been  educated  or  trained 
to  any  extent.  They  were  truly  converted,  their  souls  were  right,  and  they 
were  anxious  to  benefit  their  own  countrj'men.  They  gave  themselves  to 
this  work,  and  we  appointed  them  and  sent  them  forth.  Besides  this,  each 
circuit  or  station  has  its  regular  training  institution,  instructing  and  training 
native  agents  for  the  great  work  in  which  they  are  employed.  The  advan- 
tage of  Mr.  Hunt's  System  of  Theology  is  exceedingly  great.  I  have 
many  a  time  heaid  a  native,  not  read  one  of  these  discourses,  but  I  knew 
where  he  had  been,  and  I  heard  true  sense  and  good  Gospel  from  them  when 
otherwise  I  should  have  heard  nonsense  of  their  own  ;  this  work  will  be  a 
benefit  to  Fiji  in  all  the  future.  Then  we  have,  besides  this,  our  District 
Training  Institution,  at  which  one  of  our  best  men  who  is  apt  to  teacli  is 
appointed  to  the  work,  and  he  is  assisted  by  a  most  efficient  native  minister, 
who  knows  more  of  the  natives  than  we  can  possibly  learn,  and  we  find  this 
to  be  L  very  great  advantage.  I  trust  that  this  work  will  be  wisely  and 
vigorously  carried  out  in  each  mission — not  by  anything  that  is  good  only 
in  theory — by  supposing  that  all  the  Methodists  can  join  together  to  help 
in  one  training  institution.  They  must  be  trained  on  the  spot,  and  train  d 
from  the  beginning,  and  have  something  put  into  them,  because  natives  aie 
very  defective  in  their  qualification  for  the  right  discharge  of  the  important 
duties  devolved  upon  them  ;  but  by  special  attention  from  the  beginning  in 
our  schools  and  in  our  training  institutions  we  have  found  them  efficient 
and  very  trustworthy,  and  God  lias  owned  their  labours  and  greatly  blessed 
them. 

Hon.  a.  R.  Boone  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South)  :  I  have  con- 
sumed but  little  of  the  time  of  this  Conference,  and  shall  not  again  ask  its 
indulgence,  for  I  leave  this  afternoon  for  my  home  beyond  the  waters  ;  and 
if  I  do  not  precisely  confine  myself,  in  the  five  minutes  to  which  I  am  en- 
titled, to  the  question  that  is  before  the  Conference,  I  trust  I  shall  be 
pardoned.  But  you  are  discussing  a  question  that  is  closely  akin  to  a 
resolution  that  was  passed,  I  believe  on  Saturday,  by  our  venerable  and 
much  respected  Bishop  Peck  appointing  a  committee  which  I  trust  will  re- 
port to  this  Conference,  that  seems  to  me  to  be  looking  in  the  direction  of 
accomplishing  something.  Sir,  the  people  of  my  country,  and  especially 
the  Methodist  people  of  America,  have  looked  forward  to  this  Conference 
with  deep  and  profound  interest,  not  merely  as  an  occasion  of  reading 
essays  and  making  speeches  that  should  go  upon  the  record,  but  that  there 
might  be  a  long  step  in  the  direction  of  at  least  unity  of  action  and  concert 
of  purpose  in  that  great  missionary  work  that  is  assigned  to  the  Methodist 


GENERAL   REMARKS.  511 

Cliurclies.  I  would  not  undertake  to  say  upon  this  floor  this  morniui;-  tliat 
I  am  in  favour  of  organic  union.  At  present  this  may  not  be  desirable. 
What  the  future  may  develop  I  am  unable  to  say,  but  1  dare  say  that  the 
future  will  be  quite  capable  of  taking  care  of  itself.  But  I  will  venture  to 
say  this,  and  I  believe  it  is  the  great  purpose  of  the  Methodist  heart  of  the 
world,  that  we,  at  least,  shall  be  so  one  together  that  when  we  retire  at  night 
we  can  bid  each  other  good-night,  and  that  we  shall  be  able  to  salute  each 
other  in  the  morning  when  we  rise,  and  that  as  each  goes  to  his  field  of 
labour  his  neighbour  shall  know  exactly  whei-e  he  is  at  work,  so  that  if 
emergency  arises  he  may  call  upon  him  for  help.  We  at  least  may  hope 
this  much,  and  if  we  shall  accomplish  that  we  shall  have  done  much  good 
to  the  Church,  and  been  a  blessing  to  the  world.  But  I  do  insist  that  if  this 
Conference  shall  adjourn,  and  we  simply  leave  upon  record  (to  be  sure,  a 
precious  legacy  to  tliose  who  follow)  a  redeclaration  of  the  principles  of 
Methodism  everywhere,  we  shall,  to  some  extent,  at  least,  have  disappointed 
the  expectations  of  our  brethren.  Let  us  take  some  advanced  step.  The 
voice  of  this  Conference  will  be  potential  and  strong  in  any  direction  in 
which  it  shall  make  its  recommendation — it  can  go  no  further.  I  desire, 
among  other  things,  that  wherever  on  God's  earth  a  Methodist  may  go,  he 
may,  at  least,  meet  with  a  hymn  that  was  sung  in  his  own  church,  and, 
perhaps,  around  his  own  fireside  But  that,  I  suppose,  for  the  present,  is 
past.  We  can,  at  least,  I  think,  do  something  to  show  the  world  that 
although  we  be  of  diiferent  names  and  orgauisutious,  yet  in  the  purpose  of 
spreading  the  Gospel  among  the  heathen  we  are  a  unit,  and  that  we  shall 
have  some  unit}-  of  action.  This  is  the  last  time  I  shall  open  my  voice 
here.  May  I  not  be  able  to  say  to  my  people  ou  my  return  that  no  meeting 
since  the  Day  of  Pentecost  has  been  comparable  to  that  which  took  place  in 
London,  and  that  we  have  taken  a  lung  step  in  the  direction  of  evangelising 
the  world  and  mankind  ? 

Rev.  J.  C.  Pkice  (African  I\Iethodist  Episcopal  Zion  Church)  :  The  sub- 
ject before  us  is  the  establishment  of  schools  in  foreign  lands  for  natives, 
but  there  is  such  a  thing  as  having  African  missions  on  American  soil,  and 
African  missions  on  English  soil,  but  more  especially  on  American  soil.  I 
rise  to  emphasise  the  remark  that  was  made  by  Dr.  Reid  the  other  day  when 
he  said  that  the  chief  reliance  for  the  evangelisation  of  the  Dark  Continent 
was  the  negro.  I  appreciate  the  remark,  and  if  I  confine  mj'self  to  that 
country  you  will  pardon  me.  Japan,  China,  and  France  have  had  their 
spokesmen,  and  pardon  me  if  I  attempt  to  represent  Africa,  it  being  some- 
what my  native  fatherland.  It  is  evident  that  God  works  mysteriously 
with  His  people.  His  providential  government  is  an  established  fact,  and 
in  His  providences  we  see  that  history  often  repeats  itself.  Joseph  is 
taken  roughly  and  made  a  slave,  j'ct  he  is  promoted  to  the  second  highest 
rank  in  a  foreign  nation,  and  is  permitted  to  do  a  great  work,  not  only  for 
that  nation,  but  for  the  nation  from  whence  he  came.  It  may  be  in  the 
providence  of  God  that  He  carried  us  to  America,  and  in  rough  work  we 
have  fulfilled  that  providence  ;  but  there  are  greater  things  yet  for  us  to 
do,  and  there  is  no  greater  thing  than  to  carry  the  Gospel  to  our  brethien— a 
hundred  and  ninety-nine  millions,  who  are  enveloped  in  darkness,  unpene- 
trated  by  the  light  of  the  cross,  and  who  are  struggling  for  that  light  which 
Jesus  Christ  alone  can  give.  There  are  a  great  many  things  that  attract 
people  to  Africa.  Some  go  there  for  her  ivory,  some  for  her  gold,  some  to 
augment  scientific  knowledge,  but  I  firmly  believe  that  the  work  that 
presents  itself  to  the  hands  of  the  American  negro  is  to  go  there  to  save 
the  immortal  souls  of  the  people.  But  now  how  can  this  be  done  ?  Only 
by  preparing  those  in  America  to  return  and  carry  the  Gospel  to  the  heathen. 
The  mission-schools  in  America  have  not  altogether  been  what  we  should 
desire  thej-  should  be,  but  it  is  within  our  power  to  prepare  tlie  Africans 


512  FOREIGN    MISSIONS. 

to  cany  the  Gospel  to  their  bi'ethren,  and  this  is  being  done.  But  it  can  he 
done  to  a  greater  extent  if  you  would  only  encourage  those  schools  that  the 
Methodist  Church  have  under  its  control  for  the  education  of  a  black  man 
to  carry  the  Gospel  to  his  people.  Some  would  say,  "  Won't  you  go  en 
masse?  No  ;  that  question  has  been  in  agitation.  We  do  not  ask  for  the 
negro  to  go  back  to  his  own  land  en  masse. 

Rev.  Mr.  Townsend  :  I  rise  to  a  point  of  order;  the  subject  is  not  train- 
ing-schools in  America,  but  in  foreign  lands. 

Rev.  J.  C.  Price  :  My  subject  is  that  the  6,000,000  or  7,000,000  negroes 
in  America  are  the  instrument  to  elevate  their  brethren  in  Africa,  and  since 
they  have  not  the  training-schools  in  Africa,  my  idea  is  that  we  encourage 
the  schools  we  have  in  America,  and  send  the  people,  five,  ten,  or  a  hundred 
at  a  time,  intelligent,  moral,  and  well-prepared  men,  to  preach  the  Gospel 
of  Christ  in  Africa. 

Hon.  T.  S.  Moorman  (Methodist^  Episcopal  Church,  South):  I  rise  to 
present  one  point  and  to  make  one  appeal  to  this  Conference,  and  through 
the  proceedings  of  this  Conference  to  this  great  empire.  That  appeal  is 
exactly  in  the  line  and  direction  which  has  been  indicated  by  my  friend  Mr. 
Price.  Allow  me  to  premise  this,  that  I  belong  to  that  peculiar  class  of 
American  people  who  were  once  known  as  slaveholders.  Our  slaves  have 
been  emancipated,  and  allow  me  to  say  here  to-day,  and  to  emphasise  it  as 
I  know  it  to  1  e  the  very  truth,  that  in  the  Christian  hearts  of  the  Southern 
slaveholders  there  does  exist  a  feeling  of  regard  and  of  concern  for  the 
welfare  of  that  race,  that  does  not  exist  anywhere  else  on  the  face  of  this 
green  earth.  We  are  concerned  not  simply  as  Christians,  but  we  are  em- 
phatically as  friends  in  these  people  among  whom  we  have  ever  lived — 
friends  from  our  childhood.  They  have  laboured  for  us,  they  have  stood 
by  us  in  sickness  and  in  health,  they  have  nursed  us  in  our  infancy,  and 
they  love  us  to-day,  and  we  love  them.  There  is  nothing  on  earth  of  any 
power  or  influence  that  can  separate  between  the  master  and  his  slave  in 
their  affection  and  confidence  to  this  day.  And,  sir,  my  friend  has  struck 
the  truth — the  truth  that  has  ever  impressed  itself  upon  my  mind  as  a  con- 
sidering Christian — when  he  said  that  the  great  work  of  the  evangelisation 
of  Afi-ica  is  to  be  done  in  the  clear  and  distinct  line  of  Providence  through 
the  Southern  slave,  the  American  negro.  It  is  a  truth,  it  is  a  great  truth, 
and  it  is  a  truth  no  greater  than  which  can  be  considered  by  this  important 
body.  And  in  connection  with  that  truth  comes  the  other  transcendental 
truth,  that  this  line  of  Providence  is  to  be  followed  up  not  only  faithfully 
but  wisely,  and  that  when  these  people  go,  as  they  must  and  will  go,  as 
the  evangelising  power  to  their  own  native  country,  they  must  go  tJiere 
not  only  as  Christians  but  as  men  of  profound  education,  thoroughly  trained 
and  qualified  in  every  possible  way  for  this  great  evangelising  work.  And 
let  me  say,  sir,  now  practically,  that  this  training  of  the  Southern  negro  is 
not  being  done  as  it  should  be  done.  There  are  reasons  wh);-  it  cannot  be 
done.  We,  of  the  Southern  States,  are  poor  ;  we  are  not  able  to  help  our 
friends  as  we  desire  to  help  them.  There  is  not  a  Coloured  churcli  built 
in  my  community  but  what  I  think  I  speak  the  truth  when  I  say  that  every 
Christian  White  church  in  the  community  contributes  its  mite  to  the  build- 
ing, and  so  in  regard  to  every  Christian  effort  and  enterprise  amongst  them. 
It  receives  our  help  as  best  we  can  give  it.  But  we  are  not  able  to  support 
our  own  institutions  ;  they  are  languishing  and  they  are  suffering.  Our 
Northern  brethren  have  come  to  our  help  in  this  matter,  and  we  thank  them 
for  it ;  but  perhaps  they  are  not  doing  all  they  can  ;  but  one  great  fact  is  im- 
pressed upon  me  upon  this  great  English  soil,  and  it  is  this,  that  if  we  by 
this  Conference  can  get  the  perfect  consecration  of  English  money  to  the 
great  work  of  religious  enterprise,  we  should  have  done  a  vast  deal.  We 
want  this  money  sent  to  help  us  in  training  these  our  friends. 


EEV.   J.   S.   BANKS'S  ADDRESS.  513 

Mr.  S.  Gt.  King  (Victoria,  Australia)  :  I  think  wp  m'lst  be  careful,  while 
training  native  a£!:ents,  to  remember  that  tlie  work  of  missions  cannot  be 
left  entirely  to  them.  I  have  recently  returned  from  the  South  Sea  Islands, 
from  whence  native  agents  have  been  sent  to  Samoa,  to  New  Ireland,  and 
New  Britain  ;  but,  while  they  have  worked  earnestly,  the  verdict  comes 
.back  from  those  islands,  received  since  I  have  been  here,  that  it  will  not  do 
to  rely  exclusively  upon  native  agents  without  the  oversight  of  European 
missionaries.  Mr.  Calvert  has  spoken  just  now  about  Fiji,  and  I  should 
Hke  this  meeting  to  consider  this  point,  What  would  be  the  position  of  Fiji 
in  antagonism  to  the  Church  of  England,  or  rather  when  the  Church  of 
England  comes  in  in  antagonism  to  our  work  in  Fiji  ?  After  all  the  long- 
labour  that  the  Methodist  Church  has  bestowed  upon  Fiji,  raising  up  native 
agency,  and  making  Fiji  capable  of  being  a  British  colony,  there  comes  in 
the  prestige  of  the  Episcopal  Church,  and  they  are  now  seeking  to  set  up  a 
bishop  for  those  islands.  This  miglit  overshadow  the  native  agents,  and 
endanger  the  prestige  of  the  IMethod  st  Cliurch  there,  but  for  the  presence 
of  European  missionaries  in  the  persons  of  J\Ir.  Langham  and  others. 


The  President  :  T  have  an  announcement  to  make,  wliich  I  am 
sure  the  delegates  will  receive  with  sympathy.  Mr.  E.  Lumby,  of 
Halifax,  delegate  of  the  Methodist  New  Connexion  to  this  Confer- 
ence, passed  peacefully  to  heaven  at  eleven  o'clock  this  morning. 
I  am  quite  sure  when  I  say  that  the  matter  will  be  remembered  in 
the  future  devotions  of  this  Conference  I  shall  only  express  the 
feelings  of  the  Conference  ;  and  we  all  join  in  the  hope  that  his 
sorrowing  family  may  be  Divinely  comforted. 

Kev.  J.  S.  Banks  (Wesleyan  Methodist)  read  an  essay  on  The 
Use  of  the  Press  in  Non-Christian  Countries  for  the  Promotion  of  the 
Gospel. 

It  would  be  a  waste  of  time  to  argue  here  either  the  right  of  the 
Church  to  use  the  Press  as  a  missionary  agency,  or  the  necessity  and 
value  of  such  an  agency,  for  these  principles  have  long  been  recognised 
and  acted  on.  In  relation  to  the  present  subject  the  different  portions 
of  the  mission-field  class  themselves  under  two  heads — the  non-literary 
and  literary.  As  to  the  first,  where  the  seeds  of  letters  had  to  be  sown, 
the  work  done  by  Christian  missionaries  in  reducing  languages  to  a 
written  form,  in  teaching  the  people  to  read  with  wonder  what  before 
they  had  only  spoken,  in  founding  schools  and  establishing  presses,  is 
a  familiar  and  glorious  story.  In  countries  of  the  other  class,  where 
the  literary  bent  of  the  people  enabled  the  missionary  at  once  to  use 
schools  and  the  press  in  his  work,  a  considerable  Christian  literature 
has  already  grown  up.  The  first  instinct  of  a  Pj.'otestant  missionary  is 
to  appeal  through  every  possible  channel  to  the  intelligence  and 
judgment  of  the  people.  As  early  as  1713,  Ziegenbalg,  the  Danish 
missionary  of  Trauquebar,  published  a  tract  on  idolatry,  the  pioneer 

LL 


514!  FOREIGN  MISSIONS. 

of  innnmerable  tracts.  To-day  tract  and  book  societies,  to  say  nothing 
of  Bible  societies,  literally  swarm  on  Indian  soil.  Yet  much  remains 
to  be  done.  The  question  which  I  wish  to  ask  the  Conference  to-day 
is  whether  the  time  has  not  arrived  when  a  work  of  this  importance, 
which  has  hitherto  been  left  to  individual  impulse,  should  be  under- 
taken in  a  systematic  way  by  co-operation  on  the  part  of  missionary 
societies?  When  we  consider  that  hitherto  there  has  been  no  concerted 
effort,  no  definite  plan  or  aim,  we  may  justly  wonder  that  the  results 
have  been  so  good.  Bat  if  so  much  has  been  accomplished  without, 
how  much  more  might  be  accomplished  with,  united  action ! 

One  reason  suggesting  such  action  is  the  magnitude  of  the  field  to  be 
covered.  Glance  at  its  different  sections.  First  and  chiefly  the  non- 
Christian  populations  have  to  be  thought  of.  Strange  as  it  may  seem, 
the  tract  is  the  most  effective  means  for  reaching  these,  at  least  in  the 
first  instance.  The  book  comes  in  afterwards.  Only  one  whose  in- 
terest has  been  excited  will  read  a  book  about  a  foreign  faith.  The 
first  thing  is  to  arrest  the  attention,  to  excite  a  desire  to  learn ;  and 
this  is  best  done  in  a  written  form  by  the  tract,  which  forms,  so  to 
speak,  the  unit  of  missionary  literature.  A  first-class  tract  is  a  price- 
less boon  to  the  missionary  cause,  because  it  goes  on  preaching  from 
generation  to  generation.  Tlie  writing  of  a  good  tract,  like  preaching 
to  children,  requires  not  great  talent  but  peculiar  talent.  Some  of  the 
oldest  tracts  in  India  are  said  to  be  the  best,  and  it  has  been  proposed 
to  reprint  them.  After  the  tract  come  more  extended  treatises.  And 
here  the  field  is  practically  boundless.  Works  in  exposition  of  Christian 
truth  and  in  refutation  of  error,  works  treating  of  Christianity,  histori- 
cally and  philosophically,  works  suited  to  different  classes  of  society 
and  degrees  of  culture,  are  all  needed.  An  appeal  constantly  made  to 
the  missionary  preacher  is,  "  Give  me  a  book  that  will  tell  me  all  abont 
what  you  have  been  saying."  Compliance  with  such  a  request  is  not 
always  easy.  It  may  be  asked,  Does  not  the  Bible  meet  such  a  case  ? 
Of  course  an  inquirer  would  always  be  directed  to  the  Bible,  or  a 
portion  of  it.  But  the  Bible  is  a  book  with  a  history,  the  knowledge  of 
which  is  necessary  to  its  profitable  use.  That  knowledge  distils  into 
us  insensibly,  but  is  wanting  to  a  heathen  reader.  How  many  of  our 
own  people,  taken  at  random  from  the  street,  would  be  able  to  deduce 
from  Scripture  alone  anything  like  a  just  idea  of  Christian  truth  ?  Nor 
does  preaching  altogether  supply  the  want :  first  because,  although  the 
Ijreaching  is  regular,  the  hearing  is  casual — regular  hearers  are  peculiar 
to  Christian  countries — and,  secondly,  because  the  field  of  discussion 
traversed  by  the  preacher  is  necessarily  limited.  No  preacher  can  say 
all  that  needs  to  be  said  on  the  points  of  contact  and  collision  between 
Christianity  and  heathenism.  Hence  systematic  statements  of  the 
doctrines  and  facts  of  Christianity  are  essential,  and  thoroughly  suit- 
able statements  are  invaluable. 

Again,  as  native  Churches  grow  up,  they  need  to  be  fed  by  works  of 


EEV.   J.    S.    BAXKS'S   ADDRESS.  515 

instruction,  exposition,  and  edification.  The  training  of  catechists 
and  native  ministers  demands  more  technical  treatises  in  the  different 
branches  of  theology,  not  of  course  on  the  same  scale  as  at  home,  but 
on  similar  lines.  There  is  no  need  to  speak  of  books  for  school  use, 
because  here  the  demand  is  sure  to  call  forth  a  supply.  But  over  and 
above  what  is  necessary  for  educational  purposes.  Christian  books  for 
the  young  are  as  great  a  necessity  abroad  as  at  home. 

So  far  we  have  spoken  of  directly  religious  works.  A  second  want, 
scarcely  less  urgent,  is  that  of  a  healthy  secular  literature  in  every 
department.  Here  the  field  is  so  wide  that  any  really  good  book,  on 
almost  any  subject,  can  scarcely  be  out  of  place.  At  the  present 
moment  there  is  no  living  literature,  no  provision  for  the  hunger  of  the 
human  intellect,  outside  Christendom.  The  literatures  of  India  and 
China,  wonderful  as  they  are,  are  dead,  or  at  least  obsolete.  Granted 
that  in  these  countries  there  is  a  vast  amount  of  feverish  mental 
activity,  and  that  the  press  teams  with  publications  of  the  most  mis- 
cellaneous kind,  I  do  not  know  that  any  of  these  productions  are  of 
more  than  ordinary  interest,  or  are  worthy  of  the  name  of  literature. 
In  all  non-Christian  countries  to-day  the  foundations  of  a  literature 
have  to  be  laid.  By  what  hands,  under  what  auspices,  shall  the  work 
be  done  ?  Who  shall  determine,  to  some  extent,  what  future  nations 
shall  read  and  think  about  ?  Whether  we  see  our  opportunity  or  not, 
the  apostles  of  unbelief  are  busy  in  some  parts  of  the  mission-field. 
While  it  cannot  be  said  that  the  supply  of  such  a  w^ant  is  the  direct 
duty  of  the  Church,  the  wisdom  of  the  Church  is  not  to  miss  such  an 
opening.  The  young  especially,  who  are  trained  in  our  schools,  crave 
for  something  better  than  their  own  country  supplies.  Works  on 
history,  geography,  the  various  branches  of  science  and  philosophy, 
adapted  to  different  classes,  are  all  needed.  Newspapers  and  maga- 
zines— if  well  illustrated  so  much  the  better — cannot  but  do  good. 
Judicious  beginnings  in  these  lines  could  scarcely  fail  to  have  a  certain 
and  rapid  growth. 

This  rough  and  meagre  sketch  may  serve  to  show  the  extent  of 
ground  to  be  covered.  That  the  work  will  be  overtaken,  even  if  left,  as 
in  the  past,  to  individual  effort  and  very  much  to  accident,  we  have  no 
doubt.  But  it  would  be  done  far  more  rapidly  and  thoroughly  by  united 
action  on  the  part  of  the  societies  at  work  in  a  particular  province  or 
country,  under  the  sanction  and  with  the  help  of  the  home  authoi'ities. 
One  of  the  chief  tasks  of  a  central  board  or  committee  would  be  to 
draw  up  a  classified  list  of  the  subjects  to  be  dealt  with,  and  perhaps  to 
ajiply  a  stimulus  in  the  shape  of  prizes.  There  would  then  be  some- 
thing definite  to  aim  at.  Not  the  least  benefit  would  be  the  supervision 
exercised  and  the  check  on  the  publication  of  feeble  and  unsuitable 
works.  Tract  and  school-book  societies  are  doing  grand  work  in  some 
parts,  but  they  only  meet  the  case  to  a  limited  extent,  as  their  titles 
indicate.     Something  comprehensive  of  the  entire  field  is  needed.    We 

LL  2 


516  FOREIGN   MISSIONS. 

believe  that,  with  the  experience  already  gained,  missions  arc  ripe  for 
such  a  step  in  advance.  The  advantage  of  union  has  been  seen  in  the 
work  of  translating  the  Scriptures,  and  to  some  extent  in  training  a 
native  ministry.  Why  not  in  this  other  work  of  equally  common 
interest  and  urgent  importance  ?  Whether  Christians  can  act  to- 
gether in  such  work  or  not,  the  heathen  can.  Recent  news  from 
Japan  states  that  the  adherents  of  two  different  heathen  sects  have 
joined  in  founding  a  magazine  called  the  Two-Reliyion  Magazine,  to  meet 
the  attacks  of  Christian  missionaries. 

Other  reasons  pointing  to  the  same  course,  which  I  will  only 
mention,  are  first,  the  common  truth  preached  by  the  Churches,  and 
secondly,  the  mutual  advantage  to  be  derived.  In  missionary  preaching 
the  peculiar  tenets  of  different  Churches  scarcely  come  into  play  at  all. 
They  form  merely  the  circumference,  the  ornamental  fringe.  To  a 
greater  extent  than  at  home  the  staple  of  Christian  preaching,  both  by 
tongue  and  pen,  is  made  up  of  the  great  central  truths  on  which  all 
Protestants  are  one.  The  Christian  book  that  will  serve  the  missionary 
of  one  Church,  will  just  as  well  serve  the  missionary  of  another  Church. 
Again,  some  Churches  may  be  more  richly  gifted  with  literary  power, 
or  may  be  able  to  spare  more  attention  for  this  department  than  others. 
By  such  united  labour  not  only  would  that  power  be  placed  at  the 
service  of  the  other  Churches — it  would  also  itself  find  a  wider  field  of 
exercise. 

Something  needs  to  be  said  respecting  the  character  of  missionary 
literature.  The  one  law  to  be  observed  is  that  of  adaptation  to  the 
endlessly  varied  conditions  of  time  and  place.  First,  as  to  form.  It 
would  be  a  great  mistake  to  suppose  that  this  point,  although  secondary, 
is  a  matter  of  indifference.  We  know  how  much  British  and  American 
Christianity  owes  to  the  perfect  idiom  and  grace  of  the  Authorised 
Version.  Do  we  not  revel  in  our  Christian  classics  ?  Missionary 
literature  must  abound  in  the  illustrative  element.  At  all  events, 
attractiveness  is  essential,  dulness  fatal.  Still  more  important  is 
adaptation  as  to  matter.  On  this  ground  translations  are  scarcely 
ever  admissible.  It  is  very  rarely,  indeed,  that  a  work  written  for  a 
Christian  country  will  suit  one  that  is  not  Christian.  Divergences  of 
national  character,  too,  are  almost  as  great  as  those  due  to  reUgion. 
The  Western  and  Oriental  mind,  for  example,  differ  in  their  entire 
make.  Their  modes  of  thinking  and  reasoning  are  almost  as  different 
as  the  languages  they  speak.  They  move  in  different  planes  of  thought. 
We  therefore  read  with  astonishment  of  the  translation  in  India  even 
of  admirable  works  like  Paley's  Evidences.  The  difficulties  implicitly 
met  in  such  works  are  altogether  unknown  in  the  East.  Where 
foreign  works  are  used  at  all  it  must  only  be  to  supply  the  raw  material. 
This  all-essential  condition  of  adaptation  has  not  always  been  regarded 
in  the  past.  A  Calcutta  missionary  of  great  experience  writes,  "  Our 
religious  tracts  and  books  seem  to  have  been  written  rather  among  the 


EEV.  LEROY  M.  VERNON's  ADDRESS.         517 

fogs  of  London  or  the  ice  of  St.  Petersbm-g  than  in  a  country  with  the 
associations  of  the  gorgeous  East." 

This  being  so,  it  is  not  every  missionary  who  is  qualified  for  such 
work.     The  first  qualification  essential  is  thorough  acquaintance  not 
only  with  the  language  and  literature,  but  also  with  the  mind  and 
genius  of  the  people  ability ;  to  view  subjects  as  they  would.     Such 
ability  can  only  be  the  fruit  of  much  study  and  observation.     Some 
literary  tact  also  is  indispensable.     Only  in  rare  cases  are  these  quali 
fications  found  in  combination  to  any  marked  degree.     Where  so  found 
they  should  be  j)rized  as  one  of  God's  most  precious  gifts  ;  they  should 
be  fostered  and  utilised  to  the  utmost  by  the  release  of  the  missionary 
possessing  them  either  wholly  or  partially  from  other  toil.     That  this 
has  not  been  done  i)roves  that  missionary  societies  have  set  too  little 
value  on  work  of  this  kind.     They  are  only  now  waking  up  to  the 
power  which  the  press  puts  into  their  hands.     What  would  not  the 
early  Christian  ages  have  given  for  such  a  weapon,  both  of  aggression 
and  defence  ?     The  possession  of  this  weapon  goes  far  to  redress  the 
inequality  between  our  own  age  and  that  of  apostolic  missions,  of  which 
we  sometimes  hear   complaints.      The   heathen   are   using  the  press 
against  Christianity.     One  Indian  brochure  of  this  class  called  itself 
"  The  Sun  Illuminating  the  Darkness  of  Christianity,"  and  another 
claimed  to  be  "  A  Diamond  Club  for  Destroying  Christianity."     We 
must  do  far  more  than  repel  such  attacks.   Aggression  has  always  been 
the  principle  of  Christian  missions,  and  must  be  so  still.     Through  the 
press,  as  well  as  by  word  of  mouth  and  in  the  school,  let  the  Gospel  be 
preached  to  every  creature.     And  this  can  be  done  with  the  greatest 
economy  and  efficiency  by  united  organised  action  on  the  part  of  the 
different  Churches  of  Christ. 

Rev.  Lerot  M.  Vernon.  D.D.  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church),  gave  the 
invited  address.  He  said  :  The  propagation  of  the  Gospel  in  non-Christian 
countries  is  a  most  complex  and  difficult  undertaking.  To  attain  high  success 
therein,  it  is  needful  to  use  energetically  and  judiciously  all  those  agencies 
which  experience  may  have  shown  to  be  eminently  powerful  for  arresting  the 
attention,  advancing  the  intelligence,  convincing  tEe  judgment,  winning  the 
heart,  and  controlling  the  conduct  of  men  generally  in  Christian  lands.  In 
Protestant  countries  the  Christian  press  is  only  second  to  the  Christian  puljjit 
as  a  means  for  spreading  the  Gospel.  A  consecrated  pen  is  the  true  yoke- 
fellow of  the  living  preacher's  voice.  The  press  is  another  preacher  ;  and 
though  its  message  reach  the  heart  through  "  the  faithful  eyes,"  according  to 
a  great  authority,  the  impression  thus  made  is  moi-e  enduring.  The  ministry 
of  the  press  may  run  on  unbroken  through  centuries,  its  original  and 
natural  force  unabated — nay,  even  increasing  with  advancing  years.  A 
precious  book  or  a  great  journal  has  its  own  proper  life,  and  presses  its  silent 
apostolate  by  various  tongues,  over  many  lands,  through  unlimited  time. 
An  example  is  The  Lnitalion  of  Jesus  Christ,  still  one  of  the  world's  best 


518  FOREIGN   MISSIONS. 

books,  whether  written  or  not  by  Thomas  Aquinas  ;  another  is  The  Benefits 
of  Christ's  Death,  which  continues  to  comfort  and  edify  believers,  and  to  lead 
sinners  to  the  Saviour,  though  its  authorship  be  uncertain.  The  tongue  of  a 
Huss,  of  a  Savonarola,  or  of  any  missionary  whatsoever,  may  be  hushed,  but 
the  press  has  an  immortal  faculty  of  speech.  Its  voice  defies  prohibitory 
indices  and  inquisitorial  fires,  be  they  Pagan  or  Papal,  The  success  of  any 
missionary  work,  so  far  as  due  to  man,  will  be  according  to  the  pre- 
paration of  the  labourers  therefor,  according  to  the  unity  of  their  methods, 
the  fraternal  sympathies  uniting  them  together,  and  their  common  con- 
secration and  zeal  therein,  according  to  their  skill  in  expounding  the 
Gospel,  and  in  adapting  their  instructions  to  the  conditions  of  the  people 
among  whom  they  toil.  This  harmonisation  and  development  of  the  mis- 
sionaries, especially  of  the  native  preachers,  may  be  greatly  promoted  by 
their  enlistment  in  some  common  journalistic  or  other  literary  work.  In  order 
to  stimulate  these  educative  processes,  and  to  secure  the  maturest  results,  it 
may  be  well  to  offer  frequent  premiums  to  native  ministers  for  the  best 
treatises  on  practical  and  vital  subjects.  These  publications,  almost  certainly 
developments  of  their  pulpit  services,  or  supplementary  thereto,  will  mightily 
minister  to  the  instruction  and  edification,  to  the  confirmation  and  maturity 
of  the  nascent  Church,  and  thus  greatly  invigorate  it  as  a  witness  for  Christ. 

Not  unfrequently  in  Christian  work,  apparently  undue  reliance  is  had  upon 
a  given  person,  a  particular  presence,  a  specific  voice.  When  these  are  gone 
their  Gospel  is  hid.  The  work  of  the  preaching  press  is  much  less  subject  to 
variation.  We  must  not  undervalue  the  force,  the  awakening  and  saving 
power  of  the  Word,  however  it  may  reach  the  understanding  and  the  con- 
science. Cases  are  not  wanting  in  which  men  have  been  brought  to  Christ  by 
the  reading  of  the  Bible,  with  little  or  no  aid  from  the  living  preacher. 
Almost  invariably,  too,  those  whose  conversion  and  edification  are  most 
attributable  to  the  reading  of  the  Scriptures,  religious  tracts,  books,  and 
journals,  are  best  established  in  the  faith  and  least  variable  in  life.  Their 
experience  and  their  attachment  to  Christ  and  His  Church  do  not  change 
when  a  minister  is  changed.  The  oral  ministrations  to  a  congregation 
ignorant  or  heedless  of  Christ  may  often  be  most  opportunely  followed  and 
greatly  enforced  by  the  distribution  of  printed  matter  suited  to  the  circum- 
stances of  the  case,  especially  where  attention  has  been  arrested  and  interest 
enlisted.  Thus  the  pen  perpetuates  the  voice  ;  the  press  concludes  what  the 
pulpit  began. 

The  missionary  in  non-Christian  lands  must  plan  and  work  for  the  future 
as  well  as  for  to-day,  for  the  entire  nation  as  well  as  for  the  individual  soul 
to  whom  he  first  directs  the  message  of  life.  His  policy  must  contemplate, 
from  the  beginning,  the  redemption  of  the  whole  nation.  His  plans  and  his 
faith  must  be  elevated  to  that  lofty  end  ;  in  breadth  of  view,  in  gravity 
of  action,  in  gentleness  of  spirit,  in  winning  and  constraining  kindliness,  and 
in  self-forgetfulness,  his  example  must  be  worthy  of  and  anticipate  that 
high  realisation.  To  that  end  not  only  must  he  preach  Christ  directly  to 
those  immediately  about  him,  but  according  to  the  measure  of  his  possibilities 


GENERAL    EEMAKKS.  519 

he  must  promote  a  general  Christian  civilisation,  A  way  must  he  opened 
up  for  the  advance  of  the  Gospel,  the  field  cleared  for  the  planting  of  the 
Church,  and,  in  protection  thereof,  the  surrounding  air  must  be  cleansed 
of  Pagan  malaria.  The  whole  monstrous  system  of  Paganism  must  be 
skilfully  discredited,  and  the  people  shown  a  better  way  in  a  thousand  things 
which  are  the  adjuncts  or  the  fruits  of  Christianity,  and  imply  it  ;  and  which, 
once  embraced,  lead  on  logically  and  inevitably  to  the  Gospel.  In  all  this 
range  of  cognate  and  preparatory  work,  as  in  the  supplementary  work  above 
named,  the  press  is  pre-eminent,  and  without  a,  rival.  It  is  to  be  greatly 
feared  that  its  power  and  adaptability  in  this  respect  have  not  yet  been  fully 
;;ppreciated,  much  less  developed  and  applied.  Here,  as  everywhere,  the 
practical  efficiency  of  the  in.strnment  will  be  in  proportion  to  the  wisdom 
and  energy  with  which  it  is  u.sed.  The  Christian  author  or  journalist  may 
enjoy  the  aid  of  the  Holy  Ghost  as  directly  and  fully  as  the  preacher.  The 
same  charity,  gentleness,  and  profound  respect  and  sympathy  for  man,  which 
glow  in  the  pulpit,  should  animate  the  press  and  illuminate  all  its  advances 
among  the  people.  Whatever  there  may  be  in  the  life  and  history  of  the 
people  which  is  good  or  true  should  be  fully  and  heartily  recognised. 
Innocent  prejudices  and  usages  should  be  respected,  many  wrongs  should 
be  opposed  by  indirect  means,  and  the  more  direct  assaults  on  hoary  iniqui- 
ties should  be  made  in  the  spirit  and  after  the  example  of  the  Master. 
Anathemas  are  not  arguments.  Denunciations  do  not  draw,  but  repel. 
Without  the  respect,  the  regard,  the  confidence  of  those  we  seek  to  save, 
our  labours  will  be  comparatively  fruitless,  if  not  wholly  in  vain.  The  press, 
whatever  its  form,  should  be  eminently  national,  idiomatic,  and  of  the 
genius  and  life-blood  of  the  people,  free  as  possible  from  whatever  is  foreign. 
We  are  not  called  to  Europeanise  or  to  Americanise  the  non-Christian  world, 
but  to  Christianise  it.  Such  is  the  national  pride  of  nearly  every  people, 
that  whatever  of  the  foreign  be  needlessly  mingled  with  the  Gospel,  wiU 
almost  inevitably  retard  its  reception.  The  Gospel  is  broader  than  any  one 
land  ;  belongs  equally  to  all  lands.  It  deserves  to  be  offered  at  the  threshold 
of  every  people,  in  that  oecumenical  breadth  in  which  it  came  down  from 
Heaven.  Let  it,  as  far  as  possible,  be  spared  the  impediment  and  reproach 
of  Nazareth  and  of  Rome,  that  it  be  neither  despised  nor  feared.  Thus 
inspired  and  conducted,  the  press  may  be  an  evangelical  Mercury,  with 
winged  feet,  carrying  the  Gospel  all  abroad,  now  a  John  the  Baptist  crying 
in  the  wilderness,  again  a  good  Samaritan  ministering  solace  and  strength  to 
persecuted  disciples.  An  example,  illustrative  of  the  foregoing,  may  be  seen 
in  the  Sandwich  Islands,  in  the  redemption  of  which  from  Paganism  and 
barbarism,  the  press  had  no  unimportant  part.  Indeed,  so  highly  is  the 
press  esteemed  and  hoijoured  in  these  redeemed  isles,  that  their  Christian 
king  himself  is  the  proprietor  and  editor-in-chief  of  a  voluminous  public 
journal,  a  pronounced  advocate  of  temperance  as  well  as  religion. 

Rev.  S.  L.  B.\ldwin,  D.  D.  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church):  AVith 
regard  to  the  use  of  the  press  in  China,  I  may  state  tluit  we  have 
in  that  country  a  paper  which  i.s  called  the  Chiui:sc  HcporUr,  to  which 


520  FOREIGN   MISSIONS. 

missionaries  not  only  of  the  Methodist  denomination  but  of  all  the 
denominations  contribute.  We  also  have  a  publication  in  Chinese  called 
the  Glohe  Magazine,  intended  to  spread  not  only  the  knowledge  of  foreign 
science  and  literature,  but  also,  along  with  it,  Christianity  among  the 
natives  of  China  ;  and  this  publication  already  has  a  very  wide  circulation. 
From  our  different  mission  presses  we  have  issued  not  only  the  Bible  and 
well-known  Christian  books,  such  as  Bunyan's  Pilgrhii's  Progress,  but  also 
many  local  papers  in  the  dialects  of  different  locahties.  We  have  the 
Foochow  Church  Gazette,  supported  by  the  missions  of  the  Church  Missionary 
Society,  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Missionary  Society,  and  that  of  the 
American  Board,  all  working  in  liarmony  in  issuing  and  sending  forth  to 
the  members  of  the  Christian  Churches  and  to  the  heathen,  a  Christian 
periodical.  We  sometimes  meet  with  a  little  difficulty.  At  Ningpo,  wh|^n 
the  tract  distributors  were  circulating  the  Chinese  version  of  the  Pilgrim  s 
Progress,  the  French  Consul  made  a  protest  to  the  native  authorities  that 
this  book  should  not  be  circulated  in  the  Chinese  language,  because  it  spoke 
in  very  disrespectful  terms  of  the  Pope.  This  gave  the  mandarins  some 
little  anxiety,  but  the  American  Consul  replied  to  a  letter  sent  to  him  by 
the  Chinese  authorities  that  it  was  not  considered  a  matter  of  any  great 
importance  if  some  particular  person  should  come  under  animadversion  in 
a  book  issued  from  the  press,  and  he  hoped  the  Chinese  authorities  would 
not  think  it  necessary  to  suppress  the  book  on  that  account ;  and  they  did 
not — it  continued  to  circulate  as  usual.  But  still  there  is,  of  course,  a 
little  discretion  to  be  observed  in  regard  to  what  we  put  before  the 
Chinese  people  which  is  not  directly  connected  with  the  presentation  of  the 
Gospel  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ.  Everything  that  belongs  to. 
literature,  and  art,  and  science,  we  are  free  to  circulate,  and  we  certainly 
have  no  desire  to  circulate  anything  that  interferes  with  either  the 
governmental  reguhition  or  any  innocent  traditions  of  the  Chinese  people. 
The  press  is  a  great  power  at  the  present  time,  as  used  by  Protestant 
missionaries  in  Cliina,  and  will  be  a  much  greater  power  in  days  to  come. 

Rev.  J.  W.  Waugh,  D.  D.  (M.  E.  Church) :  The  essays  that  have 
been  read  in  our  hearing  are  quite  in  accord  with  the  action  of  our 
missions  in  India.  For  many  years,  ever  since  the  establishment  of 
Metho'dist  missions  in  North  India,  we  have  been  following  the  line  which 
has  been  marked  out  especially  in  the  last  essay,  in  getting  hold  of  incisive 
tracts  and  scattering  them  among  the  people  in  large  numbers — by  millions. 
We  found  in  the  Northern  parts  of  India  that  the  devil  had  preceded  us  in 
the  work  of  scattering  literature  and  debauching  the  minds  of  the  people : 
we  have  tried  in  some  sense  to  circumvent  him — to  turn  his  flank — and 
I  think  we  have,  to  a  large  extent,  succeeded.  But  it  is  a  remarkable  fact 
that  in  nearly  every  large  town  or  small  city,  especially  in  the  large  cities, 
there  are  twenty  presses  that  are  in  tlie  hands  of  the  natives  engaged  in 
printing  and  circulating  broadcast  literature  too  obscene  and  too  injurious 
for  us  to  look  upon.  The  mission  press  comes  in  and  is  doing  a  grand 
work.  Although  many  attempts  have  been  made  at  translating  Western 
literature,  tracts  written  in  England  and  America,  the  success  has  not  been 
marked,  for  they  do  not  take  hold  in  a  translated  form  of  the  native  mind ; 
they  do  not  touch  them  as  we  hoped  they  might.  Tracts  written  on  the 
spot,  and  for  the  purpose,  are  those  which  succeed  the  best,  and  we  have 
some  written  there.  I  could  name  a  number  which  have  had  one  edition 
after  another,  first  beginning  with  an  edition  of  1,000,  then  of  3,000,  then 
of  5,000,  10,000,  and  even  100,000  copies.  Such  tracts  have  been  written 
on  the  spot  by  men  well  acquainted  with  the  language  and  thoughts  of  the 
people.  In  the  mission  with  which  I  am  connected  in  Northern  India,  in 
tlie  city  of  Lucknow,  we  have  a  large  mission  press,  which  is  exerting  a 
wonderful  influence  all  over  those  provinces  in  spreading  a  pure  and  holy 


GENERAL   REMARKS.  521 

literature,  and  we  utilise  the  efforts  of  our  educated  native  brethren.  They 
are  on  the  publishing  committee,  and  on  the  committee  for  passing- 
manuscripts,  and  they  not  only  write  essays  and  tracts  themselves,  but  they 
also  pass  in  review  all  the  manuscripts  written  both  by  Europeans  and  by 
natives,  so  upon  them  we  largely  depend  for  getting  the  proper  idiom  and 
the  thought  they  know  to  be  necessary  to  present  to  the  native  mind. 
"We  have  had  a  very  great  success,  and  the  instances  are  very  numerous 
wherein  we  have  seen  the  good  results  of  these  issues  from  our  mission 
press.  I  am  glad  that  these  essays  have  been  read  and  will  be  upon 
record.  If  we  could  have  had  this  line  marked  out  a  century  ago,  and  had 
followed  it  out,  we  should  have  been  far  in  advance  of  our  present 
position.  I  hope  this  will  lead  to  practical  results.  We  have  endowed 
institutions  in  India  in  the  way  of  theological  seminaries,  and  we  need  a 
press  largely  endowed  in  order  that  it  may  accomplish  tenfold  what  it  is 
able  to  accomplish  now. 

Kev.  Dr.  R.  S.  Maclay  :  In  Japan  the  power  of  the  press  is  second  only 
to  that  of  the  pulpit.  It  is  something  worth  noting,  tliat  at  present  in  all 
the  great  languages  of  the  earth  the  Gospel  is  preached  by  the  voice  of  the 
living  preacher,  and  at  the  same  time  the  translations  of  God's  Word  are 
issued  from  the  living  press  in  all  those  languages.  I  desire  to  express 
my  cordial  approval  of  the  sentiments  uttered  in  the  essays  to  which  you 
have  listened  ;  and  in  regard  to  Japan,  I  should  like  to  say  that  it  is  one 
of  our  urgent  needs  there  that  we  utilise  the  press.  We  need  it  not  only 
to  place  before  the  minds  of  the  people  a  fair  statement  of  Christianity  and 
the  object  and  work  of  Christian  Missions,  but  in  order  that  we  may  reach 
the  objections  that  are  brought  through  the  heathen  press  to  bear  upon  the 
minds  of  the  natives.  You  have  but  little  idea  of  the  intense  interest  that 
is  felt  by  the  Japanese  in  regard  to  the  transition  period  through  which 
they  are  now  passing.  The  nation,  as  you  are  aware,  has  broken  away 
from  the  ancient  moorings  ;  it  has  separated  for  ever  from  ancient 
lieathenism.  There  is  no  word  in  Japan  to-day  that  has  more  power  than 
the  words  "  civilisation,"  "  progress,"  "  science."  They  have  been  told  in 
Japan  that  in  America,  in  England,  and  in  Europe,  Christianity  is  dying 
out  ;  that  in  the  colleges,  universities,  and  higher  schools  among  the 
scientists  of  Christendom,  Christianity  is  no  longer  believed  in.  They  have 
been  told  in  the  press  that  all  the  scholarly  men  in  the  United  States,  in 
England,  and  in  other  parts  of  Europe,  disbelieve  the  Gospel,  and  it  is  only 
received  by  the  poor  and  the  ignorant  classes.  Now,  we  want  to  show 
them  that  Christianity  is  a  friend  to  education  and  to  science  ;  that  in  many 
cases  it  has  given  the  world  the  only  education  it  has  liad.  We  can  do  so 
in  no  better  way  than  by  establishing  or  subsidising  the  press.  We  have 
one  Christian  paper  there  representing  the  entire  Christian  community. 

Rev.  Hexry  Liebhakt,  D.  D.  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church) :  As  you 
have  had  a  voice  from  China  and  India,  and  also  an  African  voice, 
and  the  overpowering  eloquence  of  our  Saxon  brethren,  now  let  a 
German  be  heard  for  one  second.  German  Methodism  has  been  founded 
by  the  press.  Dr.  Wm.  Nast,  the  founder  of  German  Methodism,  whose 
name  ought  to  be  mentioned  here  in  this  Ecumenical  Conference,  and 
who  was  too  feeble  to  come  here,  published  a  paper  in  Cincinnati  before 
the  society  was  recognised,  and  this  paper  was  distributed  over  the  United 
States,  and  by  this  means  German  Methodism  has  been  founded  in  the 
United  States.  Dr.  Jacobi,  in  Bremen,  published  a  paper  before  our 
society  was  organised  in  Germany,  and  now  we  have  not  only  a  large 
German  Methodism  in  the  United  States  and  a  large  German  ^lethodism 
in  Germany,  but  we  publish  in  Germany  three  Methodist  papers — one 
published  by  the  Wesleyans,  another  by  the  Evangelical  Association,  and 
another  by  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.     The  Methodist  Episcopal 


522  FOREIGN   MISSIONS. 

Church  paper  has  in  Germany  over  12,000  subscribers,  the  paper  pub- 
lished by  the  Evangelical  Association  has  over  10,000,  and  the  Wesleyan 
paper  has  a  large  subscription.  The  Lord  has  blessed  the  press,  and  we 
will  take  Germany  if  we  use  the  press  with  good  sense.  It  has  been 
used  with  good  sense,  and  we  shall  certainly  evangelise  Germany.  Our 
people  go  from  house  to  house  to  sell  the  paper.  This  is  the  use  we  are 
making  of  the  press  in  foreign  countries.  In  the  United  States  our  paper 
averag-es  18,000,  and  the  Evangelical  Association  publish  18,000  more, 
while  the  United  Brethren  are  also  publishing  a  very  nice  German  paper 
in  the  United  States.  Not  only  that,  but  we  are  making  use  of  our 
opportunities  among  the  German  population  to  the  utmost,  and  I  know 
we  will  take  that  foreign  population,  and  we  will  do  a  great  deal  of  good. 
Rev.  D.  Hill  :  Will  you  allow  me  to  express  my  hearty  accord  with 
the  paper  which  has  been  read  by  Mr.  Banks,  with  regard  to  the  work  of 
the  press  in  China,  as  well  as  in  India  ?  The  canons  of  work  which  he 
has  laid  down  in  the  paper  apply,  as  far  as  my  experience  goes,  equally 
to  China  as  to  India.  There  is  one  point  which,  in  addition  to  what  has 
been  said  by  my  friend.  Dr.  Baldwin,  I  should  like  to  refer  to.  The  work 
which  a  newspaper  may  do  in  a  country  like  China  was  only  briefly 
alluded  to  in  the  paper  by  Mr.  Banks.  I  would  gratefully  acknowledge 
the  work  which  our  American  brethren  have  done  and  are  doing  in  that 
department  in  China ;  but  it  should  be  known  to  our  friends  here  that  there 
is  a  paper  much  more  Avidely  circulated,  turning  out  7,000  or  8,000  copies 
a  day  in  Shanghai,  which  is  the  most  popular  of  Chinese  newspapers  in 
China,  and  circulated  more  widely  than  any  other  which  is  not  of  a  directly 
Christian  tendency.  It  professes  to  uphold  morality,  and,  I  believe,  to  a 
great  extent,  does  so  ;  but  it  is  not  of  a  decidedly  Christian  character.  The 
feeling  which  weighs  upon  my  mind  is  this,  that  there  is  such  an  opening 
at  the  present  time  for  a  thoroughly  Christian,  well-conducted  daily  journal 
in  Cliina,  that  I  could  not  resist  the  desire  to  bring  this  before  the  Con- 
ference in  the  hope  that  some  Methodist  layman,  able  to  conduct  a  paper 
of  this  sort,  might  be  stirred  up  to  take  it  in  hand,  and  push  it  forward  with 
the  liberty  which  he  has  from  one  end  of  the  country  to  the  other. 

Some  announcements  having  been  made,  the  proceedings  of  the 
morning  Session  were  then  closed  with  the  Benediction. 


In  the  Afternoon  the  Conference  reassembled  at  Half-past 
Two  o'clock,  the  chair  being  again  taken  by  the  Rev.  R.  Chew. 

Eev.  Dr.  Sulzberger  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church)  read  an  essay- 
on  The  Missionary  Work  required  in  Pa^al  and  Semi-hijidel  Nations. 

The  missionary  work  of  the  Christian  Church  is  the  fulfilling  of  our 
Lord's  command,  "  Go  ye  into  all  the  world,  and  preach  the  Gospel  to 
every  creature  "  (Mark  xvi.  15).  As  nobody  will  do  a  great  work  in 
the  right  manner  if  he  has  not  the  full  conviction  of  its  necessity,  and 
at  the  same  time  of  his  personal  duty,  we  invite,  therefore,  your 
attention  to  the  foUovsdng  fundamental  truths  of  our  topic. 

I.  The  missionary  work  in  papal  and  semi-infidel  nations  is  absolutely 
required  for  their  salvation  ;  it  is  a  work  of  the  saving  love  of  Christ. — The 


REV.  DR.  Sulzberger's  address.  523 

following  facts    are    irrefutable    evidences    for    the    truth    of    these 
premises : — 

1.  The  oj)position  against  this  work  of  pure  love  in  the  said  countries 
proves  evidently  its  necessity. — No  sooner  the  evangehcal  missionary 
begins  in  the  Catholic  countries,  in  the  Lord's  name,  to  lead  the  lost 
sheep  to  the  bosom  of  the  Great  Shepherd  and  Bishop  of  our  souls, 
than  the  only  saving  Church,  with  her  infallible  Pope,  denounces  this 
work  as  a  violation  against  the  holiness  of  his  Church,  as  a  work  of  the 
devil.  The  Bibles  thrown  into  the  fire  by  the  hands  of  fanatic  priests, 
the  sufferings  of  Matamoros  and  others,  the  recent  excesses  of  the 
fanatic  mob  at  Massala,  show  clearly  how  Rome  and  her  partisans  look 
upon  the  evangelical  mission. 

Scarcely  less  hostility  is  to  be  found  amongst  that  part  of  Pro- 
testants who  do  not  believe  in  the  Divinity  of  our  Saviour  and  in  the 
atonement  by  His  death.  If  the  form  of  their  hostihty  is  in  somewhat 
vague,  their  spirit  is  nevertheless  antagonistic  and  inimical.  In  the 
name  of  humanity,  of  advanced  science,  and  enlightened  society, 
sometimes  even  in  the  name  of  the  State  Church,  they  protest 
solemnly  and  energetically  against  holy  zeal  to  win  souls  for  the 
kingdom  of  heaven ;  they  hate  to  hear  of  the  impurity  of  their  heart 
and  hfe,  and  try  by  all  means  to  cut  off  the  blessed  influence  of  faithful 
evangelists,  scolding  them  as  fanatics,  or  accusing  them  as  hypocrites 
and  deceivers.  The  German  press,  once  a  blessed  instrument  to 
spread  the  Holy  Scrijptures  in  Germany,  is  now,  especially  the  journal- 
istic, in  the  service  of  these  anti- Christian  parties.  Therefore  the 
hatred  and  hostility  against  the  noblest,  purest  work  of  Cliristian  love 
is  undoubtedly  a  strong  argument  for  its  absolute  necessity. 

2.  The  doctrines  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  ami  of  the  infidel 
Protestants  are  not  tvhat  makes  hcqjpy  disciples  of  Christ,  hut  they  lead  men 
into  the  distressful  slavery  of  men. — As  the  Talmudists  falsified  the 
doctrine  of  the  Old  Testament,  so  the  Pope  with  his  councils  laid  hand 
on  the  pure  doctrine  of  our  Lord  and  His  apostles,  to  complete  it,  as 
they  say,  but,  in  fact,  to  change  it  in  a  presumptuous  manner.  The 
Bible,  they  say,  is  not  a  book  for  the  people,  as  they  cannot  understand 
it ;  they  take  rather  harm  by  reading  it.  The  clergy  alone  has  the 
right  to  explain  the  Bible ;  besides  this,  the  Church  must  complete  it 
by  traditions,  as  it  does  not  contain  all  things  which  we  need  for  our 
salvation.  To  invoke  God  and  His  Son  we  need  the  mediation  of 
the  Virgin  Mary,  who  stands,  according  to  St.  Bernhard,  between  God 
and  the  Church,  and  who  receives  all  things  from  God  by  her  omni- 
potent intercession.  The  doctrine  of  justification  by  faith  without  the 
merit  of  works  is  too  dangerous  for  man  in  this  life,  says  this 
Church ;  it  must  be  corrected  by  the  prescription  of  works  and 
exercises  of  penitence  as  conditions  to  receive  the  absolution  by  the 
priest.  About  the  future  life,  no  one  can  be  saved,  except  he  beheves 
in  the  dogmas  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church. 


524!  FOREIGN   MISSIONS. 

A  great  part — "we  dare  not  say  how  great — of  the  German  Protes- 
tants interpolate  a  religion  based  on  natural  sense  and  virtues,  denying 
the  religion  of  supernatural  revelation  and  the  salvation  by  Christ. 
"Whilst  the  sceptic  despairs  of  the  possibility  of  knowing  the  truth, 
and  doubts  in  his  own  perception,  the  rationalist  sets  the  reason  on 
the  tribunal  to  be  an  infallible  judge  in  articles  of  faith.  They  attribute 
to  the  natural  man  such  a  capacity  of  moral  power  and  virtue,  that 
there  is  no  need  of  a  salvation  from  above ;  the  doctrine  of  reconcilia- 
tion by  the  blood  of  Christ  originates,  therefore,  not  in  the  want  of 
mankind,  but  in  the  imaginatian  of  the  theologians  of  the  dark  Middle 
Age.  To  believe  in  the  personal  influence  of  the  Holy  Ghost  to  convert 
and  sanctify  the  soul  is,  in  then-  opinion,  mere  enthusiasm.  About 
the  future  life  their  theories  are  in  accordance  with  their  worldly 
manner  of  living.  Where  is  the  praised  humanity  of  these  teachers  of 
wisdom,  who  bereave  the  Christian  of  his  most  precious  good  of 
this  life?  Of  what  a  bad  influence  must  prove  such  unfortunate 
doctrines ! 

3.  The  living  in  servitude  to  men  and  sin  are  the  consequences  of  these 
theories. — The  Roman  Catholic  must  obey  implicitly  the  papal  Church. 
He  has  neither  the  duty  nor  the  right  to  examine  the  orders  of  his 
Church.  Her  obedient  children  are  therefore  without  responsibility ; 
the  Church  is  the  conscience  of  her  members.  .  The  semi-infidel  is, 
not  less  than  his  superstitious  Catholic  brother,  a  slave  of  men.  Not 
hearing  the  Prophet  of  Nazareth  as  the  Son  of  God,  he  seeks  from  the 
wise  of  this  world  peace  for  his  heart,  but  he  cannot  find  it,  so  that  he 
has  finally  to  follow  the  suggestions  of  his  own  foolish  heart. 

This  state  of  servitude  is,  however,  not  only  for  this  life  a  very  sad 
one,  but  it  displeases  the  Lord  as  an  ungodly  life,  and  will  finish  at 
last  with  an  eternal  separation  from  the  holy  God. 

The  Macedonian  call  is  to  be  heard  out  of  the  dark  night  of  these 
nations,  and,  penetrating  the  wind  and  waves  of  opposition,  it  reaches  the 
bright  shore  of  Troas,  praying,  "  Come  over  and  help  us  I "  The  help  does 
not  come  from  the  Pharisees  and  Scribes ;  it  does  not  come  from  Athens. 
From  what  direction  then  shall  the  help  come,  if  not  from  Troas,  where 
the  apostle  Paul  stands  with  the  Lord's  command  and  love  in  his  heart 
to  preach  the  Gospel  everywhere  and  at  all  times  ?  This  holy  convic- 
tion and  personal  call  to  bring  the  demanded  help  brought  him  over  to 
the  Macedonians. 

II.  The  missionary  loork,  which  is  to  be  performed  for  the  salvation  of  the 
papal  and  semi-injidel  nations,  is  a  work  of  the  Almighty,  and  can  only  he 
fulfilled  according  to  their  icants  hy  godly  men,  who  have  an  especial  call  for 
it. — The  work  which  has  to  be  fulfilled  is  not  to  give  new  forms  and 
new  ceremonies  to  the  Catholics,  or  a  new  modern  theology  of  philo- 
sophical abstractions  and  mere  speculations  to  the  semi-infidel,  but  to 
lead  them  to  the  source  of  new  power  and  new  life,  to  preach  to  them 
the  old  apostolic  doctrine. 


EEV.  DR.  Sulzberger's  address.  525 

1.  The  missionary  work  is  the  work  of  the  Almighty  God,  who, 
in  the  fulness  of  time,  opened  the  heavens  and  sent  forth  His  only 
begotten  Son  to  save  the  world ;  who  opened  out  the  Holy  Ghost  upon 
all  flesh.  It  is  the  work  of  the  God  of  our  salvation,  who  is  able  of 
these  stones  to  raise  up  children  unto  Abraham. 

2.  This  worJc  of  mlcation  amongst  the  papal  and  semi-infidel  nations  the 
Lord  xo'iU  do  hy  the  instrumentality  of  men  who  are  enlightened  and  led  by 
the  Holy  Ghost,  and  who  sacrifice  their  whole  life  for  this  holy  cause  of 
iiiiiisious. — The  first  work  and  condition  of  success  in  missions  is  the 
work  of  the  Holy  Ghost  in  the  hearts  of  the  agents  of  the  missions. 
The  whole  life  of  a  missionary  must  be  a  living  sermon  and  an  irre- 
futable testimony  that,  preaching  the  Gospel,  he  says  the  truth  in  Jesus 
Christ.  Such  a  faithful  labour  and  holy  life  cannot  be  in  vain ;  it  will 
shine  as  a  star  for  the  wanderer,  to  lead  out  of  the  darkness  of  errors 
to  the  heavenly  light  of  eternal  truth. 

As  the  different  mission-fields  have  their  especial  wants,  the  work- 
men must  consequently  have  for  their  work  especial  gifts  with  an 
esj)ecial  call.  Such  a  man  will  understand  the  needs  of  his  mission- 
field  ;  he  will  do  the  work  with  the  right  enthusiasm,  and  overcome  all 
obstacles. 

3.  The  worh  itself  must  he,  accommodated  to  the  ivants  of  the  mission- 
field. — The  dominion  of  men's  word  and  doctrine  cannot  be  overcome 
except  by  the  mighty  power  of  the  Lord's  Word  and  Truth.  There- 
fore the  Bible  must  be  put  into  the  hands  of  these  misled  peojjle. 
Israel  became  a  light  for  the  surrounding  heathen  nations  by  their  book 
of  revelation  of  the  living  God.  The  Bible  showed  Luther  the  way 
from  the  slavery  of  Popery  to  the  freedoin  of  evangelical  truth.  The 
Bible  awakened  the  German  nations  from  their  spiritual  slumber,  and 
brought  them  light  and  life.  To  the  blessed  influence  of  the  Reforma- 
tion the  Germans  owe  their  progress  in  so  many  respects  in  the 
different  departments  of  science  and  art.  "  The  Bible  is  the  cannon- 
baU,"  said  Garibaldi,  "  by  which  Italy  must  be  delivered."  May  it  fly 
as  a  fire-ball,  surpassing  the  electric  light,  through  all  the  Catholic 
lands,  and  be  a  herald  of  a  better  time  than  the  Golden  Age  for  its 
inhabitants  !  The  Holy  Spirit,  as  the  right  Expositor,  accompanies 
every  copy  of  the  Bible  in  the  palace  of  the  rich  and  in  the  cottage  of 
the  poor,  in  the  study- room  of  the  learned  man  and  in  the  working- 
place  of  the  unlearned,  and  explains  the  Word  of  God  to  every  soul 
longing  for  truth  and  life.  Let  thousands  of  copies  of  Bibles  be  thrown 
into  the  fire.  The  smiling  of  that  Irish  boy  is  the  triumphant  "inswer 
to  the  Roman  Vandalism.  "  I  was  tliinkiug,"  replied  he  to  the  fanatic 
priest,  "the  ten  chapters  of  St.  John,  which  I  have  memorised,  you 
can't  burn." 

All  hostility  of  an  infidel  science  and  rationalistic  theology  are  not 
able  to  diminish  in  the  least  degree  tlie  credibility  and  the  dignity  of 
the  Bible ;  they  must  rather  contribute  to  its  glorification.    A  vast 


526  FOREIGN  MISSIONS. 

distribution  of  the  Word  of  the  living  God  in  the  CathoHn  and  semi- 
infidel  countries  is  the  great  and  important  work  of  the  Evangelical 
Mission. 

4.  The  heresies  of  an  imperious  priesthood  and  the  fallacies  of  the  systems 
of  toorldly  wisdom  xvill  he  clearly  apprehewled.  through  the  Word  of  the 
Cross  preached  in  simple  and  faithful  sjArit. — We  must  not  forget  that  all 
these  errors  have  their  origin  more  in  the  heart  than  in  the  head  of 
man ;  they  are  more  of  a  practical  than  of  a  theoretical  nature.  By 
a  polemical  argumentation  we  may  persuade  a  man  of  the  falseness  of 
his  opinion  in  moral  and  rehgious  things,  but  he  may,  however,  con- 
tinue his  wrong  way  and  life,  because  his  heart  will  not  hear  and 
believe  the  truth.  But  the  truth  which  delivers  the  heart  is  that  of 
the  Word  from  the  Cross. 

The  cry  of  the  holy  and  just  Son  of  Man  in  His  great  agony,  "  Eli, 
Eli,  lama  sabachthani  ?  "  (Matt,  xxvii.  4G),  pierces  the  hearts  of  men 
more  powerfully  than  all  the  anathemas  of  the  Pope  and  the 
threatenings  of  the  Vatican ;  they  touch  much  more  the  heart,  even 
of  a  rude  and  ungodly  man,  than  all  the  praises  of  virtue  in  a  cold 
sermon  of  morals.  Instead  of  the  canonical  works  of  penitence,  the 
true  repentance  of  a  torn  heart,  the  real  humiliation  before  God,  is  the 
effect  of  that  word. 

In  the  place  of  the  absolution  of  the  priest. or  of  the  self-pleasing 
egotism  we  have  to  put  the  word  from  the  cross, "  It  is  finished,"  to 
pronounce  a  full  grace,  free  in  all  and  free  for  all.  Whilst  the  priestly 
or  Pharisaic  absolution  trauquUlises  the  deceived  heart  only  for  a  short 
time,  the  triumphant  word  of  our  Mediator  fills  the  whole  heart  with 
the  enduring  peace  of  God ;  whilst  the  Catholic  or  pharisaic  absolution 
does  not  come  over  the  threshold  of  their  own  Church  and  house,  the 
Saviour's  word  of  remission  of  sin  goes  to  the  end  of  the  world,  and 
reaches  the  ear  of  evi_.  /  lost  child  who  is  longing  for  home.  The 
Catholic  and  the  moralist  must  be  reminded  that  Jesu's  gracious 
hands  opened  the  door  of  Paradise  to  one  of  the  malefactors  on 
the  cross  without  extreme  unction,  and  without  the  merit  of  good 
works. 

The  difference  between  a  canonical  piety  and  the  piety  of  a  pure 
heart,  between  an  exterior  holiness  and  an  inward  sanctity,  may  be 
demonstrated  by  the  examples  of  Saul  and  of  the  rich  young  man. 
The  regeneration  and  sanctification  of  the  heart  by  the  Holy  Ghost 
must  be  preached  with  emphasis  and  clearness  to  this  people  as  the 
absolute  condition  for  the  entrance  into  the  kingdom  of  God.  All 
teaching  without  this  basis  is  not  able  to  help  a  single  soul  to  find 
eternal  life.  We  have  to  go  on  the  highways  with  this  precious 
Gospel  to  invite,  by  all  convenient  means,  the  poor  sinner  to  come  to 
the  feast,  and  to  teU  them  all  things  are  ready ;  we  have  to  preach 
God's  Word  whenever  and  wherever  we  can. 

5.  In  the  midst  of  a  dead  Christendom  qf  the  Roman  Catholic  and  Pro- 


KEV.   DR.   SULZBERGER'S  ADDRESS.  527 

testant  Church,  the  evangelical  mtssionanes  have  to  hidk!  a  living  Church  of 
converted  souls  with  a  Biblical  organisation  and  discipline. — The  success 
of  the  missionary  work  cannot  be  secured  and  advanced  without  this 
gathering  of  the  earnest  souls  to  a  congregation.  Such  a  Church, 
founded  on  the  eternal  rock  of  Jesus  Christ,  is  the  best  legitimation  for 
every  missionary  work,  the  most  powerful  argument  for  its  Divine 
origin  and  holy  character.  The  objection  which  is  made  from  the 
Roman  or  Protestant  State  Church  against  the  organisation  of  Churches 
would  be  of  some  importance  if  the  spiritual  death  and  the  great  misery 
of  the  children  were  not  such  a  loud  and  sad  testimony  against  their 
mother.  As  long  as  the  majority  of  the  people  is  unconverted,  as  long 
as  the  drinking-halls,  the  dance-saloons,  and  the  theatres  have  more 
visitors  than  the  Lord's  house,  the  Methodist  Church  has  not  to  wait 
for  j)ermission  of  men  to  work  at  such  places,  but  she  has  the  Divine 
call  and  duty  to  save  souls,  as  many  as  possible.  Who  will  forbid  this 
holy  work,  to  preach  the  Gospel  in  such  places  and  to  organise  a 
church  of  the  converted  ?  Who  will  hinder  us  from  doing  it  ?  Nobody 
except  the  saloon-keepers  and  the  devil. 

This  great  work  of  evangelical  missions  amongst  the  papal  and  semi- 
infidel  nations  has  been  blessed  by  the  Lord  in  such  a  high  degree  that 
the  results  of  the  last  few  years  are  a  pledge  and  a  good  omen  for  a  glorious 
future.  The  foreposts  of  the  victorious  army  stand  faithful  and  hopeful 
in  the  metropolis  of  the  old  Church  State,  and  thousands  stand  behind 
them  with  their  earnest  prayers.  The  walls  of  Jericho,  shaken  by  the 
power  of  the  Gospel,  will  fall  by  the  faith  of  the  Lord's  people,  the 
standard  of  free  and  full  grace  will  be  erected  in  these  countries  higher 
than  ever  before,  and  in  the  hearts  of  the  millions  Jesus  will  have  His 
sovereign  reign. 

That  the  missionary  work  in  Germany  and  Switzerland  is  not  in 
vain  we  see  to-day  cleai'ly  by  the  crusade  made  against  it  by  German 
State  pastors.  (See  the  excellent  article  in  the  Christian  Advocate  of 
New  York,  dated  September  1.)  Besides  this,  hundreds  of  thousands 
on  the  Continent,  in  Germany,  and  Switzerland,  and  Scandinavia,  are 
under  the  blessed  influence  of  the  missionary  work  of  the  Methodist 
Church.  The  evangelical  movement  in  favour  of  the  doctrine  of  sanc- 
tification,  of  the  observance  of  the  Lord's  Daj^  and  of  the  temperance 
efforts,  owes  its  existence  in  a  gcod  degree  to  the  Methodistic  movement 
in  tills  land. 

We  are  not  afraid  of  the  present  war-cry  of  our  opponents.  The 
crusade  will  have  a  -v-ictorious  end  for  us,  because  the  Methodists,  and 
not  the  Turks,  are  in  Jerusalem ;  the  right  is  on  our  side,  and  God  is 
with  us.  I  hope  the  day  will  come  when  the  prophecy  of  our  venerable 
Bishop  Simpson  will  be  realised  by  a  Protestant  (Ecumenical  Council 
in  Germany, 

This  missionary  work  which  is  required  in  papal  and  semi-infidel 
nations  will  be  done  by  the  abundant  grace  and  Almighty  help  of  our 


528  FOREIGN   MISSIONS. 

God.    For  to  Him  is  the  kingdom  and  the  power  and  the  glory  for  ever. 
Amen. 

Rev.  H.  J.  PiGGOTT  (Wesleyan  Methodist)  delivered  the  invited 
address.  He  said :  First  of  all,  I  shall  confine  myself  to  what  is 
specific  in  my  subject.  There  are  needs  common  to  all  nations  touched 
by  missionary  enterprise  and  requirements  of  work  as  universal  as 
those  needs.  Of  these  I  shall  not  speak.  Then  the  few  remarks 
I  shall  make  will  be  the  result  of  observation  and  experience  in  my 
own  special  field  of  labour.  I  believe  that  what  is  true  of  Italy  will  be 
found  true  of  all  other  lands  that  can  be  characterised  as  "  papal  and 
semi-infidel;"  nay,  that  the  requirements  of  all  such  lands  are  pre- 
sented by  Italy  in  an  intense  and  vivid  form.  But  be  that  as  it  may,  it 
is  Italy  that  will  furnish  me  with  my  data.  I  shall  speak  th  1 1  do 
know,  and  testify  that  I  have  seen.  Now,  to  understand  what  is  special 
in  the  requirements  of  missionary  work  in  the  nations  referred  to,  it  is 
necessary,  first,  to  study  what  is  sj)ecial  in  their  condition.  Here  the 
wording  of  the  theme  will  help  us.  It  distributes  their  populations  into 
two  classes — papal  and  infidel.  Roughly  speaking,  due  account  being 
taken  of  subdivisions,  this  is  correct.  Let  us  look  at  the  special 
aspects  of  each  class,  and  then  respond  to  the  inquiry,  Wliat  special 
modes  of  missionary  operations  are  needed  to  meet  the  case  ?  First, 
the  papal  population.  The  diversities  are  many  ;  from  some  there  is 
very  little  to  hope.  There  are  Papists  with  whom  religion  is  a  mere 
political  cry,  the  Jacobites  of  modern  European  Catholicism.  There 
are  otliers  whose  religion  is  mere  matter  of  worldly  interest,  true 
descendants  of  the  Ephesian  silversmiths.  These  to-day  we  may  leave 
on  one  side.  But  there  is  also  a  large  multitude  of  devout  Papists, 
some,  the  more  thoughtful  few,  having  practically  eliminated  from  their 
creed  and  practice  the  grosser  elements  of  Popery — the  rest,  the  vast 
majority,  numerous  especially  among  the  peasantry  and  the  women, 
more  or  less  sincere  devotees  of  all  that  the  Church,  or  rather  the  priest, 
teaches  and  imposes.  With  regard  to  the  former  I  must  not  do  more 
to-day  than  state  their  existence.  Concerning  the  latter,  the  all- 
important  point  for  us  to  note  is  the  following :  They  honestly  and 
profoundly  believe  that  they  alone  are  Christians,  and  that  we  at  the 
best  are  heretics  ;  probably  they  look  ujion  us  as  atheists  and  repro- 
bates. They  hold  tlie  truth  which  we  would  rob  them  of.  They  belong 
to  the  Church ;  we  are  outside  its  pale.  All  that  is  best  in  them  leads 
them  to  dread  and  hate  us.  We  would  despoil  them  of  the  faith  in 
which  their  fathers  lived  and  died  ;  we  would  turn  adrift  the  souls  and 
corrupt  the  morals  of  their  children.  At  best  they  look  down  upon  us 
with  pitying  superiority.  Contact  with  us  is  perilous  ;  to  listen  to  our 
teaching,  sin.  Yet  these  are  the  Catholics  from  whom,  by  reason  of 
their  sincerity  and  good  faith,  however  blind  and  ignorant,  we  have 
most  to  hope.     Let  us  turn  now  to  the  infidel  section  of  the  population. 


REV.    H.   J.    PIGGOTT'S   ADDRESS.  520 

Here,  too,  we  have  infidels  and  infidels.  There  are  fho^-e  whose 
infidelity  is  the  would-he  ai^ology  of  a  seared  conscience  and  corrupt 
life.  In  their  infidelity  there  is  nothing  special  ;  it  is  to  be  found 
all  the  world  over,  and  all  the  world  over  it  is  as  hopeless 
a  state  as  any  into  which  the  human  soul  can  fall.  Then  there 
is  the  infidelity  of  utter  indifference.  There  are  vast  masses  of 
population  in  papal  lands  witii  whom  it  is  a  foregone  conclusion  that 
Chinstianity  is  not  true.  They  were  born  and  bred  in  an  atmospl  ere 
of  cj'nical  scepticism.  From  childliood  up,  religion  and  its  ministers 
have  been  the  objects  of  their  contempt  and  ridicule.  They  have 
never  thought  it  worth  while  to  give  a  serious  thought  to  the  claims  of 
the  Christian  faith.  For  them  it  is  one  and  the  same  thing  with  the 
superstitions  and  impostures  they  see  around  them,  and  that  is  enough. 
These,  too,  are  very,  very  hard  to  deal  with,  for  the  god  of  this  world 
has  taken  full  possession  of  their  hearts,  empty  and  clean  swept  of  every 
vestige  of  belief,  to  blind  their  eyes,  and  lead  them  captive  at  his  will. 
But  there  is  yet  another  class  of  infidels,  whose  aspect  towards  Christian 
enterprise  is  far  more  hojjeful.  They,  too,  have  revolted  from  the  reli- 
gious materialism  and  hypocrisies  they  have  seen  around  them.  They,  too. 
have  confounded  Popery  with  Christianity,  and  in  their  revulsion  from 
the  one  have  rejected  also  the  other.  But  they  are  not  contented  in 
their  unbelief.  They  have,  perhaps,  been  sincerely  devout  at  one  time 
of  their  lives ;  have  put  out  tendrils  of  religious  aspiration,  which 
have  been  blighted  by  the  untoward  atmosphere  around  them.  But 
the  sap  has  not  been  utterly  dried  up.  They  still  feel  blind  impulses 
of  desire  and  longing  after  God,  and  would  gladly  welcome  a  voice 
which  should  verify  itself  to  their  consciences  as  from  Him.  And  they 
have — many  of  them — to  some  extent,  kept  their  hold  on  morals. 
They  have  not  been  wholly  unfaithful  to  that  light  which  enligliteneth 
every  man,  and  have  helped  to  preserve  society  from  utter  disin- 
tegration and  corruption. 

Now  the  two  classes  I  have  briefly  sketched — the  devout  Papists,  the 
infidels  who  are  such  by  honest  revolt  from  Popery — are  those  from  whom 
Christian  enterprise  has  most  to  hope.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  it  is  from 
the  one  or  the  other  that  almost  all  our  converts,  certainly  our  best  con- 
verts, have  already  been  drawn.  Our  inquiry,  therefore,  contracts  itself 
to  this,  How  shall  we  labour  so  as  to  make  the  widest  and  deepest 
impression  on  these  classes  ?  Of  the  many  thoughts  which  such  an 
inquiry  suggests,  I  will  touch  upon  only  two.  Fii'st.  It  is  most  essential 
that  in  all  our  teaching  and  preaching  the  positive  truths  of  Chris- 
tianity be  kept  to  the  fore.  Our  native  evangelists  are  under  gi'eat 
temptation  to  deal  too  much  with  mere  polemics.  Converts  most  of  them 
from  Romanism,  not  a  few  of  them  from  its  priesthood,  they  have  tasted 
the  wormwood  and  the  gall  as  we  have  not.  Besides,  there  is  almost 
everywhere  to  be  found  a  party  of  unbelieving  Liberals  who  will 
applaud  to  the  echo  any  amount  of  abuse  of  superstition  and  priest- 

M  M 


530  FOREIGN   MISSIONS. 

craft.  Hectce  tbe  danger  of  falling  into  a  habit  of  controversy.  There 
can  be  no  more  fatal  mistake.  The  classes  of  whom  I  have  spoken — 
honest  Catholics,  honest  sceptics — and  I  cannot  insist  too  strongly 
upon  the  fact  that  with  them  lie  our  best  hopes — -will  never  be  won  by 
polemics.  I  have  heard  discourses  which,  had  I  been  a  sincere  Papist, 
would  have  riveted  the  chains  of  my  prejudices  for  ever,  and  which, 
had  I  been  an  inquiring  sceptic,  would  have  led  me  to  say.  Truth 
cannot  be,  because  charity  is  not  here.  Rather  should  we  try  to  show 
the  Catholic  how  much  we  hold  in  common  with  him,  and  the  sceptic 
how  we  have  to  offer  him  just  the  truth  which  will  satisfy  his  secret 
cravings ;  and  this  can  only  be  done  by  giving  the  first  place  in  all  our 
teaching  to  the  positive  doctrines  of  the  Gospel.  The  ancient  method 
can  never  be  superseded,  "  By  manifestation  of  the  truth  commending 
ourselves  to  every  man's  conscience  in  the  sight  of  God."  Nor  should 
it  be  forgotten  that  the  errors  of  Romanism  are  almost  all  false  or 
exaggerated  responses  to  profound  cravings  of  the  human  soul,  whose 
true  satisfaction  is  to  be  found  in  a  pure  Christianity.  Those  aspects 
of  our  faith,  therefore,  which  are  God's  reply  to  these  needs,  should  be 
well  studied  and  clearly  taught,  and  such  teaching  will  be  the  most 
effective  of  all  controversy,  leaving  no  vacuum,  but  supplanting  the 
false  by  the  entering  in  of  the  true.  And  the  more  our  preaching  can 
come  with  the  tenderness  and  fervour  of  a  personal  testimony  the 
better.  Notliing  tells  with  sincere  souls,  whether  sincere  in  supersti- 
tion or  in  unbelief,  like  the  self -evidencing  dogmatism  that  speaks  from 
the  fulness  of  a  personal  experience.     But  on  this  I  cannot  dwell. 

The  next  thing  all-essential  is  the  consistent  Christian  living  of 
our  converts.  There  is  a  special  danger  here  to  which  I  can  only 
allude.  The  men  and  women  who  seek  admission  to  our  churches 
— I  speak  now  of  Italy — seem  to  me  to  comprise  the  best  of  the 
population  and  the  worst.  They  have  generally  to  brave  obloquy  and 
contempt,  to  accept  the  stigma  of  renegades,  and,  worse  than  that,  the 
current  suspicion  of  having  sold  their  consciences  for  money  ;  and  they 
who  can  do  this  without  flinching  are  either  spiritual  heroes,  sustained 
by  the  depth  and  sincerity  of  their  convictions,  or  miserable  reprobates 
who  really  think  to  barter  their  souls  for  bread,  and  care  nothing  for 
the  stigma  of  society,  because  they  have  sunk  below  it.  Hence  the 
need  of  peculiar  care  and  rigour  in  guarding  the  entrance  to  our 
churches,  whether  to  membership,  or,  and  this  above  all  things,  to 
ofiSce.  Better  let  our  statistics  remain  for  years  low,  and  even 
fluctuating,  than  yield  to  the  temptation  of  making  a  show  of  numbers 
at  the  cost  of  purity.  And  let  this  be  taken  well  to  heart  by 
constituencies  at  home.  Let  them  not  be  impatient  of  numerical 
results.  The  harm  I  have  seen  done — in  moods  of  discouragement,  I 
^should  say,  the  irreparable  harm — by  over-eagerness  to  tabulate  an 
increased  membership,  both  on  the  part  of  individual  evangelists  and 
of  evangelical  communities,  under  the  pressure  of  presumed  exigencies 


REV.   H.   J.    PIGGOTT'S   ADDRESS.  531 

from  "supporters"  at  home,  no  tongue  could  tell.  We  cannot  com- 
mand results ;  permit  us  to  take  such  as  God  gives  us,  and  none  other. 
For  in  the  lands  of  which  we  now  speak,  the  mischief  wrought  by 
apostasy  and  unworthy  living  on  the  part  of  those  who  have  made  pro- 
fession of  evangelical  faith,  can  be  estimated  by  no  measures  supplied 
by  the  experience  of  Protestant  nations.  And  the  mischief  is  most 
fatal  among  the  very  classes  of  whom  I  have  spoken  as  the  most  hope- 
ful. On  the  other  hand,  just  as  the  injury  done  by  unholy  living  is 
peculiarly  wide  and  deep,  so  the  witness  of  a  pure  Christian  life  is 
peculiarly  rich  with  power  and  blessing.  For  myself,  the  experience 
of  twenty  years  has  only  wrought  in  me,  ever  more  and  more  deeply, 
the  conviction  that  the  great  hope  of  a  pure  Christianity  in  Italy  lies 
in  the  practical  testimony  of  the  lives  of  our  converts.  The  prejudice 
of  the  honest  Papist  melts  away  under  such  an  influence ;  he  is  con- 
vinced, not  by  argument,  but  by  fact.  "  Love,  joy,  peace,  long-suffer- 
ing, goodness,  faith,  meekness,  temperance,"  are  the  self- evidencing 
fruit  from  a  root  Divine ;  and  against  these  there  is  no  law — neither  of 
conscience,  nor  of  priests.  And  the  honest  sceptic  equally  feels  the 
power  of  such  a  witness.  What  drove  him  into  infidelity  ?  The  revolt 
of  his  reason  and  conscience  against  the  Divine  origin  of  a  religion 
divorced  from  morals  and  shrivelled  into  a  dead  husk  of  superstition  ? 
AVhat  more  likely  to  reclaim  him  than  a  life  in  which  devotion  and 
holiness  are  wedded  in  indissoluble  bonds  ? 

One  other  thought,  lying  somewhat  apart  from  all  that  I  have 
hitherto  said.  As  it  is,  if  I  can  just  say  enough  to  make  it  intelli- 
gible, I  must  be  content.  It  must  never  be  forgotten  that  the  lands 
we  now  treat  of  are  the  homes  of  European  nationalities,  and  that  hence 
they  possess  a  unity  of  national  sentiment,  and  are  governed  greatly 
by  what  we  are  agreed  to  call  Public  Opinion.  This  differentiates 
them  from  all  other  fields  of  missionary  labour.  Tonga,  Fiji,  Ka£Qrland, 
have  no  history.  India  has  no  national  unity.  China  has  no  many- 
voiced,  universally- diffused  public  journalism.  This  special  character 
of  papal  lands  is  suggestive  of  many  thoughts  bearing  upon  our  subject. 
I  can  only  touch  upon  one.  Such  nations,  in  all  great  matters  of  civil 
and  religious  interest,  generally  speaking,  "  move  together,  if  they 
move  at  all."  They  do  not  disintegrate;  the  cohesive  force  is  too 
powerful.  The  new  ideas  gradually  permeate  public  opinion,  and  then 
either  the  whole  nation  turns  about,  or  there  comes  a  mighty  landslip, 
so  to  speak — a  large  portion  of  the  population  detaching  itself  at  once 
and  settling  down  in  a  new  position  as  a  coherent  mass.  I  believe  that 
the  history  of  all  modern  civilised  nations,  especially  since  the  Eefor- 
mation  and  in  relation  to  the  contest  between  Popery  and  Protestantism, 
would  bear  out  what  I  have  said.  Conclusions  you  must  work  out  for 
yourselves.  My  practical  one  is  this.  Let  us  seek  by  every  means  in 
our  power  to  influence  pubUc  opinion  in  the  nations  referred  to.  Let 
not  constituencies  at  home  grudge  the  sinews  of  war  needed  for  this 

M  M  2 


532  FOEEIGN   MISSIONS. 

purpose.  Just  here  lies  one  of  the  great  difficulties.  Missionary- 
societies  are  disposed  to  exact  that  their  liberalities  be  corresponded 
to  by  proportionate  results  in  numbers  and  in  self-support  on  the  other 
side.  But  the  subtle  influences  that  permeate  the  public  opinion  of  a 
nation,  however  costly  to  set  in  operation  and  sustain,  cannot  be  tabu- 
lated, nor  can  they  make  pecuniary  returns.  How  this  difficulty  is  to 
be  met  I  do  not  know ;  that  it  ought  to  be  I  am  profoundly  convinced ; 
whether  any  great  deliverance  can  be  wrought  out  in  papal  and  semi- 
infidel  nations,  until  it  is,  I  am  more  than  doubtful. 

Rev.  J.  H.  Johnson  (Methodist  Ejiiscopal  Church) :  I  have  been  very 
glad  to  hear  reports  from  the  east  and  from  the  west  and  from  the  south, 
and  I  am  now  prepared  to  give  a  few  words  from  the  north — Norway — 
representing  the  most  northern  wing  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 
The  work  of  the  Methodist  Church  there  has  been  one  of  great  toil  and 
care.  For  twenty-five  years  she  has  laboured  there,  but  her  labour  has  not 
been  in  vain.  Our  missionary  work  has  touched  the  nation  in  every  possible 
way.  By  our  simple  preaching  of  the  Gospel  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  we 
have  not  only  seen  sinners  converted  by  the  hundreds  and  by  the  tliou- 
sands,  but  the  national  Church  has  been  touched  and  moulded  both  as 
to  her  manner  of  work  and  her  preaching.  The  Lutheran  Church  is  more 
evangelical  to-day  than  it  'W'as  twenty-five  years  ago.  She  has  lay  preachers 
to-day  like  we  have,  which  she  did  not  have  twentj^-five  years  ago.  We 
began  with  our  missionary  work  there,  and  our  Sunday-school  work  was 
the  first  organised  in  old  Christian  Norway,  but  now  there  are  Sunday- 
schools  in  every  part  of  the  land.     They  have  followed  us. 

A  Delegate  ;  I  rise  to  a  point  of  order.    Is  Norway  papal  or  semi- infidel  ? 

Rev.  J.  H.  Johnson  :  Where  there  is  a  Pope  in  the  heart  there  is  popism  ; 
where  there  is  unbelief  in  the  heart  there  is  infidelity. 

The  President  :  Be  kind  enough  to  confine  your  remarks  to  the  subject 
of  missionary  work  in  papal  and  semi-infidel  nations. 

Rev.  J.  H.  Johnson  :  We  have  them  not  so  thickly  strewn  in  Norway 
as  in  Germany  and  in  Italy,  but  we  have  a  goodly  number.  We  have 
Catholic  churches  there ;  we  have  also  infidels  there  ;  but,  thank  God,  we 
have  seen  some  of  them  converted  to  the  Lord  ;  so  I  think  this  is  to  the 
point.  As  our  work  has  touched  the  nation  in  every  possible  way,  it 
seems  to  me  that  it  has  touched  the  papal  part  pretty  well,  and  it  has 
touched  the  infidel  part  pretty  well ;  but  we  do  that  by  preaching  the 
Gospel — by  preaching  to  our  people  indoors  and  outdoors.  Though  we 
were  not  born  out  of  doors,  Ave  were  born  indoors,  and  taken  care  of  s"o 
well  that  they  could  trust  us  out  of  doors.  We  have  one  of  the  greatest 
infidels  of  the  day  travelling  up  and  down  our  country.  We  have  our 
Ingersol  in  Amei-ica,  and  we  have  our  Bjosensen  in  Norway  ;  but,  by  the 
grace  of  God,  the  labours  of  the  Church  have  been  manifested  to  these 
men  ;  and  even  infidels  have  said  that  if  there  is  any  Christianity  it  is  in 
these  simple  Methodist  missionaries. 

Rev.  W.  Gibson  (Wesleyan  Methodist  Church)  :  I  quite  agree  with 
what  my  brother  Piggott  has  said  as  to  the  need  in  papal  and  semi-infidel 
nations  of  proclaiming  the  simple  evangel,  the  simple  trutlis  of  the  Gospel 
of  Christ.  I  do  not  believe  in  preaching  polemics.  My  practice  has  been 
to  try  and  set  out  the  positive  truth,  and  never  to  attack  Romanism  in  the 
public  preaching  of  the  Gospel,  because  if  one  attacks  Romanism  one  is 
sure  to  set  some  part  of  the  audience  in  opposition.  Therefore,  I  believe 
the  great  thing  we  have  to  do  is  just  to  announce  the  simple  Gospel  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ.     France  was  considered  to  be  the  eldest  daughter  of  the 


I 


GENERAL    REMARKS.  533 

Cliurch  of  Rome  ;  it  was  the  strength  of  the  Papacy.  The  result  is  that 
it  has  become  semi-infidel,  or  rather  more  than  semi-infidel,  because  if  ever 
there  was  an  infidel  nation  in  the  world  that  nation  is  France.  What  is 
wanted  by  that  nation  is  the  simple  proclamation  of  the  Gospel  of  the 
Lord  Je?us  Christ.  That  want  is  being  felt  now  throughout  the  country, 
and  wherever  rooms  are  opened  for  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel  in  any  part 
nf  France,  those  rooms  are  sure  to  be  filled.  What  Methodism  can  afford 
is  what  is  needed  by  papal  and  semi-infidel  nations.  Methodism  is  exactly 
adapted  to  the  wants  of  the  people,  and  is  also  exactly  adapted,  as  I  think, 
to  the  genius  of  the  people.  I  can  certify  that  this  is  the  case  in  reference 
to  France,  and  I  have  no  doubt  that  what  may  be  said  in  reference  to 
France  may  be  said  in  reference  to  other  nations  on  the  continent  of 
Europe.  Every  aid  therefore  possible  should  be  afforded  to  the  missions 
on  the  continent  of  Europe.  It  may  be  asked,  "  But  are  not  the  souls  in 
heathen  lauds  as  precious  as  the  souls  of  the  people  who  live  on  the 
continent  of  Europe  ?  "  Cenainlj' ;  but  in  point  of  influence  for  the  work 
of  the  evangelisation  of  the  world  the  conversion  of  a  Frenchman,  the 
conversion  of  an  Italian,  or  the  conversion  of  a  German,  is  worth  much 
more  than  the  conversion  of  a  man  in  a  purely  heathen  coimtry.  Some 
time  ago,  when  Mr.  Arthur  was  in  Paris,  he  told  us  that  the  conversion  of 
one  man  in  Paris  was  worth  the  conversion  of  two  men  in  any  other  part 
of  the  world.  Convert  France,  convert  Italy,  convert  Germany,  and  you 
will  soon  convert  the  world.  I  think  I  am  not  going  too  far  when  I  say 
that  France  is  the  most  powerfully  influential  country,  so  far  as  moral 
influence  is  concei'ned,  in  Europe,  and  therefore  I  plead  specially,  as  my 
brother  Piggott  has  done  with  regard  to  Italy,  for  the  pushing  forward  by 
your  S3aTapathy  and  by  your  help  of  our  Methodist  missions  in  France. 

Mr.  G.  Chambers  (Irish  Methodist  Church)  :  I  am  very  glad  that  this 
subject  is  on  the  programme  to-day.  It  has  warmed  and  blessed  my  heart, 
— the  conversion  of  the  continent  of  Europe.  I  have  seen  a  little  of  th's 
wonderful  work  of  God  now  going  on  in  France  and  Italy  ;  I  have  seen  a 
little  of  Mr.  Piggott's  work,  and  more  of  the  work  of  our  friend  ]\Ir. 
Gibson.  It  is,  indeed,  the  Lord's  doing,  and  it  is  marvellous  -in  our  eyes, 
especially  to  any  one  like  myself,  going  from  Ireland,  where  the  Roman 
Catholic  population  is  almost  completely  shut  up  from  any  efforts  that  we 
can  make  for  their  evangelisation,  to  one  ot  the  boulevards  in  Paris  on  a 
Sunday  evening ;  and  I  have  there  seen  a  large  assembly  of  intelligent 
Roman  Catholics,  many  of  them,  no  doubt,  more  or  less  infidel,  listening 
with  evident  attention  and  earnestness  to  the  faitliful  preaching  of  one  of 
our  own  ministers.  It  was  to  me  one  of  the  most  joyous  sights  that  I  have 
ever  beheld  upon  this  earth.  So  have  I  seen  in  the  suburbs  of  Paris,  where 
the  poor  artisan  class  were  gathered  together,  and  I  have  witnessed  the  sad 
and  gloomy  faces  at  the  beginning  of  the  service  lighted  up  with  a  new 
jo.y  as  our  minister  proceeded  to  declare  the  unsearchable  riches  of  Christ, 
and  witnessed  what  I  never  did  before — the  entire  congregation  so  capti- 
vated by  the  good  tidings  of  great  joy  that  they  simultaneously  clapjjed 
their  hands  at  the  end  of  the  address,  with  evident  delight  that  they  had 
lieard  those  things  which  alone  can  give  peace  to  the  troubled  heart.  The 
joyous  singing  of  Gospel  hymns  has  evidently  been  quite  a  popular  insti- 
tution in  the  meetings  of  Mr.  Gilison  and  others  ;  and  now  without 
hindrances  from  the  Government,  with  a  friendly  police,  with  a  people 
ready  and  willing  to  hear,  we  may  truly  say  a  new  day  for  the  visitation 
of  France  has  come,  and  we  have  no  need  to  say,  "There  are  yet  four 
months,  and  then  cometh  harvest  ; "  the  whole  field  is  white  already  to 
harvest,  and  there  is  nothing  wanting  now  but  the  Gospel  reaper  to  go 
forth  with  the  sickle  and  gather  a  glorious  harvest  into  the  Church  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ.     But  1  rise  with  a  purpose  and  a  hope  ;  I  am  earnestly 


534  FOEEIGN    MISSIONS. 

v.-ishful  that  we  may  have  a  revolution  in  the  theology  of  monej'.  I 
believe  that  we  have  the  most  excellent  doctrine  on  the  question  of 
giving,  but  that  we  have  not  yet  reached,  and  are  very  far  from,  the 
sublimity  of  a  true  practice  upon  the  question.  I  therefore  rise  specially 
to  appeal  through  this  Conference  to  our  rich  men  to  become  richer  still 
by  special  gifts  to  sustain  this  remarkable  work.  The  money  so  given  will 
be  transmitted  into  channels  of  unutterable  blessings  to  the  givers,  and 
also  to  those  who  should  be  the  objects  of  this  evangelistic  sacrifice.  We 
speak  of  our  giving  as  if  we  did  great  things,  because  some  of  us  have 
ii^ached  the  minimum  of  Jewish  liberality,  namely,  a  tenth  of  our  income. 
Why,  a  pious  and  faithful  Jew  gave  not  merely  one-tenth  of  his  income 
to  the  Levite,  but  also  one-tenth  to  the  sustaining  of  feasts,  of  sacrifices, 
imd  of  special  and  extraordinary  gifts,  as  at  the  erection  of  the  tabernacle, 
the  erection  of  the  temple,  until  the  trumpet  had  to  be  sounded  out 
throughout  the  land  to  stay  the  people,  because  they  had  already  brought 
(■nough  for  the  services  of  the  house  of  the  Lord.  Oh,  Mr.  President, 
when  we  shall  reach  a  similar  spirit  of  liberality,  those  works  now  carried 
on  by  Mr.  Gibson  and  his  fellow-labourers  and  others  in  France,  and  by 
Mr.  Piggott  in  Italy,  will  be  amply  and  sufficiently  sustained  by  Christian 
self-sacrifice,  and  we  shall  no  longer  be  satisfied  to  sing — 

"  Were  the  whole  realm  of  Nature  mine, 
That  were  a  present  far  too  small : 
Love  so  amazing,  so  Divine, 

Demands  my  soul,  my  life,  my  all." 

We  should  go  beyond  the  mere  singing,  and  we  should  get  into  the  real 
practice  of  self-sacrifice  for  the  cause  of  our  Divine  Lord  and  Master, — 
free-will  offerings  from  Christian  men  and  Christian  women,  who  are 
ready,  we  trust,  to  make  these  sacrifices  rather  than  this  work  should  lack. 
Zion  languisheth  for  many  causes — I  wish  to  say  in  the  fullest  utterance  I 
can  put  into  words — languisheth  in  France,  in  Italy,  in  Ireland,  in  Cliina, 
in  India,  in  all  parts  of  the  world,  from  want  of  money.  "  Bring  ye  all 
the  tithes  into  the  storehouse,"  is  the  language  of  our  blessed  great 
Teacher. 

Rev.  M.  Lelievre,  of  Paris  (who  spoke  in  French,  and  which  was 
interpreted  bj-  the  Rev.  W.  Arthur),  said  :  In  France,  as  in  Italy,  we  have 
to-day  at  one  and  the  same  time  the  Roman  Catholics  and  the  Freethinkers. 
Then  arises  for  us  another  difficulty.  The  Freethinkers  are  very  glad  to 
represent  us  as  the  allies  of  the  Roman  Catholics,  and  the  Roman  Catholics, 
on  the  other  side,  represent  us  as  the  allies  of  the  Freethinkers.  We  have 
on  the  one  hand  to  deny  all  solidarity,  all  fraternity  with  Roman 
Catholicism  ;  and  on  the  other  hand  we  have  energetically  to  repel  all  the 
advances  of  the  Freethinkers.  Our  work  is  to  make  an  appeal  to  the 
conscience,  and  to  awaken  it  in  the  breasts  of  men.  We  have  to  take  our 
stand  upon  the  ground  of  the  imperishable  needs  of  the  human  conscience, 
and  we  h.ave  often  experienced  this,  and  we  are  experiencing  it  every 
day,  that  one  never  does  endeavour  in  vain  to  bring  the  human  conscience 
into  contact  with  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ.  I  am  not  by  any  means  of 
the  opinion  of  those  who  would  interdict  us  from  all  polemical  discussion  ; 
on  the  contrary  there  is,  in  my  opinion,  an  elevated  style  of  controversy 
which  is  absolutely  indispensable  to  progress  in  Roman  Catholic  countries. 
But,  above  all  things,  the  beginning,  the  middle,  and  the  end  of  our 
preaching  ought  to  be  essentially  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ.  The  one 
instrument  whereby  to  make  the  Gospel  spread  among  the  disciples  of  the 
Pope,  equally  as  among  the  disciples  of  Voltaire,  is  to  make  our  appeal 
continually  to  the  Holy  Spirit,  by  wliose  power  alone  the  work  of  God  will 
make  progress  in  the  hearts  of  those  people.     And,  as  a  last  word,  what- 


REV.    C.    C.   M'KECHNIE'S   ADDRESS.  535 

ever  yon  do,  do  not  despair  of  those  countries  that  are  Roman'Catholic  and 
Voltairean,  for  it  is  my  profound  conviction  that  at  this  moment  there  is 
preparing  a  crand  harvest  of  spiritual  results  in  the  countries  that  hitherto 
have  been  subject  to  the  Pope. 

Eev.  C.  C.  M'Kechnie  (Primitive  Methodist)  read  an  eassy  on 
The  Besources  of  Methodism  for  the  Work  of  the  Woiid's  Conversion,  and 
the  Duty  of  Developi7ig  and  Emj)loying  those  Resources. 

Methodism  claims  no  monopoly  of  resource  for  the  world's  con- 
version. As  all  other  Churches  share  in  the  work  to  be  done,  they 
also  share  in  the  means  for  doing  it.  There  is,  therefore,  not  so  much 
speciality  in  the  subject  assigned  to  me  as  may  at  fii'st  sight  appear. 
Of  the  resources  possessed  by  Methodism  for  the  world's  conversion, 
its  own  spiritual  life  may  be  mentioned  as  first  in  importance.  All  its 
other  resources  are  subordinate  to  this,  and  derive  from  it  their  chief 
value  and  efficacy.  Spiritual  work  can  only  be  done  by  the  power  of 
the  Eternal  Spirit,  working  through  the  agency  of  spiritual  men.  The 
grandest  converting  achievements  of  the  early  Church  were  wrought 
in  the  almost  entire  absence  of  human  resource.  Without  wealth,  or 
culture,  or  patronage,  and  in  face  of  the  most  formidable  opposition, 
the  fishermen  of  Galilee  shook  the  nations,  burned  the  world  upside 
down,  and  inaugurated  a  new  and  better  era  upon  earth.  The  secret 
of  their  success  is  to  be  found  in  the  new  spiritual  life  by  which  they 
had  become  inspired — a  life  of  faith,  and  hope,  and  love,  kindled  by 
personal  contact  with  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  developed  and 
intensified  by  the  baptism  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  It  is  noteworthy  that 
Methodism,  when  poor  and  persecuted,  wielded  a  converting  power 
similar  to  that  of  the  Apostolic  Church,  and  traceable,  as  in  the  case 
of  that  Church,  to  the  extraordinary  vigour  of  its  spiritual  life.  Since 
then  Methodism  has  improved  in  many  respects  ;  but  it  may  be  ques- 
tioned whether  its  spiritual  life  is  as  vigorous,  as  fervent,  as  unworldly, 
as  self-sacrificing — whether,  in  short,  it  possesses  as  largely  the 
quahties  that  conquer  and  subdue,  as  in  its  early  days.  There  is, 
perhaps,  some  reason  to  fear  that  the  very  successes  of  Methodism, 
and  the  position  of  respectability  it  has  won  in  the  world,  have  pro- 
duced more  or  less  deterioration  in  its  sj)irituality.  The  Methodists 
are  still  indeed  a  pious.  God-fearing  people,  living  in  fellowship  with 
Him,  and  making  His  law  theii-  rule  of  conduct ;  but,  with  regard  to 
what  I  call  the  conquering  qualities  of  spiritual  life — vigorous  faith, 
fervency  of  spirit,  unworldliuess,  self-sacrifice,  the  qualities  impera- 
tively required  for  the  world's  conversion — it  may  be  doubted  whether 
the  Methodists  of  the  present  day,  taking  them  in  general,  would  not 
suffer  by  comp)arison  with  the  early  Methodists.  However  this  may 
be,  we  must  regard  the  spiritual  life  of  Methodism  as  the  most  im- 
portant of  its  resources  for  the  world's  conversion,  and  give  to  its 
nurture  and  development  corresijonding  attention. 


o36  FOREIGN  MISSIONS. 

Next  in  importance  to  its  spiritual  life  we  mention  its  distinguisliing 
doctrines,  namely,  the  unrestricted  love  of  God  to  our  fallen  race, 
general  redemption  by  Christ  Jesus,  justification  by  faith,  the  witness 
of  the  Sijirit,  entire  holiness  of  heart  and  life.  There  distinguishing 
doctrines  of  Methodism  are  of  a  pre-eminently  soul-saving  nature, 
embodying  the  very  pith  and  marrow  of  that  precious  Gospel  which  is 
the  power  of  God  to  salvation,  and  apart  from  which  there  is  no  hope 
for  the  world's  conversion.  Their  soul-saving  virtue  has  been  demon- 
strated in  millions  of  instances,  and  they  will  for  ever  retain  their 
regenerating  and  renewing  efficacy. 

The  propagandist  temper  of  Methodism  may  be  noted  as  another 
resource  of  inestimable  value.  As  soon  as  a  man  enters  the  ranks  of 
Metliodism  he  is  incited,  in  a  variety  of  ways,  to  seek  the  salvation  of 
his  fellow-men.  The  preacher  he  hears,  the  companions  he  consorts 
with,  the  books  he  reads,  iirge  Mm  with  unceasing  iteration  to 
impart  freely  to  others  of  the  grace  he  has  freely  received,  and  to  let 
his  light  so  shine  before  men  that  they,  seeing  his  good  works,  may 
glorify  his  Father  in  heaven.  As  this  duty  is  impressed  upon  every 
nember  of  the  Methodist  churches  from  the  very  threshold  of  his 
membcrrjliip,  and  is  enforced  by  the  most  weighty  and  constraining 
motives,  it  would  only  be  a  natural  result  were  every  unit  of  the 
millions  forming  the  great  Methodist  brotherhood  to  become,  according 
to  his  ability  and  opportunity,  a  propagandist,  a  missionary,  an  apostle. 
And,  in  point  of  fact,  the  propagandist  temper  prevails  widely  in  Metho- 
dism— more  widely,  perhafjs,  than  in  any  other  Protestant  Church — 
and  to  it  are  due  the  various  forms  of  mission-work  at  home  and 
abroad,  which  are  at  once  a  distinguishing  feature  and  glory  to  the 
Methodist  communities. 

The  provision  for  evangelistic  enterj)rise  in  the  organisation  of 
Methodism  maj'  be  regarded  as  affording  special  resources  for  the  world's 
conversion.  For  many  years  Wesley  had  no  thought  of  the  system  he 
had  founded  being  anything  other  than  an  evangelistic  auxiliary  to  the 
Church  of  England ;  and  when  he  at  length  broke  loose  from  ecclesi- 
astical restraint,  and  proclaimed  the  world  to  be  his  parish,  he  not  only 
indicated  the  career  of  world-wide  evangelism,  to  which  he  had  devoted 
his  own  life,  he  also  indicated  his  intention  that  the  career  of  his 
"  helpers "  and  successors  should  be,  as  far  as  he  could  make  it, 
similar  to  bis  own.  Methodism  is  now  something  more  tlian  a  system 
of  evangelism.  It  has  assumed  the  form  and  responsibilities  and 
privileges  of  a  Church.  •  Nevertheless,  its  structure  is  still  of  an  evange- 
listic order,  and  it  continues  to  be  animated  with  the  evangelistic  spirit. 
This  is  seen  in  its  utilising  all  sorts  of  available  talent  for  evangelistic 
purposes,  in  tho  vast  array  of  its  lay  preachers,  in  the  itinerant 
labours  of  most  of  its  regular  ministers,  and  in  the  thousands  of 
its  sons  and  daughters  devoted  to  missionary  work.  Hemembering 
all   this,    and  remembering  further  that  the   Methodist   organisation 


EEV.  C.   C.   M'KECHNIE'S   ADDRESS.  537 

provides  for   the   united    and   consentaneous  action  of   its   federated 
churches  ou   occasion  of  any  sjjecial  opening   for  evangehstic   enter- 
prise, we  see  how   admirably  Methodism  is   adapted  by   its   organi- 
sation to  take  a  prominent  part  in  the  conversion  of  the  world.    It  may 
be  here  added  that  the  elastic  and  adaptative  power  of  the  Methodist 
polity,  admitting  of  modification  in  matters  of  detail  to  meet  the  vary- 
ing conditions  of  society  in  different  periods  and  countries,  is  another 
Tahiable  resource.     While  Methodism  is  essentially  the  same  now  as 
in  Wesley's  day,  its  polity  has  all  along  been  undergoing  changes  neces- 
sitated by  the  changing  conditions  of  society.     In  like  manner  we  may 
say  that  while  Methodism  as  it  exists  at  present  in  England,  in  America, 
in  Australasia,  in  India,  in  Polynesia,  in  Africa,  is   in   all   essential 
respects  one  and  the  same,  yet  in  each  of  these  countries  its  polity  has 
distinctive,  and  in  some,  strongly  marked  peculiarities.     And  so,  while 
the  several  branches  of  the  Methodist  family  are  one  in  doctrine,  in 
spirit,  in  tone  and  temper,  and  also,  for  the  most  part,  in  modes  of 
operation,  their  respective  church  constitutions  vary  from  each  other 
more  or  less.     All  this  shows  the  elastic  and  adaptative  power  of  the 
Methodist  jpolity,  and  affords  promise  of  Methodism  taking  a  still  more 
prominent  part  in  the  world's  conversion  than  it  has  hitherto  done. 
The  wealth  of  Methodism  may  also  be  mentioned  as  another  resource 
worthy  of  note.     We  have  no  means  of  accurately  ganging  this  wealth,  • 
but  w"  en  we   consider  the   amount   of  mouey  spent   yearly  on   the 
ministry,  on  Sunday  and  week-day  schools,  on  missions,  and  ou  the 
erection  and  maintenance  of  chapels,  educational  institutions,  and  other 
church  buildings,  we  cannot  resist  the  impression  that  the  wealth  of 
Methodism  must  be  very  considerable  indeed.     And  this  impression  is 
confirmed  and  strengthened  when  we  take  account  of  the  large  sums 
contributed  again  and  again  in  response  to  special  appeals.     All  this  is 
evidence  of  considerable  wealth ;  it  is  also  evidence  of  considerable 
liberality.      And  yet  we  need  not  hesitate  to  say  that,  although  in 
point  of  liberality  the  Methodist  j)eople  will  compare  favourably  with 
any  other  Church,  what  is  given  by  them    is  little  compared  with*, 
what  might  and  should  be  given.     Who,  among  the  wealthy  in  Metho- 
dism, it  may  be  asked,  hurt  or  distress  themselves  in  any  way  by  their 
gifts  to  God's  cause  ?     Even  when  the  gifts  are  of  princely  munificence 
there  is  little  or  no  personal  sacrifice  made.     As  a  rule,  it  is  those  who 
give  the  small  sums,  the  odd  pounds  and  shillings,  or  it  may  even  be 
the  odd  pence,  who  have  to  pinch  and  deny  themselves.     Notwith- 
standing all  that  Methodists  do  in  the  way  of  giving,  it  is  undeniable 
that  they  grow  more  wealthy  year  by  year ;  and  we  cannot  help  think- 
ing that  were  a  rich  Pentecostal  baptism  to  come  upon  them,  thawing 
their  worldliness  and  enlarging  their  sympathies,  there  would  be  such 
an  outflow  of  liberality  as  would  far  exceed  all  their  past  doings. 

I  would   finally   mention   the   political   influence   of  Methodism   as 
another  resource  not  to  be  overlooked.      The  political  influence  of 


oS8  FOREIGN   MISSIONS. 

Methodism  is,  I  presume,  greater  in  America  than  in  England;  but 
even  here  it  is  considerable,  and  it  is  a  growing  quantity.  The  earnest 
and  united  action  of  English  Methodists  on  any  question  of  practical 
politics  would  go  far  to  settle  the  question.  This  sort  of  action,  how- 
ever, ought  to  be  initiated  and  conducted  with  much  wisdom  and 
prudence.  On  those  political  questions  about  which  the  wisest  and  best 
of  men  may  and  do  differ  in  opinion,  Methodists  should  be  free  to  act  or 
refrain  from  action  according  to  their  individual  convictions,  no  eccle- 
siastical pressure  being  brought  to  bear  upon  them  one  way  or  another. 
There  are,  however,  some  political  questions  regarding  which  there 
cannot  well  be  difference  of  opinion  among  Methodists,  such,  for 
example,  as  the  suppression  of  the  slave  trade  and  the  emancipation  of 
slaves  ;  the  suppression,  or  at  least  the  restriction,  of  the  drink  traffic ; 
the  abolition  of  unjust  and  oppressive  monopolies — upon  these  and 
other  questions  broadly  affecting  the  rights  and  liberties  and  morals  of 
mankind,  it  seems  the  solemn  and  imperative  duty  of  Methodism  to 
bring  all  its  corporate  influence  to  bear  upon  civil  governments, 
remembering  that  in  political  action  of  this  kind  it  is  performing  a 
highly  Christian  work,  and  contributing,  it  may  be  indirectly,  but 
not  the  less  effectually,  to  the  world's  conversion. 

That  it  is  the  duty  of  Methodism  to  develop  and  apply  its  resources 
for  the  conversion  of  the  world,  I  have  assumed  in  some  of  the  foregoing 
remarks.  The  possession  of  the  resources  clearly  implies  and  imposes 
the  duty.  Why  have  they  been  given  if  not  to  be  developed  and 
ai)plied  ?  The  moral  princii)le  involved  is  of  such  an  elementary 
nature  as  to  require  no  argument,  none,  at  least,  as  far  as  Methodists 
are  concerned.  But  while  the  duty  is  generally  and  readily  acknow- 
ledged, its  vast  and  solemn  import,  and  the  tremendous  issues 
connected  with  its  discharge  or  neglect,  are  only  imperfectly  realised ; 
the  burden  of  souls — to  use  a  fine  old  Methodist  phrase— is  by  no 
means  felt  as  it  ought  to  be.  The  grand  and  awful  import  of  the 
duty  binding  us  to  seek  the  salvation  of  men  ought  to  be  more  deeply 
pieditated  and  taken  to  heart.  Until  this  duty  rule  the  conscience  so 
absolutely  that  all  considerations  of  interest  and  ease,  and  all  tempo- 
risings  of  conscience  and  expediency  shall  be  put  aside,  things  will,  t 
is  to  be  feared,  remain  in  the  comparatively  unsatisfactory  condition  in 
which  we  now  find  them.  The  conscience  of  Methodism  requires  to  be 
educated  until  every  missionary  shall  become  so  aflame  with  zeal  as 
to  reckon  even  his  own  life  of  no  account,  if  by  its  sacrifice  some  of 
the  perishing  heathen  may  be  converted  ;  until  every  minister  preach 
with  an  all-consuming  desire  to  win  souls  to  Christ  tlie  Lord  ;  until 
every  Sunday-school  teacher  shall  yearn  for  the  salvation  of  his 
scholars  with  more  than  a  mother's  tenderness  and  solicitude ;  untU. 
every  membor  shall,  with  spontaneous  eagerness,  consecrate  his  all 
on  the  altar  of  God's  service.  In  one  word,  the  conscience  of 
Methodism    requires    to    be   educated   until    every   man   and   woman 


EEV.   C.   W.    miller's   ADDRESS.  539 

bearing  the  Methodist  name  shall  regard  the  work  of  the  world's 
conversion  as  the  supreme  duty  and  blessedness  of  existence,  to  the 
accomplishment  of  which  no  amount  of  service  or  sacrifice  shall  be 
considered  too  great. 

Rev.  C.  W.  Miller,  D.D.  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South),  gave  the 
invited  address.  He  said  :  A  wise  proverb  says,  "  He  teaches  well  who 
distinguishes  well."  The  importance  of  this  truth,  in  the  matter  now  under 
consideration,  cannot  easily  be  over-estimated.  To  discriminate  wisely 
between  the  material  resources  of  an  ecclesiasticism,  which  are  accidental 
and  mutable,  and  the  resources  found  in  "  the  power  of  the  spirit  of  life 
in  Christ  Jesus,"  which  are  primary  and  fundamental,  is  of  the  greatest 
importance;  The  vast  cemetery  of  ecclesiastical  history  is  crowded  with 
tombs  of  Church  organisations  which  God  once  honoured  by  His  presence, 
bnt  are  now  "twice  dead"  because  they  forgot  the  Spirit  of  God,  "the 
fountain  of  living  waters,"  in  their  zeal  for  "  the  broken  cisterns  "  of  material 
resources.  The  recognition  by  us  of  "the  resources  of  Methodism"  will, 
if  we  are  true  to  her  genius  and  history,  fix  attention  upon  one  grand  central 
truth.  That  truth  cannot  be  too  often  reaffirmed.  We  must  not  look  for 
*'  the  resources  of  Methodism ''  in  her  orthodox  statement  of  faith,  nor  in  her 
zealous  ministry,  nor  in  her  intelligent  laity,  nor  in  her  missionary  zeal, 
nor  in  her  numerous  educational  institutions,  nor  in  the  thojisands  of  her 
ministers  and  the  millions  of  her  members.  These,  assuredly,  are  not  to 
be  ignored,  but  they  are  possessed  in  even  greater  measure  by  ecclesiasticisms 
whose  Christianity  is  only  a  splendid  sarcophagus  elaborately  hewn  and 
gorgeously  decorated.  We  cannot  cope  with  these  organisations.  But  it  is 
the  glory  of  Methodism  that  she  is  shut  up  to  a  more  Scriptural  reliance. 
The  topic  fixes  attention  upon  "  the  resources  of  Methodism,"  that  is,  the 
resources  peculiar  to  Methodism.  What  are  they  ?  An  accurate  review 
of  her  history  from  the  beginning  will  show  that  she  has  but  one  peculiar 
and  distinctive  resource,  which  constitutes  her  real  characteristic,  and  that  is 
her  sharp-lined  experience  of  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost  in  conversion. 
Her  clear-cut  doctrine  of  the  new  birth,  of  the  witness  of  the  Spirit,  and 
of  vital  union  with  Christ  the  Head,  is  the  very  source  of  her  form  and 
power.  Whatever  is  distinctive  in  her  system  of  doctrine,  in  the  life  of 
her  people,  and  in  the  patriarchal  type  of  her  economy,  is  referable  to  her 
experience  of  "  the  power  of  the  spirit  of  life  in  Christ  Jesus,"  and  should 
that  day  ever  dawn  in  which  she  retires  this  supreme  truth  to  make  room 
for  a  ponderous  machinery  of  material  resources,  then  will  that  voice  fall 
on  her  meretricious  ear  which  has  so  often  disturbed  the  repose  of  apostate 
Churches,  "  Thou  sayest,  I  am  rich,  and  increased  with  goods,  and  have  need 
of  nothing  ;  and  knowest  not  that  thou  art  wretched  and  miserable,  and 
poor,  and  blind,  and  naked." 

The  short  time  allotted  for  the  discussion  of  this  topic  will  not  allow  of 
that  range  of  argument  and  illustration  which  the  question  demands.  Little 
more  am  be  attempted  than  a  classification  of  the  matter  of  resources,  and 


54)0  FOREIGN   MISSIONS. 

indicating  the  relation  of  Methodism  thereto.  The  resources  of  Methodism 
may  be  classed  as  primary  and  secondary,  or  as  fundamental  and  accidental. 
Under  the  first  belong  her  spiritual  life,  her  thorough  spiritual  regeneration, 
her  abiding  ytwriOi]  Hi'e.'i/taT-os.  Under  the  second  her  ecclesiastical  material. 
These  may  be  correlated  as  inward  and  outward,  higher  and  lower;  it 
being  implied,  of  course,  that  the  outward  and  lower  must  be  controlled  in 
full  by  the  inward  and  higher.  In  "the  work  of  the  world's  conversion" 
material  resources  must  be  subordinated  to  that  "power  from  on  high"  with 
which  the  Lord  "endues"  His  Church,  and  in  this  we  but  recognise  the 
great  plan  of  God  in  ordering  His  universe.  Nowhere  is  it  seen  that  the 
jower  gives  origin  and  support  to  the  higher,  but  the  higher  as  principal 
ultimates  itself  everywhere  in  the  lower.  Every  attempt  of  the  Church 
to  reverse  this  plan  in  the  matter  of  resources  has  been  calamitous.  When 
such  folly  has  been  perpetrated  in  Israel  it  has  not  failed  to  vitiate  to  the 
core  all  Church-life.  "The  multitudes  of  sacrifices,"  "the  burnt-offerings 
of  rams,  and  the  fat  of  fed  beasts,"  "  the  blood  of  bullocks,  of  lambs,  and  of 
he-goats,"  have  been  of  no  "purpose"  in  the  sight  of  God.  It  has  made 
"  oblations"  vain,  "  incense  an  abomination,"  and  "  even  the  solemn  meeting, 
iniquity."  Every  type  of  Christianity,  therefore,  which  throws  itself  upon 
the  spectacular  in  religion,  which  exalts  the  Church  as  the  source  of 
salvation,  wliich  fixes  attention  upon  "  thousands  of  rams  or  ten  thousand 
of  rivers  of  (iil"  as  its  resource,  which  enrobes  its  priesthood  with  gilded 
authorities,  and  glorifies  the  sacraments  as  the  source  of  grace,  is,  ijjso  facto, 
an  apostasy.  Spiritual  life,  as  the  fundamental  resource  of  Methodism,  has 
its  orisjin  in  the  Holy  Ghost.  It  is  not  to  be  confounded  with  religious  activity, 
any  nnre  than  a  man  is  to  be  confounded  with  an  automaton.  It  is  not  the 
result  of  mere  intellectual  conceptions,  for  "with  the  heart  man  believeth 
unto  righteousness."  It  does  not  consist  in  sound  views  of  theology :  it 
is  one  thing  to  hold  the  truth,  but  a  very  different  thing  to  be  held  by  the 
truth.  It  is  the  life  of  the  Spirit  of  God  manifested  in  the  whole  moral 
nature  of  the  regenerated  man.  It  is  spiritual  life,  fresh  and  ever  flowing 
from  its  fountain,  the  Spirit  of  God.  This  is  the  first,  the  chief,  the  only 
fundamental  resource  of  Methodism  for  the  work  of  the  world's  conversion. 
Without  it  she  may  be  "  rich  and  increased  with  goods,"  and  yet  be  only 
a  Dead  Sea,  into  which  rivers  of  wealth  may  flow,  but  from  which  no  living 
waters  go  forth  to  enrich  the  surrounding  wastes.  In  the  genius  of 
Methodism,  spiritual  life  is  not  a  question.  It  is  the  question  ;  the  question 
of  the  Bible.  The  obtestation  of  Moses,  "  If  Thy  presence  go  not  with  me, 
carry  us  not  up  hence,"  is  but  the  echo  through  the  ages  of  the  eternal 
truth,  "  Without  Me  ye  can  do  nothing."  Forty  years  in  Midian,  consumed 
in  the  patient  training  of  the  son  of  Amram,  could  not  supply  the 
need  of  this  presence  in  the  work  assigned  him  :  nor  could  the  years  of 
personal  training  of  "the  twelve"  by  the  Son  of  God  suffice  as  a  resource 
for  their  great  work.  "  Tarry  ye  in  the  city  of  Jerusalem,"  said  Jebus 
at  the  end  of  this  pupilage,  "  until  ye  be  endued  with  power  from 
on  hi<'h."     That  enduing  with   power  was   explained  to  be  "the  promise 


I 


REV.    C.   \y.    MILLKR'S   ADDRESS.  541 

of  the  Father,"  the  Lnptisin  of  tlie  Holy  Ghost,  which  was  to  "abide 
7?ith  them  for  ever."  Here,  as  elsewhere,  our  Lord  unites  the  concep- 
tion of  ''  Spirit  "  and  "  Power,"  without  identifying^  them,  thereby  disclosing 
the  only  real  resource  recooniscd  in  God's  plan  for  the  conversion  of 
the  world.  "Not  by  might,  nor  by  power,  but  by  My  Spirit,  saith  the  Lord 
of  hosts,"  is  Jehovah's  challenge  to  His  people  when  He  would  lift  their  faith 
above  the  vanishing  forms  of  material  resources  to  the  ''  power  of  the  Spirit 
of  life  in  Christ  Jesus."  The  Scriptures  recognise  the  Holy  Spirit  as  the 
absolute  unity  in  the  life  of  the  Triune  God,  and  hence  the  communication 
of  the  Spirit  is  the  highest  conceivable  point  of  connection  with  "all  power 
in  heaven  and  in  earth."  When  the  eternal  Word  became  flesh  and  dwelt 
amongst  us,  God  came  very  near  to  man  ;  but  a  union  more  intimate  between 
God  and  man  occurs  in  the  Holy  Ghost.  The  incarnation  was  the  union 
of  God  with  the  race  in  ojie  Mediator,  by  which  a  more  exalted  beginning  of 
the  race  in  the  Second  Adam  is  effected.  But  the  communication  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  is  the  union  of  God  inin:ediately  with  every  individual  soul  that 
receives  Him.  He  is  thus  the  nexus  between  God  and  the  soul,  and,  like 
the  great  artery  which  joins  the  heart  to  the  members  in  the  human  body 
He  becomes  at  once  both  the  bond  of  union  and  the  channel  of  life. 
Glorious  things  are  uttered  in  prophecy  as  signalising  this  communication 
of  the  Holy  Spirit.  When  Isaiah  answers  the  anxious  inquiry.  How  long  the 
desolations  of  Israel  would  continue  ?  he  says,  "  Until  the  Spirit  be  poured 
upon  us  from  on  high  ;  then  shall  the  wilderness  be  a  fruitful  field,  and  the 
fruitful  field  be  esteemed  a  forest."  It  was  the  adequacy  of  the  resource  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  to  achieve  the  work  for  which  the  Son  of  God  came  into  the 
world  that  made  Him  "satisfied"  when  He  "  saw  of  the  travail  of  His  soul." 
Nothing  was  wanting.  In  this  the  entire  future  was  provided  for.  By  it 
objections  to  bis  plan  were  answered  before  they  were  uttered  ;  wants  were 
anticipated  before  they  existed ;  and  dangers  were  provided  against  before 
they  threatened.  "  Endued  "  with  this  power,  John  Wesley  moved  through 
these  realms  for  fifty  years  as  noiseless  as  the  pillar  of  cloud  by  day,  but  as 
luminous  as  the  pillar  of  fire  by  night.  "  Endued "  with  this  power,  the 
Oxford  Band  of  "four"  has  grown  in  this  kingdom  including  your  mission- 
fields)  to  more  than  5,000  itinerant  ministers,  48,000  local  preachers,  and 
950,000  lay  members.  "Endued"  with  this  power,  American  Methodism 
has  increased  from  the  little  congregation  of  five  persons  in  Embury's  house 
in  1770,  to  25,636  itinerant  ministers,  30,922  local  preachers,  and  3,005,098 
lay  members.  From  the  Canada  shores  of  the  Atlantic  on  the  east,  where 
the  sea  begins  its  morning  song,  to  the  golden  coast  of  California  on  the  west, 
where  the  tide  goes  out  under  the  evening  benediction,  the  hosts  of 
Methodism  gather  in  every  valley  and  on  every  hill  and  mountain  side. 
With  thousands  of  church  edifices  ;  with  millions  of  church  property;  with 
thousands  of  Sunday-schools,  containing  hundreds  of  thousands  of  teachers 
and  pupils;  with  hundreds  of  academies,  colleges,  and  universities;  with 
book  concerns  possessing  unsurj  assed  publishing  facilities  ;  with  Sunday- 
school  unions  and  missionary  societies  ;  with  scores  of  weekly,  monthly,  and 


542  FOREIGN  MISSIONS. 

quarterly  publications,  traversing  the  whole  field,  from  the  stately  review  to 
the  child's  paper :  and  all  these  instruments  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  vitalised 
by  Him,  Methodism  exerts  amongst  the  millions  of  America  an  influence  as 
subtle  as  the  fragrance  of  the  flower,  and  as  mighty  as  the  controlling  forces 
of  life.  In  one  hundred  and  five  years  it  has  become  the  leading  Church  on 
the  American  continent,  and,  if  true  to  her  principles,  must  be.  the  Church 
of  the  future.  The  adaptation  of  her  systems  to  this  end  is  unequalled. 
A  bare  enumeration  here  must  suffice.  Her  doctrines  are  unequivocally 
evangelical.  They  are  not  weighed  down  by  A.ugustinian  exclusivism  on 
the  one  hand,  nor  by  Pelagian  latitudinarianism  on  the  other.  Her  presen- 
tation of  the  Gospel  does  not  demand  a  metaphysical  proposition  in  mental 
philosophy  nor  a  sacerdotal  manipulation  beforehand.     Her,  logic  is  — 

"  Who  did  for  every  sinner  die, 
Hath  surely  died  for  me." 

Her  methods  have  been  vindicated  by  a  hundred  years  of  actual  experiment. 
Insisting  upon  a  Divine  "  call"  to  preach,  and  then  by  her  itinerancy  sending 
these  "called  "men  where  they' are  most  needed,  she  is  continually  reaching 
out  and  out.  Her  relation  to  the  people  argues  her  triumph.  She  takes  hold 
upon  "the  middle  class,"  and  these  take  hold  of  all  above  them  by  rising 
into  them,  and  upon  all  below  them  by  h-  m^  next  to  them.  Her  pulpit  and 
press  speak  the  vernacular  of  this  multitudinous  and  controlling  class,  and 
through  these  she  moves  upon  the  world  for  its  conquest  to  the  Son  of  God. 
She  has  an  instinct  of  aggression  in  her  all-pervasive  and  sleepless  feeling  of 
extension.  No  general,  or  annual,  or  quarterly,  or  district  Conference  can 
be  at  ease  while  an  adjacent  district  is  without  a  Methodist  church  and 
Methodist  preaching.  Her  introduction  of  lay  representation  into  all  her 
councils  lays  the  best  talent  of  her  people  under  contribution  in  the  manage- 
ment of  her  vast  and  varied  interests.  •  With  such  a  system  it  is  only  neces- 
sary that  Methodism  be  true  to  her  fundamental  conception,  that  the  power 
of  the  Church  is  the  presence  of  the  Holy  Spirit;  then  tb  is  complex  and 
massive  machinery  will  be  as  the  vision  of  the  prophet,  when  he  saw  "  a  wheel 
in  the  middle  of  a  wheel,"  "  full  of  eyes,"  and  moving  only  "  wbitlier  the 
spirit  was  to  go."  Otherwise  the  men  of  the  future  may  wonder  at  her,  as 
recently  men  wondered  at  the  mammoth  entombed  in  Arctic  ice,  admiring  its 
magnitude,  but  unable  to  record  the  age  of  its  activity.  It  has  been  said 
that  the  four  great  Christo-theological  systems  —  Romanism,  Calvinism, 
Lutheranism,  and  Methodism — rest  on  diff"erent  conceptions  of  the  esoteri- 
logical  relation  of  God  and  man  as  established  by  Christ.  According  to 
Methodism,  the  relation  thus  established  conditions  salvation  upon  the 
enlightening,  renewing,  and  strengthening  inworking  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 
If  man  maintains  a  receptive  relation  toward  that  inworking,  he  is 
"  strengthened  with  might  by  the  Spirit  in  the  inner  man,"  and  his  efficiency 
as  an  agent  in  the  conversion  of  the  world  is  guaranteed.  The  whole  Church 
in  like  manner  being  thus  sanctified  "  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  and 
by  the  Spirit  of  our  God,"  comes  into  vital  union  with  the  infinite  Power 


GENERAL   REMARKS.  543 

wl^ch  stands  back  of  all  forces  and  controls  all  agencies.  It  is  this  vital 
union  that  has  enabled  Methodism  to  front  every  new  line  of  human  want, 
and  to  bring  the  wisdom  and  strength  of  God  to  meet  every  new  demand. 
Its  vast  system  of  instrumentalities,  ramifying  as  they  do  the  whole  field  of 
Church  activity,  growing  up  not  as  the  result  of  sagacious  foresight,  but  pro- 
videntially, as  Christ  has  seen  His  Church  needed  them,  are,  by  reason  of 
this  union,  full  of  regal  potencies.  It  is  union  with  this  All-Power  that 
makes  Methodism  a  transforming  force  in  the  lives  of  lost  men,  often  con- 
verting the  epitomes  of  vice  into  epistles  of  grace.  By  this  Methodism  pro- 
duces in  man  repentance  instead  of  penance,  conversion  instead  of  confession, 
and  godliness  instead  of  asceticism.  It  is  vital  union  with  this  Power  in 
our  mission-work  which,  starting  with  Mr.  Wesley's  first  missionary,  Robert 
Williams,  who  boarded  a  p;icket  for  America  with  a  bottle  of  milk  and  a 
loaf  of  bread  as  his  entire  outfit,  has  made  that  work  encircle  the  globe  with 
its  mission-fields.  By  it  the  Church's  experience  of  the  things  of  God  is 
elevated  to  its  proper  level.  Without  it  the  Church  stands  at  the  foot  of 
Pisgah,  like  Watts,  and  plaintively  cries — 

"  Could  we  but  climb  where  Moses  stood. 
And  view  the  landscape  o'er, 
Not  Jordan's  stream  nor  death's  cold  flood, 
Should  fright  ua  from  the  shore." 

With  it,  the  Church,  like  Wesley,  stands  on  the  storm-defying  heights,  and 
sings — 

"  The  promised  land,  from  Pisgah's  top, 
I  now  exult  to  see  ; 
My  hope  is  full  (Oh,  blessed  hope  I) 
Of  immortality." 

God  thus  leads  us  up  this  shining  mount  of  vision,  from  the  summit  of  which 
human  forces  and  methods  fade  out  of  view,  and  discloses  to  us  a  complete- 
ness of  resource  "  for  the  work  of  the  world's  conversion,"  compared  with 
which  the  mountain  full  of  horses  and  chariots  of  fire  which  burst  on  the 
astonished  vision  of  Elisha's  servant  is  tameness  itself. 

The  Hon.  G.  W.  Frost  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church)  :  The  resources 
of  Methodism  for  the  world's  conversion  cannot  be  over-estimated.  The 
work  of  John  Wesley  in  all  its  breadth  and  consstant  widening  influences  is, 
and  must  always  be,  considered  providential.  He  was  to  his  age  what  Luther 
was  to  the  Reformation,  and  if  he  did  not  originate  all  that  he  utilised  in 
the  formation  of  his  societies,  he  had  that  remarkable  gift  of  genius  that 
is  only  accorded  to  the  wisest  and  most  successful  generals — that  of 
organisation.  He  had  no  plans  except  to  do  the  greatest  possible  good  in 
tlie  least  possible  time,  and  to  hold  for  God  and  the  Church  all  tlie 
advantages  he  gained.  The  development  of  his  views,  which  were 
centuries  in  advance  of  his  time,  are  resources  sufficient  in  themselves  for 
the  conversion  of  the  world.  They  were — the  Word  of  God  ;  a  holy,  blame- 
less life  ;  Christian  activity  only  to  close  with  death  ;  and  rigid  method  In 
saving  souls  and  planting  societies.  Methodism  has  all  these,  and,  besides, 
the  experience  of  more  than  a  century.    Methodism  adapts  itself  to  all 


544  FOREIGN   MISSIONS. 

conditions  of  men.     It  is  suited  alike  to  those  who  lead  a«d  those  who 
follow,  to  rich  and  poor,  to  the  nnleurned  and  the  educated.     Its  forms  and 
religion  are  so  simple  that  a  child  can  understand  them.     It  has  its  re- 
sources in  the  favour  of  the  people,  in  the  simplicity  of  its  doctrines,  in 
the  zeal  and  energy  of  its  followers,   in  its  educational  institutions,  in  its 
mathematical  method   of  business,  in  the  far-reaching  plans  of  its  great 
leaders,  in  its  itinerant  ministry,  in  its  active  consistent  piety,  backed  with 
its  foremost  idea,  that  of  saving   faith,  with    a   revelation   of    the  Holy 
Spirit  that  makes  it  certain  to  the  believer  ;  and,  best  of  all,  the  favour  of 
God.     This  has  brought  nearly  20,000,000  under  its  influence  in  America 
alone,  and  how  much  its  leaven  has  moved  the  whole  Christian  world,  God 
alone   knows,  but  it  has  been  and  is  a  mighty  pOwer  on  other  religious 
bodies.     These  resources  have  their  influence  on  our  settled  communities, 
as  in  Great  Britain,  where   its  monuments  are  all  around  us  ;  and  these 
same  resources  are  even   more  potent  on  new  communities.     The  part  of 
North  America  that  I  have  the  honour  to  represent  on  this  floor  stretches 
from   the   Missouri   to   the   heart  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  covers  a 
country   more  than  a  thousand   miles   square.     But  yesterday  it  was  the 
abode  of  the  savage  and  the  wild  beast ;  to-day  it  teems  with  hundi-eds  of 
thousands  of  settlers,  and  is  fast  advancing  in  arts  and  civilisation,  with 
schools  and  colleges  and  churches  and  public  buildings,  that  would  be  an 
honour  to  any  country.     There  has  been  a  steady  march   of  civilisation 
from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific  of  about  thirteen  miles  a  year  into  the 
unbroken  wilderness.     My   State,   Nebraska,  fifteen   years  ago  contained 
30,000  souls  ;  to-day,  in  round  numbers,  there  are  500,000.     This  comes 
from  the  great  liberality  of  the  Government,  in  practically  giving  away 
from  160  to  G25  acres  of  the  richest  land  that  the  sun  ever  shone  upon  to 
each  bond  fide  settler.      Methodism  has,  in  all  these  wonderful  changes, 
stood  in  the  fore-front  of  religious  influence.     Aside  from  the   Catholic 
Church,  which  complains  of  losing  many  members  in  these  new  States  and 
territories,  she  has  numbered  more  for  years  than  all  other  denominations,  of 
course  decreasing  in  ratio  with  increasing  settlements  from  other  Christian 
communities.     All  honour  to  the  Methodist  ministry  1     Wherever  there  is 
a  log  cabin  or  a  dug-out,  or  a  mining  camp  high  up  on  the  mountain  side, 
there  you  find  a  Methodist  preacher  in  all  the  glory  of  horse  and  saddle- 
bags— and  hard  work.     He  has  his  resources  in  his  Bible,  his  hymn-book, 
his  disciphne,  his  unconquerable  zeal,  his  sublime  faith  in  God  and  in  him- 
self to  persuade  others  to  be  saved.     His  is  the  heroism  that  dares  go  out 
into  the  wilderness  and  compel  men  by  the  force   of  simple  truth  to  be 
saved.     The  duty  of  Methodism,  to  my  mind,   is  plain,  "  Let  well  enough 
alone."     It  is  to  stand   by  the   old  landmarks.     Make  no  radical  changes. 
Watch   and  adopt  die  leadings  of  Providence  ;    use   the   old   successful 
agencies.     Salvation  by  faith  now,  be  the  theme  of  preacher  and  member  ; 
and  education  and  philantliropy,  and  consecrated  liberality,  and  missionary 
zeal,  and  union  in  spirit  of  all  Methodist  bodies,  with  consistent  piety,  will 
fit  the  great  Methodist  body  to  be  an  honoured  and  efficient  instrument  in 
the  conversion  of  the  world. 

Mr.  p.  p.  Fletcher  (New  South  Wales) :  As  I  come  from  a  part  of  the 
world  that  has  not  yet  had  any  representatives  taking  an  active  part  in  this 
Conference,  I  feel  that,  perhaps,  in  this  question,  with  which  1  have  a 
strong  sympathy,  I  might  ofi'er  an  observation  or  two  that  might  be 
acceptable  to  the  judgment  of  this  inteUigent  audience.  We  have  had,  at 
different  stages  of  this  Conference,  expressions  of  different  thoughts  g.ven. 
We  have  indulged  in  remarks  of  congratulation  at  our  success  ;  we  have 
also  had  statements  made  of  regret  at  the  want  of  greater  success.  Now, 
in  my  judgment,  there  is  a  question  nearly  related  to  these  two  which  is  of 
far  more  importance  than  either  of  thena.     Can  we  find  out  the  reason  why 


t 


I 
I 


GENERAL   REMARKS,  545 

we  have  not  had  greater  success  ?  In  my  judgment,  a  little  close  observa- 
tion will  assist  us  to  the  detection,  at  any  rate,  of  one  or  two  reasons  which 
may  have  operated  to  this  want  of  greater  success  ;  and  the  hrst  which 
presents  itself  to  my  own  mind  is  the  want  of  personal  piety,  the  want  of 
more  entire  consecration  to  the  Lord's  service,  the  indulgence  in  reser- 
vations, the  keeping  of  something  back,  the  not  being  thoroughly  and  com- 
pletely abandoned  in  our  devotion  to  Him,  the  not  laying  hold  of  the  spirit 
which  nuist  have  prompted  the  lines  : — 

"  Take  my  soul  and  borly's  powers; 

Take  my  memory,  minrl,  and  will } 
All  my  groods,  and  all  my  hours; 

All  I  know,  and  all  I  feel; 
All  I  tbiuk,  or  speak,  or  do  ; 
Take  my  heart  ;  but  make  it  new  I** 

"  Be  ye  holy,  for  I  the  Lord  your  God  am  holy."  "  Be  ye  perfect  as  youi 
Father  which  is  in  heaven  is  perfect."  Now  the  state  here  indicated — call 
it  full  salvation,  perfect  love,  entire  sa notification,  or  b}^  whatever  name 
you  please  to  designate  it — is  evidently  the  privilege  of  all  believers  ;  and, 
therefore,  just  in  proportion  as  we  come  short  of  this,  fail  to  reach  and 
realise  it,  so  is  our  influence  for  good  lessened  ;  to  that  extent  we  are 
enfeebled  as  co-workers  in  the  Saviour's  service.  Another  reason  which 
presents  itself  to  my  own  mind  is  the  not  witnessing  for  the  Saviour  as  we 
ought  to  do.  "  Ye  are  My  witnesses,  saith  the  Lord,  that  I  am  God,"  and 
the  Saviour  told  the  disciples  they  were  the  "light  of  the  Avorld" — a  "  city 
set  upon  a  hill  which  could  not  be  hid."  Nor  docs  this  language  suggest, 
nor  is  it  intended  to  lead  to  ostentatious  or  unseemly  exhibition  of  one's 
religion.  It  is  rather  to  be  felt  than  seen  ;  it  is  to  be  so  interwoven  with 
the  very  texture  of  our  being  that,  becoming  part  and  parcel  of  ourselves, 
it  shall  come  out  in  our  everyday  conduct ;  our  spirit  shall  reflect  so  faith- 
fully the  spirit  of  tb.e  :\iaster  in  our  everyday  behaviour  that  it  shall  be 
impossible  not  to  pt^r.i-eive  and  recognise  that  reflection  ;  and  as  a  whole, 
outsiders  shall  be  ftjmpelled  to  exclaim,  "  See  how  these  Christians  live  !  " 
A  third  reason  which  occurs  to  me  is  the  inactivity  of  church  members — 
the  lack  of  effort  of  a  directly  spiritual  character.  Too  much  of  our  efl^ort, 
perhaps,  is  expended  upon  mere  planning  and  organisation  instead  of  doing 
the  work  of  which  these  are  merely  the  means.  Now,  I  would  not  have 
kss  organisation  than  we  have  ;  I  would  not  cease  to  employ  one  single 
appliance,  so  far  as  I  am  acquainted  with  them.  [The  speaker  was  here 
stopped  by  the  ringing  of  the  bell.] 

Rev.  Dr.  C.  H.  Payne  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church)  :  I  trust  I  shall  not 
be  misunderstood  if  I  give  utterance  to  a  few  words  on  this  subject  which 
are  not  especially  of  a  congratulatory  character.  There  is  certa'nly  no 
ground  for  the  charge  which  infidelity  makes  against  Christianity  that  its 
missions  are  a  failure.  On  the  contrary,  they  are  a  success.  We  acknow- 
ledge before  the  world  that  if  Christianity  be  Divine,  in  the  progress  of 
eighteen  centuries  it  ought  to  have  given  substantial  and  satisfactory 
evidence  of  its  Divine  origin  and  supernatural  power.  We  claim  that  it 
has  given  such  evidence  in  kind  and  degree  sufficient  to  satisfy  any  candid 
mind.  But  we  are  not  here  to-day,  I  take  it,  brethren,  so  much  to  consider 
the  little  that  we  have  done,  and  to  congratulate  ourselves  over  that,  as  to 
look  fairly  and  honestly  at  the  stupendous  work  which  yet  remains  to  he 
done  before  this  world  will  be  evangelised  ;  and  this  Conference  will  be  a 
partial  failure,  it  seems  to  me,  if  it  does  not  mark  an  era  when  a  new 
departure  shall  be  taken  for  the  world's  evangelisation  ;  when  a  new 
impulse  shall  be  given  to  our  (Ecumenical  Methodism  ;  and  I  cannot  but 
feel  that  there  ought  to  go  forth  some  word  from  this  great  and  important 

N  N 


54)6  FOREIGN  MISSIONS. 

body  that  shall  accomplish  this  result.  I  do  not  feel  disposed  to  offer  any 
special  congTatulation  in  respect  to  the  work  which  that  branch  of  Method- 
ism to  wliich  I  belong  has  accomplished.  I  believe  it  occupies  an  honour- 
able position  relatively  in  respect  to  the  fields  occupied,  and  the  means 
employed  ;  yet  I  cannot  feel  very  joyous  over  the  Avork  which  any  of  us 
are  doing.  We  must,  in  order  to  do  our  work,  strike  a  higher  keynote  than 
we  have  ever  yet  struck.  We  must  kindle  in  the  heart  of  the  Church  an 
intenser  enthusiasm  on  this  great  subject  ;  we  must  get  nearer  the  Master 
on  the  crest  of  the  mountain,  and  hear  Him  say  anew,  "Go  ye  into  all  the 
world,  and  preach  the  Gospel  to  every  ci'eature."  And  Methodism  ought 
to  learn  anew  how  responsible  a  part  of  this  work  God  calls  it  to  do.  I  am 
happy  to  acknowledge  that  the  British  WesJeyan  Conference  stands  at  the 
head  of  us  all  in  regard  to  the  average  contributions  of  its  membership  to 
this  work.  But  I  am  sorry  that  any  of  us  have  to  count  our  contributions 
by  pennies  and  not  by  dollars.  We  must  get  hold  of  the  wealth  of  the 
Church,  and  lift  our  poor  members  up  to  giving  by  dollars,  and  our  richer 
members  to  giving  by  hundreds  and  thi  lasands,  and  hundreds  of  thousands, 
for  the  world's  conversion.  I  hope  that  higher  keynote  will  be  struck 
here  amid  these  holy  associations,  with  the  words  of  our  founder  Wesley 
sounding  in  our  ears,  "The  world  is  my  parish  ;"  let  there  go  forth  from 
this  G^^cumenical  Conference  a  word  that  shall  sound  all  along  the  lines  of 
Methodism,  speaking  unto  the  children  of  Wesley,  that  they  "go  forward" 
to  the  speedy  evangelisation  of  the  world.  Sir,  we  have  heard  this  pio- 
position  discussed  for  nearly  a  century — that  it  is  the  duty  of  the  Church 
to  evangelise  the  world.  May  I  propose  to  amend  that  proposition,  and 
say  it  is  the  duty  of  the  Church  to  evangelise  the  world  during  the  present 
century,  and  it  is  the  duty  of  Methodism  to  lead  this  conquering  army  to 
immediate  and  universal  conquest  ? 

Bishop  J.  M.  Brown  (African  Methodist  Episcopal  Church)  :  I  just  want 
to  speak  of  one  of  the  branches  of  the  resources  of  Methodism.  I  am 
aware  that  we  cannot  succeed  without  the  Spirit  in  our  evangelistic  efforts. 
I  am  aware  also  that  preaching  and  praying  and  singing  and  such  instru- 
mentalities are  absolutely  necessary  ;  but  there  is  one  resource  that  I  think 
we  are  overlooking  a  little — it  is  this,  that  there  is  a  large  branch  of 
Methodists  who,  in  my  opinion,  can  be  utilised.  I  have  taken  some  pains  to 
ascertain  the  number  of  Methodists  comprising  the  class  of  whom  I  propose 
to  speak,  and  to  show  you  how  in  carrying  out  the  idea  referred  to  tliis 
morning  these  Methodists  can  be  made  use  of.  I  find  in  the  United  States 
alone,  according  to  the  last  census,  we  have  about  7,000,000  of  the  descen- 
dants of  Africa,  grouping  together  several  coloured  organisations  ;  in  the 
United  States  we  have  more  than  900,000  coloured  Methodists,  and  connected 
with  these  900,000  there  are  a  large  number  of  preachers.  These  Methodists 
are  divided  as  follows  : — The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  claims  to  have 
about  200,000  ;  the  Coloured  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  according  to 
Bishop  Holsey,  100,000.  Bishop  Hood  informs  me  that  Zion  Church  has 
270,000,  and  the  British  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  America  has  5,000, 
apart  from  their  West  Indian  work.  The  African  Methodist  Episcopal  Cluirch 
has  400,000.  I  say  that  these  Methodists,  if  properly  grouped  together  and 
used,  can  be  made  of  vast  use  in  converting  the  world.  If  it  is  true  that  there 
are  millions  in  Africa  yet  to  be  converted — and  we  have  7,000,000  in  our 
own  country,  and  large  numbers  in  South  and  Central  America,  and  the  West 
Indian  Islands — why  may  not  the  Church  take  hold  of  these  Christian  men 
and  women,  and  make  use  of  them  in  Africa  ?  Why  forget  them  ?  Why 
overlook  them  ?  I  hold  that  amongst  these  men  there  are  resources  untold. 
Taking  the  African  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  alor  e  (for  I  cannot  speak 
of  other  denominations),  there  are  in  that  Church  172,348  Sunday-scholars  :. 
they   have    property  —  parsonages    and    other    buildings — amounting    to 


GENERAL   REMARKS.  547 

thousands  of  dollars  ;  they  collected  during  the  last  four  years  9,097,606 
dols.  and  24  cents  for  the  support  of  the  Gospel  in  their  midst,  and  there 
are  a  number  of  other  things  that  might  be  grouped  together.  Now,  sup- 
posing you  add  the  statistics  of  the  Zion  and  Coloured  Church  of  America 
and  the  British  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  of  Canada,  we  should  bring  it 
up  to  a  very  respectable  sum.  What  I  wish,  my  Christian  brethren,  is  to 
ask  you  if  these  efforts  in  collecting  such  amounts  shall  not  be  considered, 
or  shall  we  go  home,  after  this  meeting  is  concluded,  with  as  little  encou- 
ragement as  we  have  been  receiving  for  the  last  hundred  years  ? 

Mr.  W.  E.  Brownfield  (Methodist  New  Connexion)  :  I  remember  once 
hearing  a  story  of  a  gentleman  who  prepared  a  very  careful  speech,  and  had 
gone  to  a  public  meeting  intending  to  deliver  it.  He  placed  it  in  one  of  the 
hinder  pockets  of  his  goat,  and  some  individual,  wishing  to  play  him  a  trick, 
took  it  out,  and  handed  it  over  to  another  gentleman,  who  read  it,  and  de- 
livered it  before  he  had  the  opportunity  of  doing  so.  I  feel  somewhat  in 
that  position  this  afternoon,  for  Mr,  Price  this  morning,  to  a  very  large 
extent,  took  the  words  out  of  my  nmuth,  and  the  previous  speaker  has  still 
further  done  so.  I  should  like,  therefore,  merely  to  rise  in  order  to  impress 
what  was  said  this  morning  by  Mr.  Price,  and  what  was  further  said  b}'  the 
gentleman  who  has  just  sat  down,  as  to  the  wonderful  power  which 
Methodism  has  now  for  the  evangelisation  of  the  Dark  Continent,  by  means  of 
the  Christian  men  and  Christian  women  who  have  already  received  a  training 
in  the  United  States  of  America,  in  connection  with  the  various  Coloured 
Churches  there.  I  believe  that  as  the  negro  question  in  the  United  States  has 
been  solved  by  Christianity,  so  in  God's  good  providence  the  evangelisation 
of  Africa  has  been  solved  by  the  taking  of  so  many  of  the  African  people 
to  the  United  States  of  America.  Now,  I  venture  to  think  that  in  very 
many  particulars  the  coloured  people  of  the  United  States,  in  evangelising 
Africa,  would  have  very  great  advantages  over  European  missionaries.  In 
the  first  place,  they  would  be  enabled  to  inform  the  populations  there  that 
they  were  their  brethren  from  across  the  water  ;  they  would  be  enabled  by 
their  constitution  very  much  better  to  stand  the  climate  than  European 
missionaries ;  and  I  believe  that  the  organs  of  their  throats  would  enable 
them  to  articulate  the  language  of  Africa  very  much  better  than  can  be 
done  by  Europeans.  I  believe  also  that  it  would  be  found  that  if  you  place 
a  European  over  against  one  of  these  sons  of  Ham,  he  would  very  much 
more  easily  acquire  the  language.  Then,  in  going  there,  they  would  be 
enabled  to  tell  a  history  to  the  people  of  Africa  such  as  no  European  could 
possibly  do,  and  would  gain  and  enlist  their  sympathies  by  telling  them 
how,  by  means  of  the  Gospel,  and  of  education  in  that  far-off  country,  men 
of  their  own  blood  had  risen  to  positions  of  equality  with  white  men.  I 
believe,  too,  that  such  a  mission,  organised  whether  by  Methodist  or  Baptist 
Churches — for  I  believe  the  Baptists  have  a  larger  number  amongst  the 
coloured  populations  of  America  than  the  Methodists — but  that  I  do  not  know; 
at  all  events,  I  am  sure  we  shall  be  very  glad  to  see  them  joining  hands,  and 
so,  the  one  taking  the  one  side  of  the  continent  and  the  other  the  other  side 
— Methodist  fire  and  Baptist  water  meeting  in  the  centre  of  the  land — I 
believe  such  a  mission  organised  woukl  command  very  large  means,  both 
from  this  side  of  the  water  and  from  the  other,  and  would  be  carried  by 
the  enthusiasm  engendered  to  a  successful  issue.  It  has  been  suggested 
that  there  should  be  some  memorial  as  a  standing  remembrance  of  this 
gathering.  Might  it  not  be  possible  to  establish  a  college  for  the  training 
of  coloured  evangelists  on  the  otlier  side  of  the  water? 

Rev.  Dr.  Buckley  :  The  general  topic  of  to-day  is  foreign  missions. 
I  make  that  announcement  that  it  may  be  understood  what  subject  I  intend 
to  speak  of.  The  particular  point  before  us  in  the  essay  and  in  the  invited 
iddress  is  "The  resources  of  Methodism  for  the  world's  conversion  ;  and 

N  N    2 


548  FOREIGN  MISSIONS. 

the   duty   of    developing   and   employing   those   resources."     I   did   not 
suppose   that  the  operation  of  the   Holy  Spirit,  faith  in  our  Lord    Jesus 
Christ,  justiiication,  sanctification,  and  other  doctrines  of  Methodism,  were 
to  be  brought  forward  under  this  topic.     I  did  fancy  that  as  they  had  been 
brought  forward  under  other  topics,  something  practical  relating  to  the  use 
of  the   material   and  intellectual   resources  of   the  Church  was  designed 
If  I  am  wrong  in  that  it  is  too  late  in  the  debate  for  me  to   be  corrected. 
What   I   have  to   say  will  relate  to  the  securing  and  employing  of  the 
material  resources  of  Methodism  to  convert  the  world,  to  carry  its  spiritual 
doctrines  and  principles  to  the  East  and  the  West,  to  the  North  and  the 
South.     In  the  first  place,  IMr.  President,  it  appears  to  me  that  up  to  the 
present  time  far  too  little  use  has  been  made  of  laymen,  as  laymen,  in  pro- 
moting the   interests  of  the  cause  of  missions  among  our  people.     The 
whole  matter  has  been  to  a  great  extent  under  the  control  of  the  officials 
and  the  regular  pastors  of  the  churches.     It  is  true  that  officials  can  do  a 
work  that  no  one   else  can   do  ;  it  is  also  true  that  they  have  their  limi- 
tations.    A  number  of  years  ago  the  late  lamented  Dr.  Eddy,  one  of  the 
most  eloquent  secretaries  we  ever  had,  said  to  me  just  after  he  entered 
upon  his  work,  "  I  find,  sir,  the  persons  who  would  gladly  come  and  hear 
me  preach  upon  ordinary  subjects,  now  do  not  come  on  account  of  the'  fear 
of  an  inevitable  appeal  for   money  at  the   close  of  my  discourses."     I 
presume   that  not  a  few  missionary  secretaries  have   learned   something 
upon  that   point.     Now,   Mr.  President,    laymen   speaking  in  defence  of 
missions  and  in  appeals  to  men  to  contribute  as  they  themselves  contribute, 
^shall   be   heard.     During   the   past   twenty-three   years,   it   has  been  my 
pleasure  to  put  into  the   missionary  treasnry  of  the   Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  between  45,000  and  50,000  dollars  in  the  regular  collections  of  the 
Church.     The  first  collection  I  ever  took  amounted  to  e'ghty-five  dollars, 
and  that  cost  me  more  trouble  than  all  the  rest  put  together.     It  was  only 
because  I  happened  to  be  where  the  money  was,  that  I  could  raise  such 
sums  as  I  have  taken  during  the  few  years  last  past.     Let  me  say  that  the 
more  I  could  induce  business  laymen   to  speak — not  as  local  preachers, 
firstly,   secondly,   and   thirdly,  with  the  professional  application,   but   to 
speak  as  laymen — the   more   I  could  induce  them  to  speak  in  public  con- 
gregations and  to  the  Sunday-schools,  the  larger  the  collection.     The  best 
man  to  represent  the   cause   of  missions  is  a   rich  liberal  man  ;  and  the 
worst  man  to  represent  any  class  in  Methodism  is  a  rich  mean  man.     Next 
to  the  rich  liberal  man  is  the  liberal  poor  man  ;  and  if  you  can  induce  a 
liberal  rich  man  to  stand  up  and  make  an  appeal,  and  a  liberal  poor  man  to 
speak  on  the  same   occasion,   happy  for  the  holy  cause,   the  money  you 
get  will  be  measured  only  by  the  capacity  of  the   people.     I  hold  that 
from   this   time   forward,  if   the  members    of   this    Conference   in   their 
respective  churches  will  use  their  influence  to  bring  laymen  to  the  front, 
speaking  as  laymen,  giving  after  they  have   spoken,  we  may  expect  to  see 
resources  poured  forth  in  much  larger  amounts  than  they  have_  hitherto 
been.     Only  one  point  more,  and  that  is  this.     The  power  of  the  missionary 
to  work  in  foreign   lands  depends  largely   upon  the   sympathy  that   he 
knows  and  feels  that  he  has  at  home.    It  is  true  that  the  days  of  heroism,  to 
a  considerable  extent,  are  past ;  but  there  is  room  for  heroism  yet  in  every 
mission-field.     The  being  there  alone,  away  from  friends  and  associations, 
requires  heroism,  no  matter  how  a  man  lives  ;  and  if  he  feels  that  in  the 
office,  from  the  missionary  secretaries,  from  the  missionary  committees,  and 
from  the  Church  as  represented  by  all  those  local  committees  which  have 
this  matter  in  charge,  he  receives  a  loving  sympathy ;  if  he  feels  that  he  can 
communicate  through  the  secretaries  with  a  certainty  that  their  preposses- 
sions and  prejudices  will  never  afEect  the  representations  which  he  attempts 
to  make  to  the  committee  ;  if  he  can  be  sure  that  they  can  sympathise  with 


GENERAL   REMARKS.  &4:9 

him  as  with  brethren  beloved — the  same  amount  of  enerfry  and  spirituality 
in  the  missionary  will  bring  forth  greater  results.  Mr.  President,  if  I 
cannot  say  anything  else  that  can  be  remembered  I  will  say  this. — that  a 
human  being  m  mind,  in  heart,  and  in  body  is  not  always  of  the  same 
precise  value,  and  that  a  missionary  in  a  distant  field,  who  means  to  do  his 
best,  will  do  well  in  proportion  as  he  feels  that  the  Church  loves  him,  and 
that  his  official  superiors  at  home  have  a  loving  sympathy  with  him. 

Mr.  H.  J.  Atkinson  (Wesleyan  Methodist) :  Dr.   Buckley  has  brought 
forward  this  subject  in  a  manner  for  which  I  feel  deeply  obliged  to  him. 
I  wish  to  testify  here,  not  for  the  benefit  of  the  members  of  the  Wesleyan 
Connexion, — because  thej'  know  what  I  have  done  in  the  same  direction 
that  Dr.  Buckley  speaks  of, — but  for  the  benefit  of  the  memljers  of  other 
connexions,  and  in  order  to  give  my  own  personal  experience.     If  Dr. 
Buckley  had  been  a  member  of  the  Wesleyan  Methodist  Connexion,  if  he 
had  been  a  member  of  the  Missionary  Society  and  of  the  Finance  Com- 
mittee, and  an  ex-district  treasurer,  who  used  to  remit  £4,000  or  £5,000 
yearly  from  Hull  to  the  Weslej-an  Alissionary  Society,  he  would  have  felt 
as  they  did  even  then,  that  it  was  the  most  diflicult  thing  to  force  this 
reform  of  which  he  has  been  speaking  upon  our  people.     Not  that  I  believe 
they  did  not  like  it,  but  they  thought  that  people  in  the  outskirts  of  the 
Connexion  would  not  want  to  see  anybody  but  missionaries,  secretaries, 
and  ministers.     I  was  thoroughly  of  opinion,  as  Dr.  Buckley  has  stated, 
that  laymen  ought  to  be  associated,  and  when  the  laymen  were  associated 
with  the  ministers  in  the  Conference,  I  said, "  Now  is  our  time  to  get  them 
to  do  part  of  the  duty  of  missionary  deputations."     I  worked  for  it  for 
two  j-ears,  and  then  I  got  a  resolution  passed  which  was  emasculated  in 
the  passing  by  words  being  added  which  made  the  resolution  permissive. 
I  would  not  have  anything  to  do  with  it,  and  put  it  up  again  at  the  next 
year's  Conference,  and  said,    "  Now,  give  me  my   resolution   pure   and 
simple,  and  put  out  those  permissive  words."     On  the  platform  I  found  a 
difficulty.     It  was  not  a  platform  like  this.     Here  everj'  king  has  his  day, 
and  changes  take  place  ;    but  the  platform  of  the  Wesleyan  Methodist 
Conference,  conservative  as  I  am  in  all  things,  I  must  say  is  sometimes 
•sery  difficult  to  move.     It  is  a  glorious  thing  to  have  a  friend  upon  the 
platfomi,  and  when  I  fought  it  a  second  or  third  time,  the  Rev.  M.  C. 
Osbom,  who  was  Missionary  Secretary,  and  also  was  the  Secretary  of  the 
Conference,  said,  "  Well,  it  cannot  do  any  harm  ;  let  us  try  it ;  "  but  they 
put  in  again  the  same  enervating  words  as  before.     I  said,  "  I  will  not  be 
answerable  for  it  unless  j'ou  give  it  me  pure  and  simple."     They  gave  it  to 
me  as  I  required.     I  afterwards  read  the  Minutes  of  tl)e  Conference,  in 
which   I  read  votes  of  thanks  to  the  Rev.  This  and  the  Rev.  That,  to 
So-and-So,  Esquire,  to  all   the  collectors,   and   everybody   else,   but  my 
resolution  was  not  there.     I  wrote  to  the  secretary  and  said,  "  What  is  all 
this  about?     Here  are  these  votes  of  thanks,  which  I  think  should  be 
abolished,  or  all  piled  up  in   about  five  minutes  at  the  end,  but  you  have 
not  my  resolution,  which  was  agreed  to."     He  said  he  did  not  think  it  was 
necessary  to  put  it  in.     I  said,  I  thought  it  was  necessary,  and  I  wrote  to 
the  Methodist  Recorder  and  the  Watchman,  but  many  of  our  friends  even 
to  this  day  do  not  know  that  they  have  a  right  to  make  tlioir  deputations 
half  clerical  and  half  lay.     Then  see  how  it  was  done  when  the  thing  came 
on  at  the  last  Conference.     The  first  time  any  names  were  added  nine  or 
ten  only  were  added,  and  one  of  the  secretaries  came  to  me  and  said,  "  I  am 
afraid  this  scheme  of  yours  won't  work  :  there  are  o«ly  nine  names."     I 
said,  "  When  will   this  come   on  ?  "      He  replied,  "  In  about  an  hour." 
I  then  spoke  to  a  gentleman,  and  said,  "  Will  you   be  good  enough  ? " 
"Yes,"  said  he.     Tlien  to  anotlier.  "  Will  you  be  good  enough  ?"     ''Yes;'* 
and  in  five  minutes  I  ran  up  with  four  or  five  names,  and  the  secretary 


550  FOREIGN   MISSIONS. 

said,  "  Do  not  bring  rae  any  more  ;  I  have  no  places  for  them."  I  said 
"  You  must  have  places  for  them  next  j'ear,  at  all  events."  Well,  sine, 
then  I  complained  in  committee  that  we  did  not  speak  to  the  men  and  ask 
them  to  go,  but  simply  sent  them  circulars.  Now,  this  time  I  shall  move 
for  a  sub-committee  to  work  it,  and  I  am  certain  we  can  have  as  many 
laymen  to  go  as  ministers.  Since  then  I  have  been  on  my  travels.  I  was 
sent  to  the  Channel  Islands.  The  secretary  said,  "  They  will  only  go  to 
the  best  places  ;  they  won't  go  to  small  ones."  "Well,"  I  said,  "send 
me  to  any  place  you  like."  "Oh,"  s-aid  he,  "we  have  not  the  same  power 
over  laymen  as  we  have  over  ministers."  I  said,  "  Do  you  know  what  an 
intelligent  little  boy  in  a  village  once  said  a  deputation  was  ?  He  said  it 
was  the  name  of  a  celebrated  minister,  which  was  put  upon  a  bill  of  a 
missionary  meeting,  and  then  he  did  not  come."  We  went  afterwards  to 
the  Thanksgiving  Meetings,  laymen  and  ministers.  I  have  had  a  good  deal 
of  experience  in  that,  and  I  noted  that  there  were  more  absentees  on  the 
part  of  ministers  than  laymen.  I  called  attention  to  this  fact.  One  of 
the  greatest  benefits  of  this  meeting  altogether  will  be  that  we  have  seen 
the  faces  of  and  shaken  hands  with  men  who  are  our  peers  in  America.  If 
anything  is  wanted  to  be  done  by  the  Methodism  of  united  England  and 
America,  how  much  better  it  will  be  done  now  that  we  have  seen  the  faces 
of  these  men,  and  that  we  love  them,  both  ministers  and  laymen.  So  it  is 
in  our  own  circuits.  They  see  that  Mr.  A.  moves  and  Mr.  B.  seconds,  and 
so  on,  and  if  they  know  the  men.  and  feel  that  they  are  doing  what  they 
can,  then  they  say,  "  Oh,  we  will  help  these  men  ;  they  have  come  to  us 
at  great  trouble  to  speak  here,  and  we  will  help  them."  Now,  so  far  as  I 
have  had  experience,  I  find  that  the  men  who  went  upon  these  deputations 
attended  the  whole  of  them.  I  know  my  friend  here  attended  fourteen 
meetings  in  Yorkshire,  and  the  people  said,  "  This  is  a  capital  plan  of 
yours  ;  we  did  enjoy  tha  visit  of  Mr.  Edge."  It  was  so  in  other  places, 
and  it  always  will  be  so.  Then  as  to  our  resources.  What  do  we  want  ? 
We  want  men  first.  Have  we  men  ?  Yes  ;  our  institutions  are  full  of  men 
ready  for  the  work.  Have  we  God's  blessing?  Yes.  Have  we  openings? 
Yes,  openings  all  over  ;  they  tell  you  of  Japan  and  France  and  Spain. 
What  do  we  want ?  money.  Where  is  the  money?  Methodism  has  the 
money.  But  instead  of  being  in  the  missionary  treasury  it  is  in  the 
pockets  of  our  rich  men.  But  how  did  it  get  there  ?  By  the  use  of  those 
qualities  which  made  them  good  Methodists  applied  to  secular  work;  for 
the  same  qualities  that  will  make  a  man  a  good  Methodist  will  make  him 
respected  in  trade  and  prosperous  in  commerce.  Verj'  well  ;  let  us  insist 
on  their  bringing  it  out  and  they  will  do  it,  and  the  laj-men  are  the  men 
who  will  help  to  do  it. 

The  President  :  I  am  sure  the  Conference  will  feel  that  we  are  ending 
this  discussion  in  a  right  spirit. 

Several  re " ;rences  were  made  to  the  Business  Committee,  including 
one  from  Dr.  Buckley,  for  the  appointment  of  a  Committee  to  pre- 
pare a  minute  with  regard  to  the  death  of  Mr.  Lumby ;  and  another 
with  regard  to  the  invitation  to  hold  the  next  (Ecumenical  Con- 
ference  in  Louisville,  Kentucky. 

A  hymn  was  then  sung,  and  the  Benediction  having  been  pro- 
nouncedj  the  Conference  adjourned. 


CONCLUDING  DAY,  Tuesday,  September  ^Oth. 


President — Rev.  De.  H.  Pope,  Methodist  Church  of  Canada. 


Subject : 
••CHRISTIAN    UNITY." 


rpHE  CONFERENCE  resumed  this  morning  at  Ten  o'clock.    The 
-*-      pulpit  and  platform  were  draped  in  black,  expressive  of  the 
mourning  of  the  Conference  at  the  deaths  of  President  Garfield  and 
one  of  the  delegates,  Mr.  E.  Lumby,  of  Halifax. 

The  Devotional  Exercises  were  conducted  by  the  E,EV.  Dr.  J.  M. 
Reid  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church),  Avho  read  the  39th  and  40th 
Psalms,  and  in  his  prayer  made  special  and  solemn  reference  to  the 
sorrowful  intelligence  received  this  morning. 

Ret.  E.  E.  Jexkins  (Wesleyan  Methodist)  said  :  Mr.  President,  On  the 
first  day  of  the  (Ecumenical  Conference,  we  sent  across  the  Atlantic  to  the 
afilicted  wife  of  the  President  of  the  United  States  an  expression  of  our  deep 
sympath}'  and  of  our  fervent  hope ;  on  this  last  day  I  am  going  to  move,  if 
I  can  do  it,  that  a  message  be  sent  to  the  widow  of  the  honoured  Personage 
whom  God,  in  His  inscrutable  providence,  has  taken  from  that  nation,  and 
from  the  ranks  of  intelligent  and  Christian  rulers.  Nothing  unites  men  like 
sorrow,  and  this  deepest  and  extremest  soitow  has  united  more  closely  than 
they  were  ever  joined  together  the  great  American  people  and  ourselves  in 
England.  There,  of  course,  every  house  will  be  in  mourning,  and  every 
heart  s:id ;  but  I  may  venture  to  say,  next  to  the  American  nation,  this 
nation  has  put  on  a  sackcloth  of  mourning,  as  wi'le  and  as  deep  as  the 
limits  of  our  own  empire.  Sorrow  dissolves  rank,  and  the  Queen  upon  the 
throne,  who  hfis  on  several  occasions  sent  expressions  of  her  sympathy,  is 
only  one  with  her  meanest  subjects  in  this  great  grief.  We,  Mr.  President, 
who  are  English  delegates,  record  the  expression  of  our  deepest  sorrow  to 
our  brethren  from  America.  I  Avas  profoundly  touched,  sir,  when  following 
the  prayer  of  Dr.  Reid,  who  refern  d  to  his  ruler  as  a  brother,  and  asked  that 
the  "widow  of  our  brother"  might  be  sustained;  and  I  felt  in  that  prayer 
that  the  late  President  Garfield  was  not  a  remote  '^Sovereign  in  distant 


552  BUSINESS   PROCEEDINGS. 

majesty,  but  a  relative  at  home.  I  honour  the  sentiment,  and  I  feel  how 
profound  must  be  the  consternation  of  that  sorrow  which  just  now  oppresses 
our  beloved  brethren  whom  we  have  so  gladly  hailed  from  the  other  side  of 
the  water.  This  is  not  a  time,  sir,  when  we  can  say  many  words.  I  would 
have  said  fewer  if  I  could  have  done  so.  I  beg  to  move,  and  I  hope,  sir,  that 
you  will  permit  Dr.  Douglas,  who  represents  the  Canadian  nation  here,  to 
second  the  resolution  : — 

"  That  this  (Ecumenical  Methodist  Conference,  assembled  on  its  last  day  of 
session,  hears,  with  the  deepest  'grief,  the  intelligence  of  the  decease  of 
President  Gartield,  and  expresses  its  profound  sympathy  with  the  American 
nation,  and  in  particular  with  Mrs.  Garfield,  in  this  great  and  sorrowful 
bereavement.'' 

Rev.  Dr.  Douglas  (Methodist  Church  of  Canada)  :  Mr,  President,  I, 
with  deep  emotion,  would  second  the  resolution  which  has  just  been 
proposed.  As  coming  from  the  Dominion  of  Canada,  where  our  American 
companionship  with  the  Great  Republic  is  so  intimate,  I  am  sure  that  there 
will  be  tears  of  sadness  and  sorrow  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific  through- 
out the  Dominion  of  Canada.  I  have  but  few  words  to  utter,  except  it  be  to 
say  that  by  letters  received  since  I  have  been  in  this  city  from  the  United 
States,  we  have  learned  how  greatly  Mrs.  Garfield  has  been  sustained  in  her 
unutterable  sorrow.  We  join  hands,  Mr.  President,  with  our  brethren  on 
this  side  of  the  Atlantic,  in  tendering  our  deep  and  prayerful  sympathy 
to  her  who  this  day  is  written  a  widow. 

Rev.  Dr.  Reid:  I  would  like  that  Dr.  Tiffany  should  be  heard  a  moment 
if  he  is  willing  to  say  a  word  in  behalf  of  the  American  brethren. 

Rev.  Dr.  Tiffany  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church) :  I  had  no  thought  to 
say  a  word  under  these  solemn  circumstances,  but  perhaps  it  is  due  to  the 
brethren  who  represent  other  nationalities  than  our  own  that  it  should  be 
said  here  and  now  that  the  great  American  heart,  while  it  has  been  touched 
with  a  deep  sorrow  at  the  affliction  of  om*  noble  President,  has  also  been 
touclied  with  a  most  hvely  expression  of  joy  in  the  recognitions  of  brother- 
hood and  of  fraternity  which  have  come  to  us  from  all  parts  of  the  eailh ; 
and  in  knowing,  as  we  have  been  permitted  to  know  in  all  these  weeks  in 
which  we  have  been  walking  through  the  Valley  of  the  Shadow  of  Death, 
that  from  the  Queen  on  her  thione  to  the  very  humblest  of  her  subjects,  and 
from  all  other  lands,  there  have  come  expressions  of  heartiness,  of  sympathy, 
and  of  kindness  to  us  in  om-  trouble,  that  have  made  us  feel  that  while  God 
has  been  causing  His  servant  to  lie  down  in  death,  He  has  been  holding  his 
head  and  the  hand  of  the  nation  which  he  has  so  greatly  honoured.  I  have 
only  the  thought  in  my  mind  that  at  home  to-day  there  is  weeping  through- 
out all  our  streets ;  and  the  other  thought  is  that  the  grief  which  is  at  home 
is  only  compensated  by  the  sympathy  which  is  abroad  ;  and  as  by  this  touch 
of  sorrow  we  have  been  made  to  feel  the  kinship  of  our  common  hum.anity, 
so  it  may  be  that  we  should  be  brought  nearer  to  each  other  by  the  tribu- 
lations and  sorrows  through  which  we  are  here  called  to  pass.  We  might 
speak  of  the  noble  character  of  the  man,  and  of  the  wondrous  gifts  of  the 
President ;  but  we  are  silent  to-day  because  God  has  put  this  seal  of  sorrow 
on  our  lips.  Most  heartily  we  thank  our  brethi-en  for  initiating  this  expres- 
sion of  sorrow  and  of  sympathy  in  behalf  of  this  (Ecumenical  Conference. 

Rev.  Dr.  McFeerin  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South) :  Coming,  as  I 
do,  sir,  from  one  of  the  Southern  States  of  our  great  country,  I  feel  it  to  be 


BUSINESS   PROCEEDINGS.  553 

my  pnvilege  to  rise  m  my  place  this  morning  to  bear  testimony  to  the 
character  of  the  great  man  whom  God  in  His  providence  has  called  away. 
Though  he  lived  in  a  different  State,  though  in  some  of  his  political  views  he 
may  have  differed  from  some  of  the  people  of  our  country,  I  say  this  morning 
that  there  is  one  universal  feeling  of  sorrow  throughout  all  our  land,  at  the 
sad  bereavement  that  has  been  threatened  us  now  for  weeks.  We  try  and 
bow  in  humble  submission  to  the  providence  of  God,  and  pray  that  out  of 
this  evil  some  good  may  come.  I  have  no  doubt  that  tliis  sad  event  will 
draw  the  hearts  of  the  American  people  nearer  and  nearer  together  than  they 
have  been  for  many  months,  and  we  trust  that  under  the  blessing  of  God  this 
sad  bereavement  may  be  improved  to  the  good  of  our  great  country.  I  join 
with  my  friend  who  has  just  taken  his  seat,  and  return  to  our  friends  of 
Great  Britain  and  Canada  our  sincere  thanks  for  the  sympathy  they  have 
expressed  on  this  sad  occasion. 

Rev.  a.  McAulay  (Wesleyan  Methodist)  :  Every  event  has  a  lesson,  and 
when  we  learn  the  lesson  every  event  is  a  blessing ;  but  when  we  have  some 
Btriliing  event  such  as  that  to  which  our  attention  is  called,  we  have  some 
great  lesson  taught ;  and  I  have  no  doubt,  sir,  that  some  gracious  blessing  is 
intended  by  this  sorrowful  and  sad  removal  to  glory  of  one  who  has  been  so 
much  in  om'  mind  to-day.  I  think  it  but  right  to  say  that  some  of  us  are 
conscious  of  having  passed  through  very  similar  exercises  to  what  we  did 
when  the  Prince  of  Wales  lay  week  after  week,  and  his  death  was  daily 
expected,  and  the  prayers  of  the  nation  went  up.  God  heard  their  cry,  and 
some  of  us  w^ere  present  when  in  St.  Paul's  Cathedral  he  entered  amidst  the 
vast  congregation  with  his  beloved  mother  leaning  upon  his  arm,  and  knelt 
down  before  God  to  thank  Him  for  having  restored  him  to  health  again.  In 
our  prayers  some  of  us  loolied  for  some  such  day  again  ;  but  it  has  pleased 
God  to  deal  with  us  not  as  our  hearts  desired,  and  we  reverently  bow  before 
His  mercy-seat  and  ask  that  He  might  overrule  this  event,  and  He  who  directs 
all  things  can  control  all  things  to  bring  out  His  own  glorious  issue.  Our 
prayers  will  not  be  the  less  but  the  more  fervent  for  those  who  survive,  that 
God  should  sustain  them.  When  wandering  through  the  United  States  I  met 
•with  all  classes  of  the  people,  and  nothing  struck  me  with  greater  surprise  than 
the  tender  regard  I  witnessed  amongst  that  great  people  towards  our  beloved 
Queen.  Everywhere  there  was  that  feeling  ;  but  I  am  sure'we  may  state  to 
our  American  brethren  that  we  are  not  conscious  that  we  could  have  felt 
more  deeply  regarding  any  human  being's  existence  than  we  have  done  with 
regard  to  this  President  who  has  been  taken  away.  Oh,  how  we  hoped  he 
would  hve :  but  "  the  Lord  reigneth;  let  the  earth  be  glad."  I  do  not  know 
•whether  the  resolution  is  ample  enough  to  express  all  that  we  feel.  I  thought 
when  we  entered  this  place  that  perhaps  a  resolution  might  be  brougiil  up  to 
the  effect  that  not  only  do  we  feel  for  the  family  but  for  the  nation  that  must 
enter  on  a  new  trial ;  but  God  reigneth.  Whilst  I  support  this  resolution,  I 
take  this  opportunity  of  expressing,  as  far  as  I  am  able,  my  own  deep 
sympathy  with  the  friends  across  the  water.  We  do  not  feel  as  if  there  was 
any  water  now.  There  is  a  deeper  unity,  and  I  believe  this  event  will  tend 
to  intensify  the  unity  we  all  feel,  and  that  God  may,  in  some  way,  be 
glorified  by  the  issue. 

Rev.  Dr.  J.  P.  Newman  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church) :  Our  supreme 
thought  is  centred  upon  the  illustrious  dead,  and  om-  sympathies  and  our 
prayers  go  out  for  the  venerable  mother,  for  that  true  and  noble  wife,  and 


554  BUSINESS  PEOCEEDINGS. 

for  the  children.  Yet  I  rejoice  that  my  brother,  Dr.  Reid,  in  his  prayer  this 
morning,  remembered  the  Vice-Pi"esideiit  of  the  United  States,  who,  in  an 
hour  so  supreme  as  this  in  its  responsibilities,  is  called  to  the  Presidential 
chair  of  our  country.  He  is  my  personal  friend.  I  have  known  him  for 
years  as  the  son  of  a  Baptist  clergyman  and  alumnus  of  one  of  our  first 
colleges,  from  which  he  graduated  with  high  honour.  We  esteem  him  in 
every  sense  as  qualified  both  in  liis  statesmanship  and  personal  character  to 
assume  and  discharge  the  great  duties  that  rest  upon  him.  I  ask,  Mr.  Presi- 
dent, that  among  our  prayers  we  shall  not  forget  liini  in  an  hour  like  this, 
tliat  Divine  wisdom  and  grace  may  be  imparted  to  liim  abundantly  ;  that  he 
may  discharge  the  duties  of  liis  high  office  to  the  good  of  his  country,  to  the 
fellowsliip  of  mankind,  and  to  the  glory  of  God. 

The  resolution  was  unanimously  agreed  to  by  the  whole  audience 
standing  up  silently. 

The  President  announced  that  the  resolution  would  be  im- 
mediately cabled  to  America.  The  minutes  of  the  previous  day's 
proceedings  were  then  read  and  confirmed. 

Kev.  Dr.  J.  P.  Newman  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church) :  In 
relation  to  the  report  as  to  the  closing  service  of  our  Conference,  I 
beg  leave  to  submit  a  resolution,  seconded  by  Mr.  Waddy,  to  the 
effect  that  at  the  conclusion  of  the  prayer-meeting  we  respectfully 
request  the  Rev.  Dr.  Osborn,  President  of  the  British  Wesleyan 
Conference,  to  say  to  us  a  parting  word,  and  that  we  also  request 
the  Eev.  Bishop  Simpson  to  reply  on  behalf  of  the  delegates.  I  may 
say  that  it  was  my  idea  yesterday  to  have  something  of  this  kind, 
and  I  hope  the  resolution  will  meet  with  a  favourable  reception. 

Mr.  S.  D.  Waddy  seconded  the  resolution,  which  was  agreed  to. 

Rev.  Dr.  Crooks  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church)  brought  up  a 
resolution  relating  to  a  suggestion  that  the  second  Sunday  in  June 
of  each  year  be  recommended  by  the  Conference  as  a  children's  day 
all  over  Methodism  in  all  the  bodies  represented  there.  The 
practice,  he  said,  had  been  adopted  in  America  with  great  success, 
and  was  doing  immense  good. 

The  resolution  was  referred  to  the  Business  Committee. 

By  permission  of  the  Conference,  the  time  for  business  having 
expired. 

Bishop  Peck  read  the  Pastoral  Address,  which  had  been  prepared 
by  the  committee  appointed  for  that  purpose. 

Rev.  E.  E.  Jenkins  moved  the  adoption  of  the  address  by  the 
Conference 

Rev.  Dr.  Bennett  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South),  Avhile 
seconding   the    adoption   of  the  address,   thought   it  should   have 


EEV.   AUGUSTUS   C.    GEORGE's  ADDRESS.  555 

referred  to  tlie  question  of  the  division  of  missionary  work  through- 
out the  world,  so  that  money  and  labour  should  not  be  wasted. 

Bishop  Peck  said  that  question  was  now  in  the  hands  of  a 
special  committee,  and  nothing  had  been  said  or  done  which  would 
have 'justified  its  being  dealt  with  in  the  address. 

Eev.  W.  Griffith  (United  ]\Iethodist  Free  Churches)  wished  to 
get  rid  of  one  word  from  the  address  which  might  be  capable  of 
misinterpretation — namely,  the  word  "holy"  in  reference  to  baptism. 
It  was  a  High  Church  term,  and  people  might  have  the  idea  that  it 
implied  the  doctrine  of  regeneration. 

Bishop  Peck  said  it  was  a  doctrine  of  their  Church  that  baptism 
was  a  holy  ordinance,  but  if  it  would  be  more  satisfactory  to  the 
Conference,  he  would  draw  his  pen  through  the  word. 

Several  members  desiring  to  speak  on  ordinary  points  connected 
with  the  address. 

The  President  appealed  to  the  Confei-ence  as  to  whether  it  was 
its  wish  to  proceed  to  the  vote  at  once. 

Rev.  Dr.  Rigg  thought  the  idea  of  discussing  the  address  in  detail 
was  quite  out  of  the  question.  He  felt  that  it  so  expressed  the 
sentiments  of  the  Conference  at  large  that  it  ought  to  be  adopted  at 
once ;  and,  considering  how  large  was  the  representative  committee 
to  which  it  was  entrusted,  if  they  could  not  put  that  sort  of  thing 
into  commission,  they  would  never  get  an  address  that  would 
represent  them. 

Bishop  Simpson  said  he  Avas  personally  very  much  pleased  with 
the  address  ;  but  if  it  was  to  be  of  any  service,  if  they  were  to  have 
a  bond  of  union,  it  would  not  be  amiss,  after  that  discussion,  to 
delay  the  matter  until  the  afternoon  meeting,  so  that  brethren  might 
have  an  opportunity  of  looking  at  the  few  expressions,  if  there  were 
any,  that  troubled  them,  and  would  have  a  little  time  to  converse 
and  reflect.  He  moved  that  the  further  consideration  of  the  address 
be  adjourned  to  the  afternoon  Session. 

The  motion  was  seconded,  and  agreed  to. 

Rev.  Augustus  C.  George,  D.D.  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church), 
read  the  following  essay.  How  Christian  Unity  may  he  Maintained  and 
Increased  Among  Ourselves,  and  made  Manifest  to  the  World. 

This  topic  assumes  the  fact  of  Christian  unity,  the  common  spiritual 
life,  the  brotherhood  of  the  saints,  and  the  supreme  Headship  of  our 
Lord.  It  also  assumes  that  this  oneness  in  Jesus  Christ  is  tlie  founda- 
tion reality  in  church  organisation.     It  follows  that  whatever  promotes 


556  CHRISTIAN   UNITY. 

Christian  unity  ouglit  to  be  cultivated,  and  that  whatever  is  calculated 
to  hinder  it  ought  to  be  avoided.  No  false  standards  must  be  set  up. 
Uniformity  must  not  be  demanded ;  nor  must  it  be  concluded  that 
any  one  is  not  in  Christ  because  he  is  not  with  us.  The  visible  unity 
of  the  Church  exists  because  of  the  invisible  unity,  and  the  invisible 
unity  has  its  origin  and  inspiration  in  Christian  experience.  "  So  we 
being  many,  are  one  body  in  Christ,  and  every  one  members  one  of 
another."  The  direct  mode,  therefore,  to  promote  Christian  unity  is 
to  seek  the  baptism  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  A  Pentecost  settles  a  world  of 
disputes,  opens  blind  eyes,  unstops  deaf  ears,  blends  Christian  testimony 
into  an  harmonious  whole,  shows  the  common  work  to  be  done,  and 
awakens  a  deathless  enthusiasm  for  the  propagation  of  the  Gospel  and 
the  salvation  of  the  world. 

The  increase  and  manifestation  of  Christian  unity  "  among  our- 
selves "  refers,  it  may  be  presumed,  to  the  maintenance  of  proper 
fraternal  relations  between  the  different  branches  of  the  world-wide 
Methodism.  There  are  many  Methodist  organisiitions — I  think  we 
will  agree  that  there  are  too  many — but  there  is  only  one  Methodism, 
The  family  likeness  is  everywhere  observable.  The  differences  are 
many,  but  slight ;  the  agreements  are  fundamental,  of  the  blood  and 
bone,  of  the  heart  and  soul,  of  the  real  substance  of  Divine  truth  and 
the  vital  facts  of  Christian  experience. 

"I  saw  in  Natal,"  says  James  Anthony  Froude,  "  a  colossal  fig-tree. 
It  had  a  central  stem,  but  I  knew  not  where  the  centre  was,  for  the 
branches  bent  to  the  ground,  and  struck  root  there  ;  and  at  each  joint 
a  fresh  trunk  shot  up  erect,  and  threw  out  new  branches  in  turn,  which 
again  arched  and  planted  themselves,  till  the  single  tree  had  become  a 
a  forest,  and  overhead  was  spread  a  vast  dome  of  leaves  and  fruit, 
which  was  supported  on  innumerable  columns,  like  the  roof  of  some 
vast  cathedral."  Mr.  Froude  ap^jlies  this  to  England  and  her  colonies; 
but  I  apply  it  to  Methodism.  We  know  well  enough  where  is  the 
parent  stem,  and  the  remotest  branches  are  proud  of  their  ancestral 
roots  ;  but  the  secondary  growths  are  enormous,  and  they  are  so  many 
that  they  become  a  forest,  and  the  branches  have  taken  root  in  every 
SOU.  and  have  sprung  up  again,  till  they  extend  over  continents  and 
reach  across  seas,  and  the  leaves  of  the  tree  are  for  the  healing  of  the 
nations,  and  millions  find  refreshment  beneath  its  shade  and  are 
feasted  on  its  golden  fruits;  and,  whether  in  the  frozen  north,  or  under- 
neath the  fiery  sun  of  the  troijics,  every  stem  and  branch  and  leaf  have 
a  common  life,  and  draw  their  strength  and  vigour  from  the  same  in- 
destructible root. 

That  this  Christian  and  Methodistic  unity  may  be  maintained  and 
manifested,  we  need  to  observe  these  things  :  1.  We  ought  to  keep 
out  of  each  other's  way,  and  to  remember  that  we  are  in  no  case  rival 
bodies.  It  is  a  needless  sacrifice  of  men  and  money,  of  self-respect 
and  spiritual  energy,  when  two  or  three  Methodist  churches  or  chapels 


REV.   AUGUSTUS   C.    GEORGE'S   ADDRESS.  557 

are  located  by  different  Methodist  organisations  in  the  same  immediate 
neighbourhood,  dividing  resources  which  would  no  more  than  support 
one  minister  and  church  respectably,  engendering  and  fostering 
divisions  for  insuflBcient  and  insignificant  reasons,  and  giving  occasion 
to  the  enemies  of  Christ  and  Prcjtestantism  to  speak  reproachfully. 
These  remarks  cannot  apply  to  large  cities  where  there  is  room  for 
many  workers,  or  to  extended  sections  of  country  where  differences  in 
public  sentiment  may  call  for  different  Methodistic  agencies  or 
organisations ;  but,  even  in  such  cases,  the  principle  should  not  be 
forgotten. 

2.  We  ought  to  help  each  other  to  do  the  Lord's  work  by  union 
meetings  for  the  promotion  of  revivals,  by  contributions  to  each  other's 
great  funded  interests,  by  the  extension  of  patronage  to  each  other's 
schools  when  local  convenience  permits,  and  by  the  exchange  of 
ministers  when  the  cause  of  Christ  can  thereby  be  more  effectually 
promoted. 

3.  We  ought  to  have,  as  soon  and  as  far  as  practicable,  one  hymn- 
book  and  one  order  of  worship  in  all  our  congregations ;  and  one 
ritual  service  for  baptism,  the  Lord's  Supper,  consecration,  and 
ordinations. 

Provision  ought  also  to  be  made  for  the  responsive  reading,  in  all  our 
congregations  and  Sunday-schools,  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  in  carefully 
selected  and  arranged  lessons,  so  as  to  engage  more  fully  all  the  people 
in  the  exercise  of  worship,  make  them  increasingly  familiar  with  the 
words  of  Divine  Inspiration,  and  ground  and  settle  them  in  the  doctrines 
of  the  Gospel  of  the  Son  of  God. 

4.  We  ought  to.be  so  thoroughly  co-operative  in  our  missionary  work 
as  to  furnish  to  a  pagan  and  infidel  world  a  demonstration  of  our 
Christian  love  and  denominational  unity.  The  movement  of  the 
Primitive  Church  in  the  direction  of  the  world's  conversion  was 
arrested  in  its  onward  march  mainly,  to  use  the  words  of  Dr.  Mark 
Hopkins,  *'  through  an  endeavour  to  establish  a  false  and  impossible 
centre  of  unity  on  the  earth  ;"  and  it  is,  as  this  able  scholar  and  pro- 
found thinker  also  observes,  "in  the  balanced  enthusiasm  of  Christian 
missions,  generated  by  objects  of  affection  and  of  effort  corresponding 
to  the  whole  nature  of  man,  tliat  we  find  our  hope  of  Christian  union, 
of  a  higher  style  of  Christian  character,  and  of  a  leavening  of  the 
nations  by  contact  with  a  Christianity  that  has  in  it  a  leavening 
power." 

How  can  the  heathen  world  be  convinced  that  we  are  the  disciples  of 
one  adorable  Lord,  and  that  we  are  all  baptised  with  His  Spirit  ?  How 
can  men  judge  of  experience  except  by  conduct  ?  How  can  they  know 
that  we  have  an  absorbing  love  for  Christ  except  as  we  show  it  to  His 
disciples  ?  What  suflBcient  proof  is  there  of  a  common  life  except  there 
be  coherency,  harmonious  development,  and  corresponding,  if  not 
uniform,  results  ?    We  must  show  to  infidels  and  pagans  that  the  true, 


558  CHRISTIAN   UNITY. 

spiritual  unity  is  not  to  be  demonstrated  by  reverence  for  Pope  or 
Ijrelate,  for  synod  or  convention,  for  conference  or  council,  nor  for  any 
merely  external  form  or  organisation  ;  that  it  is  not  dogmatic,  except 
in  the  fundamental  confession,  "  I  believe  that  Jesus  Christ  is  the  Son 
of  God  ;"  that  it  does  not  depend  on  identity  of  ecclesiastical  polity ; 
and  that  it  may  exist  despite  the  widest  diversity  of  opinions  and 
modes  of  operation.  We  must  convince  them  that  the  proper  visible 
unity  of  the  Christian  Church  is  in  its  worship,  in  its  work  of  charity 
and  evangelisation,  and  in  its  warfare  against  worldHness,  infidelity, 
idolatry,  and  every  species  of  ungodliness.  We  can  only  do  this  by 
a  practical  exhibition  of  that  life  of  love  which  is  at  the  utmost  remove 
from  human  selfishness,  and  which  found  its  supreme  expression  in  the 
person  and  passion  of  the  world's  Redeemer. 

5.  We  must  secure  a  confederation  of  Methodist  Churches  in  aU 
lands.  "  The  substantial  unity  of  Methodism  the  world  over,"  says 
the  London  Methodist  Recorder  in  a  recent  issue,  "is  a  providential 
fact  of  the  profoundest  significance,  pregnant,  probably,  with  the 
grandest  results  in  the  develo^jments  of  the  future  ;  and  the  day  that 
should  witness  the  recognised  oneness  of  all  the  Methodist  Churches, 
not  in  organic  union,  but  in  fraternal  alliance  and  confederation, 
would  be  one  of  the  brightest  that  has  ever  dawned  upon  the  earth." 
There  can  be  no  doubt  of  it ;  for  when  the  world-wide  Methodism 
becomes  not  only  a  consulting  but  also  a  confederated  Methodism,  a 
long  step  will  be  taken  toward  an  effective  answer  to  our  Saviour's 
high-priestly  prayer  for  the  visible  oneness  of  His  disciples  on  the 
earth.  Everything  which  looks  toward  this  consummation  is  a 
morning  beam  of  the  millennial  glory,  and  ought  to  be  hailed  with  the 
greatest  satisfaction.  The  specific  need  of  Christianity  is  not  a  mani- 
fest organic  oneness,  but  a  catholicity  of  spirit  in  all  the  followers  of 
the  Lord  Jesus,  and  a  confederation  of  Churches  for  the  great  work  of 
the  world's  evangelisation.  When  Mr.  Wesley  said,  "  I  desire  to  have 
a  league,  offensive  and  defensive,  with  every  soldier  of  Christ,"  he 
expressed  what  must  be  the  relation  of  the  Churches  before  the 
incoming  of  the  new  earth  and  heaven. 

Protestantism  acknowledges  no  rightful  supremacy  in  spiritual 
things,  but  that  which  is  in  CMst,  which  is  taught  in  the  Scriptures, 
and  which  the  Holy  Spirit  makes  plain  to  all  truly  regenerated  souls. 
But  a  confederation — a  republic  of  Churches — which  would  express  to 
the  world  the  spiritual  unity  that  really  exists,  would  be  of  incalculable 
service  to  the  Redeemer's  cause.  It  would  be  a  league  for  liberty 
and  not  for  power.  It  would  be  the  gathering  of  scattered  rays  so 
as  to  produce  a  central  sun.  It  would  be  a  demonstration  of  the 
fact  that  all  Christ's  people  belong  to  one  spiritual  commonwealth, 
that  they  have  one  recognised  Head,  that  they  all  possess  the  graces 
of  the  same  Holy  Spirit,  and  that  they  are  all  engaged  in  kindred 
work  on  the  earth.     But  before  we  can  Lave  a  republic  of  Churches, 


REV.   AUGUSTUS  C.   GEORGE'S   ADDRESS.  559 

broad  as  Protestant  Cbristendom,  we  must  have  denominational 
fellowship;  and  our  scattered  forces,  if  not  united,  must  at  least  be 
harmonised.  We  must  act  in  loving  c«ncert,  not  only  in  mission- 
fields,  but  where  the  strife  of  separate  organisations  has  been  the 
hottest.  It  is  not  essential  that  we  become  organically  united,  nor  is 
it  desirable  in  every  instance ;  but  it  is  important  that  we  have 
spiritual  communion,  and  that  our  fraternity  be,  in  some  way,  embodied 
and  emblazoned  before  the  eyes  of  men. 

That  Methodist  organisations  have  been  multiplied  beyond  reason 
or  utility  will  not,  I  think,  be  disputed.  I  do  not  arraign  the  motives  of 
those  who  originated  these  independent  movements.  In  many  instances, 
certainly,  they  were  earnest  and  godly  men,  and,  without  doubt,  acted 
conscientiously,  and  with  a  hope  to  promote  the  kingdom  and  the  glory 
of  Jesus  Christ.  But  the  conditions  and  circumstances  have  changed, 
and  these  changed  conditions  and  circumstances  ought  now  to  be 
taken  into  consideration.  The  multiplicity  of  sects  and  of  independent 
organisations  is  emphatically  the  weak  point  in  Protestantism,  and 
especially  in  Methodism.  This  has  been  so  clearly  discerned,  that 
the  tendency,  at  the  present  time,  is  toward  union  and  confederation  ; 
and  the  proceedings  in  the  direction  of  an  (Ecumenical  Conference 
have  unquestionably  increased  this  tendency  among  ourselves.  Dif- 
ferent ecclesiastical  bodies,  holding  the  same  faith,  and  having 
substantially  the  same  usages,  ought  certainly  to  be  friendly  and 
co-operative,  and  not  rival,  competing,  and  antagonistic  organisations. 

I  can  mention  a  city,  or  village,  of  less  than  ten  thousand  inhabit- 
ants, in  which  there  are  a  Methodist  Episcopal  church,  a  Methodist 
Episcopal  church.  South,  a  United  Brethren  church,  a  Methodist  Pro- 
testant church,  and  an  American  Wesleyan  church,  with  the  necessary 
outfit  of  pastors,  presiding  elders,  bishops,  and  Conference  presidents  ; 
and  recently  the  Free  Methodists  have  also  attempted  to  secure  a 
foothold.  This  is  in  the  United  States ;  but  is  there  nothing  like  it  in 
Canada,  in  Australia,  or  within  a  day's  journey  of  City  Eoad  and  the 
ashes  of  Wesley  ?  It  is  thus  that  the  strength  and  resources  of  a 
common  Methodism  are  divided  and  frittered  away.  Who  will  answer 
in  the  great  and  terrible  day  of  the  Lord  for  this  waste  and  wickedness  ? 

It  is  matter  of  congratulation  and  hope  that  the  Wesleyan  Methodists 
and  the  New  Connexion  Methodists  in  the  Dominion  of  Canada  have 
united  to  form  "  the  Methodist  Church  of  Canada ; "  that  a  similar 
work  of  consolidation  has  been  accomplished  in  Ireland,  and  that  the 
different  Methodist  bodies  in  Australasia  have  taken  important  steps 
in  the  direction  of  organic  union.  But  great  as  is  the  need  that  there 
should  be  fewer  Methodist  bodies— and  this  need  will  be  generally 
recognised — the  necessity  is  still  greater  that  amongst  all  Methodists 
there  should  be  fraternity  and  confederation.  The  way  to  this  desi- 
rable result  seems  to  be  plainly  indicated  in  the  preliminary  steps  which 
led  to  the  convening  of  this  (Ecumenical  Conference.    There  have  been, 


560  CHRISTIAN   UNITY. 

within  certain  limits  and  for  given  purposes,  a  representation  and  co- 
operation of  the  different  Methodist  organisations  of  all  lands.  There 
have  heen  created  independent  synodical  bodies,  which  have  acted 
together,  in  perfect  harmony,  to  accomplish  the  ends  for  which  they 
were  established.  The  British  Wesleyan  Conference  and  its  affiliated 
conferences  constitute  one  division  in  the  arrangements  for  the  creation 
and  government  of  this  Council.  The  Primitive  Methodists,  the  New 
Connexion  Methodists,  the  United  Free  Methodists,  and,  perhaps, 
others,  equally  primitive  and  equally  free,  have  united  together  to 
form  another  grand  division.  May  they  remain  united,  and  by  their 
combination  prove  their  power  and  increase  their  usefulness  I  In  like 
manner  in  the  United  States  and  in  the  Dominion  of  Canada,  the  Epis- 
copal Methodist  Churches  and  the  non-Episcopal  Methodist  Churches, 
have  been  respectively  united,  and  organised  for  representation  in  this 
great  convocation  of  Methodism.  Each  of  these  four  divisions,  includ- 
ing the  Eastern  and  Western  Sections,  has  had  its  chosen  members  of 
the  Business  Committee,  its  secretary  of  this  body,  and  its  representa- 
tive in  the  Presidency  on  successive  days  of  the  session  of  this  Confer- 
ence. If  these  committees  could  be  enlarged  and  continued,  without 
executive  power  or  legislative  authority,  but  charged  with  the  duty  of 
consultation  and  advisory  supervision  of  all  Methodist  interests,  what 
occasions  for  differences  they  might  remove,  and  what  blessed  impulses 
they  might  impart  to  our  one  mighty,  matchless,  majestic  Methodism ! 

6.  For  the  crowning  consummation  of  manifest  Methodist  unity  we 
must  have,  at  least  once  in  a  decade,  and  twice  would  be  better,  an 
(Ecumenical  Conference,  assembled  in  some  one  of  the  great  capitals 
of  the  world,  and  representing  all  Methodist  bodies  and  interests,  at 
which  the  hundreds  and  thousands  of  delegates  and  visitors  shall  clasp 
hands  and  join  hearts,  counsel  together  and  pray  together,  for  the 
extension  and  triumph  of  the  Redeemer's  kingdom. 

If  Methodism,  meanwhile,  in  the  British  Empire,  and  in  the  United 
States,  and  in  other  lands,  will  confederate  together  in  a  holy  league, 
and,  forgetting  all  the  differences  and  contentious  of  other  days,  unite 
to  spread  Scriptural  holiness  and  to  call  sinners  to  repentance,  it  will 
become,  to  an  extent  not  yet  realised,  a  great,  growing,  and  recognised 
power  in  the  earth.  A  confederated  Methodism — a  solemn  covenant  to 
stand  together  for  our  doctrines,  usages,  work,  worship,  and  warfare — 
would,  doubtless,  be  tlie  longest  step  yet  taken  towards  Protestant 
unity  in  all  Christendom,  for  the  overthrow  of  papal  and  pagan 
despotism  and  superstition,  and  the  triumph  of  the  Gospel  in  all  the 
earth.  "  Confederation  "  from  this  time  forward  should  be  the  watch- 
word of  Methodism.  Different  Methodist  bodies  must  continue  to 
exist,  though  we  may  hope  that  their  number  will  be  decreased ;  but 
they  may  be  leagued  together,  they  may  arbitrate  and  settle  their 
diflferences,  and  they  may  be  represented  in  a  supreme  advisory 
council,  through  which  all  their   operations  can  be  harmonised  and 


REV.    WM.    cocker's   ADDRESS.  561 

unified.  We  have  as  separate  bodies  our  distinctive  ^vork  to  do ;  but 
as  different  divisions  of  one  great  army  we  may  naove  forward,  in 
harmonious  step,  to  the  grand  end  of  the  world's  subjugation.  The 
chief  thing  needed  is  the  spirit  of  fraternity,  the  hfe  and  love  of 
Jesus,  and  a  constant  conviction  that  Methodism,  however  organised 
or  distinguished,  is  a  unity,  and  has  one  and  the  same  work  to 
accomplish.  To  use  Dr.  McFerrin's  word,  caught  from  the  lips  of  a 
dying  minister,  "We  are  a  band  of  brothers  everywhere;"  but  we 
need  those  practical  adjustments  which  will  demonstrate  our  fra- 
ternity, and  harmonise  and  develop  our  common  denominational  life. 
May  this  first  Methodist  Ecumenical  Conference  hasten  the  hour  of 
the  grand  consummation  1 

Eev.  William  Cocker,  D.D.  (Methodist  New  Connexion  Church 
of  Great  Britain),  in  delivering  the  invited  address,  said:  The  first 
thing  necessary  to  the  promution  of  Christian  union  is  a  grateful  and 
joyful  recognition  of  that  vital  unity  of  the  Church  which  exists 
independently  of  aU  ecclesiastical  organisations  and  pJl  outward  forms 
— the  li\dng  unity  of  that  si^iritual  Church  which  is  the  Body  of  Christ. 
This  unity  lies  deeper  than  our  denominational  distinctions,  and  may 
co-exist  with  many  intellectual  differences,  and  even  with  many  doc- 
trinal divergencies,  providing  the  essentials  of  the  Gospel  are  truly 
believed.  The  basis  of  this  unity  is  life  in  Christ,  and  the  bond  of  that 
fellowship  to  which  it  leads  is  love.  So  that  when  we  speak  of  Chris- 
tian union  being  "maintained  and  made  manifest,"  we  mean  that  all 
who  bear  the  name  of  Jesus  should  cultivate  and  exemplify  the  sj^irit 
of  this  unity,  which  is  the  spirit  of  brotherly  love.  That  invisible  one- 
ness, which  is  the  natural  result  of  our  common  relation  to  Christ  as 
believers,  is  intended  to  have  its  outward  and  visible  sign,  and  this 
sign  is  mutual  love  manifesting  itseH  in  such  ways  as  may  be  available 
to  us.  This  love  is  the  gift  of  God,  and,  hke  all  His  gifts,  it  has  its 
proportionate  responsibility.  As  the  recij)ients  of  this  precious  gift,  it 
devolves  upon  us  to  be  its  worthy  representatives.  It  is  the  badge  of 
oiu'  discipleship,  and  by  making  it  conspicuous  we  become  witnesses 
for  God,  giving  evidence,  by  our  love  to  one  another,  of  His  wondrous 
love  to  us.  How  this  fraternal  love  should  be  made  manifest  is  a 
question  that  admits  of  various  answers.  It  may  be  manifested  with- 
out that  external  uniformity  which  some  Christian  men  are  so  intensely 
anxious  to  secure.  As  there  may  be  uniformity  without  real  union,  so 
there  may  be  real  and  evident  unity  without  uniformity.  Uniformity 
is  sometimes  the  result  of  dishonourable  compromises,  and  in  such 
cases  it  is  a  delusion  and  a  snare ;  or  it  may  be  imposed  by  the  forces 
of  law,  and  then  it  reminds  one  of  the  union  jn-oduced  by  the  rigorous 
frost  when  it  holds  in  its  icy  grip  the  most  heterogeneous  things.  Our 
brotherly  love  may  be  sufficiently  indicated  in  the  midst  of  our  differ- 
ences.    Those  great  facts  and  truths  of  the  Gospel  which  we  aU  believe, 

O  0 


662  CHRISTIAN   UNITY. 

and  those  glorious  purjjoses  of  the  Gospel  which  we  are  all  seeking  to 
accomplish,  are  immeasurably  superior  to  the  things   on  which  we 
differ,  and  if  they  are  allowed  to  have  their  proper  influences  on  our 
hearts  and  Uves,  they  will  become  the  grounds  and  motives  of  friendly 
intercourse  and  cordial   co  operation ;  so  that  we   shall,  despite   our 
differences,  demonstrate  that  we  are  one  in  spirit  and  one  in  purpose, 
because  one  in  Christ.     Let  me  further  say,  that  whilst  we  cherish 
mutual  esteem,  notwithstanding  our  differences,  we  should  learn  to 
esteem  one  another  even  because  of  these  differences  when  we  have 
reason  to  believe  that  they  have  their  origin  in  conscientious  convic- 
tions.    Those  good,  easy  souls  to  whom  all  things  ajipear  about  the 
same,  and  those  self-indulgent  ones  in  whose  eyes  those  things  are 
the  fairest   and  the   best  which   are,  on  the  whole,   most  comfort- 
able,  are   certainly   not  more    entitled  to    our    admiration   and  our 
Christian  love,  than  those  who  are  willing  to  submit  to  social  dis- 
paragement,   and    to    temporal    loss,   rather    than    sell    what    they 
believe   to  be    the    truth,    and    sacrifice    a    good    conscience  !      Nor 
■will  our  love  be  so  striking  or  so  influential  when  shown  towards  a 
brother  who  sees  eye  to  eye  with  us,  as  when  exercised  towards  those 
who  may  honestly  differ  from  us  in  some  things.     An  unbeliever  can 
easily  see  through  a  hollow,  lieartless  uniformity,  but  when  he  sees 
Christian  men  earnestly  contending  for  their  own  particular  views,  and 
yet  showing  towards  one  another  a  spirit  of  brotherly  love,  he  feels  that 
by   such   an   admirable    combination    of    conscientiousness    and  for- 
bearance, of  truth  and  charity,  he  is  compelled  to  acknowledge  the 
excellence  of  the  principles  and  motives  by  which  they  are  actuated. 
One  thing  is  quite  certain,  sir,  viz.,  that  Christian  union  is  not  to  be 
promoted  by  speaking  reproachfully,  or  even  slightingly,  of  one  another's 
convictions,  or  of  those  peculiarities  of  Church  polity  which  are  the 
results  of  those  convictions.     It  will  help  to  save  us  from  this  evil  if 
we  remember  that  every  mind  has  its  peculiar  modification,  and  that 
the  same  truths,  acting  upon  these  diversities  of  mental  surface,  may 
appear  under  different  aspects,  as  the  colourless  light  is  reflected  with 
various  hues  from  the  different  plants  and  flowers  on  which  it  shines. 
Even  the   supernatural  gifts   of  the  apostles  did  not  overrule  their 
natural  characteristics.     With  the  light  and  fire  of  Divine  inspiration 
dwelling  in  them,  Paul  and  John  widely  differed,  and  presented  the 
new  life  of  which  they  were  both  partakers  in  very  different  ways. 
And  so  all  the  members  of  God's  household  may  have  their  distinguish- 
ing features,  whilst  the  family  likeness  is  seen  in  all,  and  the  true 
family  love  and  interest  are  exemplified  by  all.     We  shall  all  be  agreed 
in  this,  that  one  of  the  deadliest  evils  that  has  befallen  the  Church  is 
to  be  found  in  that  spirit  of  party  animosity  and  angry  strife  which 
has  from  time  to  time  sprung  up  amongst  professing  Christians.     It  has 
exhibited  the  religion  of  Jesus  as  a  spirit  of  fierce  intolerance   and 
fiery  persecution,  instead  of  the  gentlest  and  most  genial,  the  purest 


GENERAL  REMAEKS.  668 

aud  noblest  spirit  that  liumanity  can  enshrine.  Rchgion  thns  presented 
is  glorious  no  longer,  its  beauty  is  overshadowed,  the  halo-  of  Divinity 
disappears,  and  instead  of  the  attraction  of  love,  there  is  the  repulsion 
of  selfishness.  On  the  other  hand,  "  How  good  and  how  pleasant  a 
thing  "  has  been  the  spirit  of  Christian  unity  1  It  has  been  as  precious 
ointment  poured  forth,  delighting  by  its  fragrance,  and  as  the  dews  that 
sparkle  in  the  morning  light,  at  once  adorning  and  refreshing,  spreading 
new  life  and  loveliness  all  around. 

Ef.v.  Dr.  Tiffany  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church)  said  :  Organic  unity, 
if  .t  were  attainable,  would  not  be  found  flexible  enough  in  practice  for  a 
Providential  Church,  Avhich  must  enter  every  open  door,  and  adapt  its 
agencies  to  meet  every  pressing  emergency.  But  unison  in  movement, 
aud  agreement  in  spirit,  are  certainly  within  our  reach.  These  will  bring 
us  into  as  close  co-operative  sympathy  as  exists  in  families  where  brothers 
may  be  unlike  in  form  and  size  and  speech  and  habits  of  thought,  and  at 
the  same  time  good  sons  and  loyal  to  each  other.  The  races  and  tribes  of 
men  differ  in  phj^sical  appearance,  habits,  and  character  ;  in  intellectual 
culture  and  condition  ;  in  moral  standards  and  attainments  ;  and  yet  in  each 
and  all  of  them  there  is  an  unmistakable  humanness  ;  separating  from  all 
otlier  creatures  and  linking  them  togetlier  as  men.  So  in  all  converted  and 
sanctified  men  there  is  an  element  of  Godlikcness,  which  separates  from 
the  woi'ld,  and  expresses  unity  in  disciplcship.  Tliis  essential  underlying 
unit}^  is  recognised  by  the  fundamental  law  of  Christ's  kingdom.  -Sym- 
pathy with  God  develops  sympathy  with  godly  men,  and  so  we  come  to 
"  know  that  we  have  passed  from  death  unto  life,  because  we  love  the 
brethren."  Fraternal  love  is  thus  both  the  guarantee  and  test  of  conver- 
sion. By  a  principle  of  spiritual  selection,  association  to  God  brings  men 
into  sympathetic  relations  with  each  otlier.  So  that  underneath  the 
difi'erentials  of  creed  and  form  there  is  an  integral  and  binding  principle  of 
life.  The  moment  the  human  heart  realises  spiritual  libertj^  it  seeks  the 
society  of  free  men.  Blood  is  always  thicker  than  water,  and  yet  men  of 
the  same  ancestry  have  crossed  swords  ;  but  the  blood  by  which  all  are 
redeemed  forms  a  union  which  is  never  to  be  broken.  When,  therefore, 
the  tie  that  binds  us  to  Christ  shall  influence  us  more  than  the  differences 
wliich  part  us  from  each  other,  we  shall  realise  unity  and  catholicity  ;  for 
universal  union  there  must  be  universal  love  ;  for  universal  love  there  must 
be  supreme  regard  for  Christ ;  and  the  recognition  of  one  body  with  many 
members,  one  spirit  through  many  creeds,  one  God  and  Father  of  all  who 
is  above  all,  and  through  all,  and  in  you  all.  Just  in  proportion  as  love 
for  -Christ  is  supreme,  love  for  each  other  will  be  manifest.  The  two  great 
commandments  are  co-ordinated  ;  love  to  God  is  tested  and  expressed  by 
loving  our  neighbour  as  ourselves.  If  the  churches  had  remembered  this, 
and  acted  upon  it,  the  effect  would  have  been  incalculable,  not  only  on  the 
Church  but  on  the  world.  Christ  prayed  that  His  disciples  "  might  be 
one,"  in  order  to  the  convincing  of  tlie  world,  "  that  the  world  may  believe 
that  Thou  hast  sent  Me."  And  the  conversion  of  men  is  hastened  by  each 
step  towards  Christian  union.  The  world  counts  separation  antagonism, 
failing  to  see  tlie  inter-communicating  links  which  bind  us  to  each  other. 
It  cannot  see  the  relation  of  the  subordinated  denomination  to  the  universal 
Church  ;  it  does  not  distinguish  between  the  infinite  dignity  of  the  rock  of 
ages,  and  the  temporary  homes  men  build  upon  its  giant  breast.  But  we 
must  show  and  prove  to  them,  and  convince  them,  that  tabernacles  for 
Moses  and  for  Elias  do  not  diminish  the  infinite  glory  of  the  transfigured 
Christ.     This  we  can  do  more  surely  by  manifesting  the  spirit  of  Christ  in 

002 


564  CHRISTIAN   UNITY. 

our  separate  organisations  than  by  consolidations  and  absorptions,  and  the 
spirit  of  love,  shall  prove  the  unity  of  the  churches.  Thus  might  there  be 
a  revival  of  the  spirit  and  practice  of  the  primitive  New  Testament 
Church.  Schools,  colleges,  and  libraries  might  be  free  to  all;  pulpits,  be 
open  to  all  ;  hospitality,  as  at  this  Conference,  be  extended  to  all.  One 
Methodism  might  pour  its  accumulated  treasure  into  the  working  hands  of 
another  Methodism  gifted  with  opportunity,  and  the  world  be  made  to 
rejoice  by  the  cessation  of  emulations  and  of  rivalries,  in  the  practical 
blending  of  "all  things  in  common."  A  Methodist  from  Europe  might 
meet  one  from  America  in  Asia,  Africa,  or  Australia,  and  the  only  shibboleth 
of  recognition  be,  "  If  thy  heart  be  as  my  heart,  give  me  thy  hand."  This 
would  be  practical  union  maintaining  the  validity  of  the  existing  Churches, 
but  enlarging  the  scope  of  their  influence  as  hand-in-hand  they  comjaass 
the  world — their  "  parish.'* 

Eev.  J.  Myers  (United  Methodist  Free  Churclies)  read  the 
following  essay  on  The  Catholicity  of  Methodism. 

The  term  Methodism  represents  that  revival  of  Protestant  evan- 
gelical religion  which  began  at  an  early  part  of  the  last  century  under 
the  Wesleys  and  Whitefield,  and  has  been  continued  to  the  j)resent 
time,  chiefly  by  the  several  Christian  denominations  that  bear  its 
name.  The  term  catholic  is  used  in  the  senses  in  which  it  is  usually 
understood,  namely,  "  universal  and  general,  liberal  and  free  from 
bigotry.''  In  all  these  senses  Methodism  may  be  defined  as 
"  Christianity  in  its  catholicity."  This  is  evident  from  every  con- 
sideration that  bears  upon  the  subject. 

I.  It  is  evident  from  the  area  it  seeks  to  cover  with  its  operations. 
"The  field  is  the  world,"  said  Jesus  Christ.  "The  world  is  my 
parish,"  said  John  Wesley  ;  and  the  ever-widening  circuit  of  his  labours, 
and  of  the  labours  of  bis  helpers  and  of  their  successors  in  the  British 
Isles  and  colonies,  on  all  the  continents  of  the  land,  and  on  many 
islands  of  the  sea,  as  they  press  on  ever  nearer  to  the  ends  of  the  earth, 
is  a  sufBcient  exposition  of  the  meaning  and  truth  of  his  words.  "The 
playful  remark  of  an  outside  critic,  that  he  was  sure  the  moon  was  not 
inhabited,  or  the  Methodists  would  have  already  been  there  with  the 
Gospel,  may  serve  as  an  indication  that  the  Christian  world  under- 
stands and  believes  that  the  world,  the  entire  round  globe,  is  the  parish 
of  Methodism. 

II.  The  same  truth  is  evident  in  the  free  and  full  offer  of  salvation 
which  she  makes  to  every  human  being  who  comes  within  her  reach. 
The  Gospel  is,  "  There  is  no  difference ;  God  hath  made  of  one  blood 
all  nations  of  men,  for  to  dwell  on  all  the  face  of  the  earth.  All  have 
sinned,  and  come  short  of  the  glory  of  God,"  Therefore  "  the  Scrip- 
ture hath  concluded  all  under  sin  ;  "  but  "  God  so  loved  the  world  that 
He  gave  His  only  begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  in  Him 
should  not  perish,  but  have  everlasting  life."  And  "  This  is  a  faithful 
saying,  and  worthy  of  all  acceptation,  that  Christ  Jesus  came  into  the 
world  to  save  sinners."     "  He  that  believeth  on  the  Son  hath  ever- 


REV.    J.    MYERS'S  ADDRESS.  •     565 

lasting  life  ;  lie  that  believetli  not  on  tlie  Son  shall  not  see  life  ;  but  the 
wrath  of  God  ahideth  upon  him."  And  her  commission  is,  "Go  ye 
into  all  the  world  and  preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature.  He  that 
believetli  and  is  baptised  shall  be  saved ;  he  that  believeth  not  shall  be 
damned."  In  the  execution  of  this  commission,  "  Go,"  said  John 
Wesley,  "  not  only  to  those  who  need  you  " — to  sinners  in  common — 
"  but  to  those  who  need  you  most,"  or  who,  being  the  most  sin-sick, 
have  the  greatest  need  of  the  Physician.  In  obeying  these  injunctions 
there  has  been  neither  variation  nor  uncertainty  in  the  message  of 
Methodism.  As  the  apostle  Peter  o};)ened  the  kingdom  of  God  to  the 
Gentiles  with  the  words,  "  Of  a  truth  I  perceive  there  is  no  respect  of 
j)ersons  with  God,"  so  in  carrying  the  glad  tidings  of  that  kingdom  to 
the  entire  Gentile  race  there  has  been  no  respect  of  persons  with  the 
followers  of  John  Wesley.  Wherever  their  voice  has  been  heard  it  has 
rung  out  with  clarion  clearness  and  strength,  "  God,  who  would  have 
all  men  to  be  saved  and  to  come  to  a  knowledge  of  the  truth,"  "  Now 
commandeth  all  men  everywhere  to  repent,"  and  "It  shall  come  to 
pass  that  whosoever  shall  call  upon  the  name  of  the  Lord  shall  be 
saved."  And  when  we  consider  the  views  which  prevailed  on  these 
subjects  throughout  the  Protestant  Christian  world  when  Methodism 
began  her  missions,  and  the  fierce  and  fiery  opposition  which  the  pro- 
clamation of  a  free  salvation  to  every  creature  evoked  from  many  of 
the  best  men  of  the  time,  it  is  difficult  to  conceive  what  more 
conclusive  evidence  could  be  given  either  of  the  soundness  of  the  doc- 
trines preached,  or  of  the  success  of  the  preaching,  than  is  furnished  by 
these  doctrines  being  now  all  but  universally  received  by  all  Churches, 
and  i^reached  in  nearly  all  pulpits. 

III.  This  catholicity  is  further  evidenced  in  the  method  by  which 
she  admits  persons  to  her  fellowship.  It  has  been  to  some  good  men  a 
thing  so  objectionable  that  they  could  not  rest  until  they  had  delivered 
their  souls,  that  persons  should  be  admitted  into  the  Church  of  Jesus 
Christ  on  the  simple  grounds  of  "  a  desire  to  save  their  souls,  aud  flee 
from  the  wrath  to  come,"  even  when  such  desires  were  evidenced  by  the 
plainest  proofs  of  a  reformed  life,  as  required  by  Methodist  rules ;  but 
Methodism  in  the  simplicity  of  her  spirit  has  always  considered  it  best 
to  ask  no  more  of  beginners  in.  the  service  of  Christ  than  that  they 
should  begin  ;  and  that  it  was  her  dutj'  to  take  them  by  the  hand  as 
they  began,  and  in  true  apostolic  style  "  add  to  the  Church  such  as 
should  be  saved,"  or  as  were  on  the  way  to  be  saved  ;  and  under  the 
influence  of  her  catholicity  she  has  also  deemed  it  wisest  to  ask  no 
more  of  ignorant  sinful  man  in  his  first  step  towards  reformation  than 
he  can  render,  in  accordance  with  the  apostolic  law,  "  where  there  is 
first  a  willing  mind,  it  is  accepted  according  to  that  which  a  man 
hath,  and  not  according  to  that  which  he  hath  not." 

But  these  terms  of  Methodist  Christian  fellowship  have,  and  were 
intended  by  Mr.  Wesley  to  have,  the  wider  signification  of  teaching  the 


5C6  CHRISTIAN   UNITY. 

world  at  large  tlie  all-embracing  catholicity  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ, 
and  of  making  the  Methodist  society  as  large-hearted,  simple,  and  free 
in  its  action  as  Christianity  is,  and  so  render  the  way  to  Christ  and  to 
His  salvation  so  plain  and  clear,  that  "  the  wayfaring  man,  though 
a  fool,  need  not  err  therein  ;  "  and  to  write  this  in  characters  so  large 
and  legible  that  he  who  is  in  too  great  a  hurry  in  the  strife  and  bustle 
of  this  world  to  pause  to  read  it,  may  read  it  as  he  runs.  As  Mr. 
Wesley  said,  "There  is  no  other  religious  society  under 'heaven  that 
requires  nothing  of  men  in  order  to  their  admission  into  it,  but  a  desire 
to  save  their  souls.  Look  all  around  you.  You  cannot  be  admitted 
into  the  Church  or  society  of  the  Presbyterians,  or  Anabaptists, 
Quakers,  or  any  others,  unless  you  hold  the  same  opinions  as  they, 
and  adhere  to  the  same  forms  of  worship.  The  Methodists  alone  do 
not  insist  on  your  holding  this  or  that  opinion ;  I  do  not  know  any 
other  rehgious  society,  either  ancient  or  modern,  wherein  such  liberty 
of  conscience  is  now  allowed  or  has  been  allowed  since  the  age  of  the 
apostles.  Here  is  our  glorying,  and  a  glorying  peculiar  to  us  !  What 
society  shares  it  with  us  ?  "  On  another  occasion  Mr.  Wesley  said  on 
the  same  subject,  "  One  cii'cumstance  is  quite  peculiar  to  the  people 
called  Methodists  ;  that  is,  the  terms  on  which  any  person  may  be 
admitted  into  their  society.  They  do  not  impose  in  order  to  their 
admission  any  opinion  whatever.  Let  them  hold  peculiar  or  general 
redemption,  absolute  or  conditional  decrees :  they  think  and  let  think. 
One  condition,  and  one  only,  is  required — a  real  desire  to  save  theii 
souls.  Where  this  is  it  is  enough  ;  they  desire  no  more.  Is  there  any 
other  society  in  Great  Britain  or  Ireland  that  is  so  remote  from 
bigotry  ?  so  truly  of  a  catholic  spirit  ?  so  ready  to  admit  all  serious 
persons  without  distinction  ?  Where  is  there  such  another  society  in 
Europe  ?  in  the  habitable  world  ?  I  know  none.  Let  any  man  show  it 
me  that  can !  Till  then,  let  no  one  talk  of  the  bigotry  of  the 
Methodists."  These  original  terms  of  admission  into  the  Methodist 
society  are  the  terms  of  admission  still.  In  this  we  have  not  mended 
our  rules,  but  kept  them ;  hence  the  glorying  of  Mr.  Wesley  remains 
our  glorying.  We  have  a  faith,  and  we  know  what  we  believe  ;  but  we 
do  not  trouble  therewith  those  whose  sole  concern  is  "to  save  their 
souls  and  flee  from  the  wrath  to  come,"  but  deem  it  our  first  duty  to 
point  them  "to  the  Lamb  of  God  who  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the 
world." 

IV.  This  catholicity  is  also  evidenced  in  the  equal  right  she  assures 
to  every  one  who  receives  her  message  of  salvation,  to  "  the  fulness 
of  the  blessings  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ."  "  All  are  yours,"  said  the 
apostle  to  the  Church,  "  and  ye  are  Christ's,  and  Christ  is  God's."  So 
the  message  of  Methodism  to  every  child  of  grace,  without  respect  to 
difference  in  mind,  in  manners,  or  in  morals,  or  what  else,  is,  "all  are 
yours."  As  penitent  believers  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  "  the  know- 
ledge of  salvation  by  the  remission  of  «ins "  is  yours ;  "  the  love  of 


1  REV.   J.   MYERS'S   ADDRESS.  567 

God  shed  abroad  in  our  hearts  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  which  is  given  nnto 
us,"  is  yours.  "The  Spirit  itself  beareth  witness  with  our  spirit  that 
we  are  the  children  of  God,  and  if  children,  then  heirs,  heirs  of  God 
and  joint  heirs  with  Christ ;  if  so  be  that  we  suffer  with  Him,  that  we 
might  be  also  glorified  together,"  is  j^ours.  "  Having,  therefore, 
brethren,  boldness  to  enter  into  the  holiest  by  the  blood  of  Jesus,  by 
a  new  and  living  way  which  He  hath  consecrated  for  us  through  the 
veil,  that  is  to  say,  His  flesh,"  there  to  have  "fellowship  with  the 
Father,  and  with  His  Son  Jesus  Christ,"  is  yours.  And  the  "  hope  of 
eternal  life,  which  God,  who  cannot  lie,  promised  before  the  world 
began,"  is  yours.  Before  the  days  of  INIethodism,  the  best  teaching  of 
the  Church  limited  the  enjoyment  of  these  spiritual  blessings  to  a 
favoured  few,  who  had  the  supposed  necessary  learning  and  leisure  to 
reach  them;  but  now,  thanks  again  to  the  soundness  of  the  doctrines 
taught,  as  well  as  to  the  success  of  the  agency  which  has  taught  them, 
it  is  not  only  known  in  all  the  cottage  and  other  homes  of  Methodism, 
but  it  is  also  known  and  taught  in  almost  all  the  Churches  of  evan- 
gelical Christendom,  that  "all  spiritual  blessings  in  heavenly  places  in 
Christ  Jesus"  are  at  the  command  of  the  penitent  faith  of  every 
member  of  the  human  race.  "For  as  many  as  received  Him,  to  tlietn 
gave  He  power  to  become  the  sons  of  God,  even  to  them  that  believed 
on  His  name." 

V.  The  catholicity  of  Methodism  is  further  evidenced  in  the  equal 
obligation  she  places  upon  every  one  who  has  "  put  on  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,"  to  "go  work  in  (His)  vineyard,"  according  " to  their  several 
ability."  "  Tliis  is  that  which  was  spoken  by  the  projjhet  Joel,  It  shall 
come  to  pass  in  the  last  days,  saith  God,  that  I  will  pour  out  My  Sphit 
upon  all  flesh  ;  and  your  sons  and  your  daughters  shall  prophesy  ;  and 
your  young  men  shall  see  visions,  and  your  old  men  shall  dream  dreams  ; 
and  on  My  servants  and  on  My  handmaidens,  I  will  pour  out  in  those 
days  of  My  Spirit,  and  they  shall  prophesy."  This  glorious  picture  of 
a  whole  people  at  work  for  God,  under  "  the  ministration  of  the  Spirit," 
in  these  last  days,  Methodism  has  led  the  way  in  presenting  to  the 
world  :  and  the  wondrous  sight  of  her  numerous  and  varied  agencies — 
her  ministers  and  missionaries,  lay  preachers  and  exhorters,  stewards 
and  leaders,  sick  visitors  and  Sunday-school  teachers,  with  many  others 
• — have  often  constrained  lookers  on  to  remark,  sometimes  approvingly, 
and  at  other  times  with  questionable  intentions,  "  These  Methodists  are 
all  at  it,  and  always  at  it."  One  cynic  in  her  early  days  thought  he 
made  a  point  against  her  by  recording  that  she  employed,  in  preaching 
the  Gospel,  "  Cobblers  and  shoemakers,  tinkers  and  braziers,  black- 
smiths and  farriers,  tailors  and  staymakers,  barbers  and  periwig- 
makers,  carpenters  and  joiners,  masons  and  bricklayers,  bakers  and 
butchers,  farmers  and  cowkeepers,  maltsters  and  brewers,  combers  and 
weavers,  plumbers  and  glaziers,  turners  and  cabiuet-makers,  hedgers 
and  ditchers,  threshers  and  thatchers,  coopers  and   basket-makers.'"' 


568  CHRISTIAN   UNITY. 

Some  on  reading  this  list,  and  not  finding  their  own  honourable 
callings,  before  they  became  Methodist  preachers,  mentioned  in  it,  may- 
think  it  incomplete,  and  that  it  might  be  improved  by  adding  them  to 
it ;  but  it  is  clear  that  had  this  gentleman's  notions  prevailed,  Moses 
had  never  left  the  flock  of  Midian  to  deliver  Israel  from  bondage,  David 
would  not  have  left  his  father's  sheep  to  be  the  king  of  his  people,  or 
Elisha  the  plough  to  succeed  the  prophet  Elijah  ;  that  Matthew  would 
have  remained  a  publican,  and  Peter  a  fisherman ;  that  Bunyan  would 
have  continued  a  tinker,  and  Carey  a  cobbler  ;  and  so  with  thousands 
of  others  "  of  whom  the  world  is  not  worthy."  Yet  the  objection  only 
illustrates  the  truth,  that  Methodism  not  only  calls  upon  all  who  par- 
ticipate in  the  blessings  of  her  mission,  to  hand  forward  the  cup  of 
mercy  and  blessing  to  others  ;  but  she  also  throws  wide  open  the  gates 
of  admission  to  the  highest  places  of  honour  and  influence  in  the 
Church  to  all  who,  by  their  ability,  and  worth  and  service,  prove 
themselves  able  and  worthy  to  occupy  and  adorL  them,  aad  knows  no 
way  to  distinction  in  the  kingdom  of  God,  but  the  royal  way  of 
the  Gospel.  "  He  that  would  be  the  greatest  among  you  let  him  be 
servant  of  all." 

VI.  Again,  the  catholicity  of  Methodism  is  evidenced  in  the  various 
ecclesiastical  arrangements  to  which  she  adapts  herself,  and  sub- 
ordinates to  the  service  of  her  mission.  In  all  her  divisions  no  branch 
of  Methodism  has  ever  seen  occasion  to  question  the  loyalty  of  any 
other  branch,  either  to  the  cardinal  doctrines  of  her  faith,  or  to  the 
grand  object  of  all  our  labours,  namely,  "  To  spread  Scriptural  holiness 
throughout  the  world."  These  divisions  have  sometimes  been  held  up 
as  her  reproach,  by  those  who,  let  us  charitably  hope,  would  have 
rejoiced  in  her  unity  ;  but  we  have  yet  to  learn  that  there  are 
more  branches  in  Methodism  than  there  are  orders  in  Romanism, 
parties  in  the  Church  of  England,  sections  amoijg  the  Presby- 
terians, and  divisions  among  the  Congregationalists ;  or  that  there  is 
not  something  in  the  constitution  of  the  human  mind  which  leads  some 
persons  aaturally  to  prefer  Episcopalian  forms  of  Church  order,  others 
Presbyterian  forms,  others  Congregational  forms.  Why,  then,  not 
allow  every  one  to  be  fully  persuaded  in  his  own  mind  in  relation  to 
such  matters,  each  saying  of  every  other,  "  Whosoever  will  do  the  will 
of  my  Father  which  is  in  heaven,  the  same  is  my  brother,  and  sister, 
and  mother"  ?  Of  this  we  are  assured,  by  the  occurrences  of  the  past 
fortnight,  that  no  other  branch  of  the  Church  of  Christ  on  earth,  neither 
the  Papacy,  nor  the  Anglican,  nor  the  Presbyterian,  nor  the  Congre- 
gationalist,  could  summon  all  her  sons  fi'om  the  ends  of  the  earth  to 
meet  in  general  assembly  in  this  or  any  other  metx'opoHs  of  a  great 
nation,  for  free  debate  on  so  many  and  various  questions  of  importance 
to  the  interests  of  religion  and  to  the  welfare  of  mankind  as  have  been 
freely  discussed  in  this  place ;  with  A  more  general  response,  with 
fuller  harmony  of  feeling,  with  less  asi^erity  and  friction,  with  greater 


REV.   J.    MYERS'S   ADDRESS.  569 

pleasantness  of  intercourse,  witli  brighter  hopes  respecting  the  results, 
and  with  the  anticipation  of  jpleasanter  reminiscences  of  our  meeting 
after  we  return  to  our  homes,  than  has  been  the  case  with  this 
OEcumenical  Conference  of  the  people  called  Methodists.  If  any  sup- 
pose they  can  equal' us  in  these  respects  let  them  by  all  means  try  it, 
.for  their  own  good  and  for  the  good  of  their  peoples,  and  we  will  j^ray 
for  and  rejoice  in  their  success  as  an  additional  promise  of  the  nearer 
approach  of  the  latter-day  glory. 

VII.  This^catholicity  is  further  evidenced  in  her  having  always  sought 
to  live  at  peace  and  co-operate  in  Christian  work  with  all  other  denomi- 
nations. From  her  commencement  Methodism  has  been  responsible  for 
no  quarrel  with  any  other  section  of  the  Church  of  Christ,  but  has 
always  steadfastly  acted  on  the  Scriptural  injunction  "  that  ye  study 
to  be  quiet  and  to  do  your  own  business."  This  was  the  uniform  spirit 
and  policy  of  her  founder.  Writing  in  the  year  17G5  to  his  Calvinistic 
friend  Mr.  Venn,  Mr.  Wesley  said,  "  I  desire  to  have  a  league,  offensive 
and  defensive,  with  every  soldier  of  Christ.  We  have  not  only  one 
faith,  one  Lord,  one  hope,  but  we  are  earnestly  engaged  in  one  warfare. 
Come,  then,  ye  that  love  God,  to  the  help  of  the  Lord,  to  the  help  of 
the  Lord  against  the  mighty."  In  his  sermon,  entitled  "  Catholic 
Spirit,"  while  claiming  that  the  Methodist  form  of  worship  is  "  primitive 
and  apostolic,"  he  expresses  his  belief  that  the  Episcopalian  form  is 
also  "  both  Scriptural  and  apostolic  ;  "  but  he  adds,  "  If  any  think  the 
Presbyterian  is  better,  let  him  think  so  still."  On  another  occasion, 
when  assailed  by  four  persons  simultaneously,  he  wrote,  "  How  gladly 
would  I  leave  all  these  to  themselves,  and  let  them  say  just  what  they 
please."  And,  again,  he  closed  a  debate  in  Conference  with  the  words, 
"I  have  no  more  right  to  object  to  a  man  holding  a  different  opinion 
from  me,  than  I  have  to  differ  from  a  man  because  he  wears  a  wig  and 
I  wear  my  own  hair." 

On  these  hues  of  liberty  of  thought  and  catholicity  of  feeling  towards 
all  other  denominations,  Methodism  has  continued  to  move  to  the 
present.  Like  the  ancient  builder,  she  has  rephed  to  all  who  have 
tried  to  draw  her  aside  from  her  work,  for  idle  disiDutation,  "  I  am 
doing  a  great  work,  so  that  I  cannot  come  down.  Why  should  the 
work  cease,  w^hilst  I  leave  it  and  come  down  to  you  ?  "  And  like  the 
apostles,  she  has  replied  to  all  who  would  hinder  her  efforts  by  denying 
her  the  Scriptural  rights  of  a  Church,  "  Whether  it  be  right  to  hearken 
unto  you  more  than  unto  God,  judge  ye ;  for  we  cannot  but  speak  the 
things  we  have  seen  and  heard."  There  have  been  not  a  few  com- 
plaints that  Methodism  has  not  taken  so  prominent  a  part  as  she 
ought  to  have  taken  in  the  religio-political  efforts  which  have 
removed  religious  disabihties  from  which  she  suffered,  and  by  whose 
removal  she  has  profited;  but  to  these  complaints  she  has  always 
returned  the  same  answer — that  her  province  has  rather  been  to  use 
those  weapons  which,  though  "not  carnal,  are  mighty  through  God  to 


570 


CHRISTIAN   UNITY. 


the  pulling  down  of  strongholds  and  every  high  thing  that  exalteth 
and  opposeth  itself  against  the  Lord,  to  the  bringing  of  every  thought 
into  captivity  to  the  obedience  of  Christ ;  "  and  thereby  effectually 
creating  that  public  sentiment  which  brings  every  reform  that  is 
necessary  to  the  highest  and  permanent  well-being  both  of  individuals, 
and  communities,  and  empires.  In  pursuing  this  course  she  has 
been  alwaj's  ready  to  co-operate  with  other  bodies  of  Christians  in 
Christian  work.  When  the  Evangelical  Alliance  was  first  launched, 
Methodism  gave  her  full  sympathy  and  aid  to  its  purposes.  Of  late 
years  it  has  become  the  habit  in  public  gatherings  of  re^jresentatives 
of  Churches  to  exchange  friendly  greetings,  and  Methodism  has  given 
her  whole  heart  to  such  catholic  intercourse.  And  besides  these  things, 
Methodism  has  been  a  constant  source  of  help  and  blessing  to  all 
other  Protestant  Churches.  She  has,  under  God,  breathed  into  them 
her  own  ardent  spirit,  and  thereby  quickened  them  into  newness  of 
life.  She  has  given  hundreds  of  ministers  to  their  pulpits,  many  of 
whom  are  among  the  most  famous  in  all  the  elements  of  greatness 
that  adorn  their  annals.  She  has  given  tens  of  thousands  of  earnest 
members  to  their  fellowship,  forming  in  some  cases  a  majority,  and  in 
many  cases  an  important  minority,  of  their  largest  and  most  influential 
Churches.  She  has  also  taught  them  the  use  of  the  best  means  of  pro- 
moting the  success  of  the  Gospel,  and  the  salvation  of  the  world. 
From  whom  have  the  clergy  of  the  Church  of  England,  and  the 
ministers  of  Nonconformist  Churches,  learned  to  employ  a  lay  ministry, 
and  to  preach  the  Gospel  in  the  open  air,  in  theatres,  music- 
halls,  and  kindred  places,  but  from  the  Methodists  ?  In  all  these 
ways  Methodism  has  been  a  nursing  mother  to  every  other  section 
of  the  Church  ;  nor  has  her  voice  been  heard  in  remonstrance  or 
complaint,  as  she  has  seen  her  devout  sons  and  daughters  leaving  her, 
to  give  the  benefit  of  their  fervour  1  experience  in  the  cause  of  Christ 
to  the  service  of  other  Christian  communities. 

VIII.  "  Wisdom  is  justified  of  her  children,"  and  the  catholicity  of  Me- 
thodism has  its  justification  in  the  successes  that  have  resulted  from  her 
labours.  In  scattering  she  has  increased,  in  watering  others  she  has  been 
watered.  Having  gone  forth,  and  wept  over  the  moral  wastes  to  which 
she  bore  precious  seed,  she  has  come  again  with  rejoicing,  bringing  her 
sheaves  with  her.  "We  are  instructed  in  Christian  work  to  aim  at  great 
things,  and  to  expect  great  things.  Methodism  has  done  this,  and  to- 
day, though  the  youngest  of  the  great  Christian  denominations,  she  is 
the  strongest  of  them  all  in  the  number  of  her  membership.  She  also 
began  her  mission  where  Jesus  Christ  began  ^is  mission — among  the 
poor :  by  gathering  in  the  prodigal,  the  destitute,  the  ignorant,  and  the 
outcast.  This  was  her  feeding-ground,  as  it  has  been  the  feeding- 
ground  of  the  Church  of  Christ  from  the  beginning,  and  will  remain  so 
to  the  end;  "to  the  poor  the  Gorpel  is  preached."  The  intelligence 
and  wealth  and  respectability  of  the  present  generation  of  Methodists 


REV.   J.   MYERS'S   ADDRESS.  571 

is,  therefore,  an  example  of  the  benefits  which  the  Gospel  showers 
upou  those  who  receive  it,  and  an  illustration  of  the  truth — "  Godliness 
i^  profitable  unto  all  things,  having  promise  of  the  life  that  now  is,  and 
of  that  which  is  to  come." 

What  of  the  future  ?  All  the  prodigal  sons  of  God  have  not  yet  been 
restored  to  their  home.  So  far  from  this,  they  swarm  around  us  every- 
where. They  exist  in  hundreds  in  our  villages,  in  thousands  in  our 
towns,  and  in  myriads  in  our  large  cities.  We  have  been  speaking  in 
this  Conference  on  the  dangers  which  threaten  society  from  the  specu- 
lative sceiiticism  of  our  times,  but  these  dangers  are  trifling  compared 
with  the  dangers  which  threaten  society  from  the  practical  atheism 
that  floods  our  large  centres  of  population.  We  could  afford  to  leave 
the  philosophers,  so  called,  to  "  throw  out  their  speculations  for  the 
amusement  of  the  curious,"  as  Hume  is  reported  to  have  said  that  he 
did,  if  the  millions  of  our  labouring  populations  were  leavened  with 
GosiJel  truth.  These  millions  are  not  infidel,  and  are  not  to  be  dealt 
with  as  such.  Let  our  young  ministers,  especially,  who  in  their  anxiety 
to  fit  themselves  for  their  great  mission,  are  spending  more  time  in 
acquainting  themselves  with  the  sceptical  speculations  of  the  few,  and 
taking  more  pains  to  prepare  answers  to  these  speculations,  than  they 
are  spending  among  the  many  to  learn  their  condition  and  needs,  and 
taking  pains  to  prej)are  themselves  to  lead  them  to  repentance  and 
salvation,  bear  these  things  in  mind.^  I  say  not  a  word  against  minis- 
ters being  up  in  their  acquaintance  with  the  speculative  thought  of  the 
day ;  but  I  contend  that  it  is  their  first  and  most  indispensable  work 
to  be  up  in  their  acquaintance  with  the  condition  of  the  j)eople,  and 
experts  in  winning  them  for  Christ.  These  things  they  ought  to  do, 
and  not  to  leave  the  other  undone. 

X  reijeat,  the  people  of  this  country  are  not  infidel.  It  would  be 
easy  to  prove  the  truth  of  this  statement.  Those  persons  who  suppose 
them  to  be  so  do  not  know  them.  Let  them  go  among  them  and 
gain  their  confidence,  in  the  only  way  in  which  human  confidence  can 
be  gained,  namely,  by  its  being  deserved  ;  go  and  talk  with  them,  not 
as  patrons,  but  as  fellow-sinners  who  are  of  them,  and  wish  to  do  them 
good,  and  they  will  soon  find  that  not  one  in  a  hundred  of  them  is 
infidel.  Many  of  them,  from  a  sense  of  being  neglected  by  the  Church, 
which — they  know  enough  of  Christianity  to  know — ought  to  look  after 
them  and  seek  their  good,  are  noisy,  fond  of  disputing,  love  to  throw 
current  objections  at  Christians  in  order  to  avoid  the  point  of  their 
appeals,  but  they  are  not  infidel.  They  wander  about  neglected, 
"  having  no  hope,  and  without  God  in  the  world,"  presenting  to  those 
who  have  the  spiritual  eyesight  to  see  it,  just  such  a  scene  as  that  on 
which  Jesus  Christ  looked,  when  "  He  was  moved  -with  compassion  on 
them,  because  they  fainted,  and  were  scattered  abroad  as  sheep  having 
no  shepherd."  To  gather  in  these  wandering  and  neglected  ones  is 
still  the  mission  of  Methodism.     Arc  we  doing  it  ? 


/ 

572  CHRISTIAN   UNITY. 

"  Jeshurun  waxed  fat  and  wicked,  then  lae  forgot  God  who  had  made 
him,  and  hghtly  esteemed  the  rock  of  his  salvation."  Is  there  no 
danger  of  our  prosperity  making  us  ashamed  of  those  who  are  now  in  a 
similar  state  of  moral  destitution  to  that  in  which  Methodism  found 
its  first  converts;  and  also  ashamed  of  the  methods  by  which  she 
accomplished  her  first  successes  ?  How  many  Methodist  ministers  now 
feel  at  ease  when  standing  on  a  chair  at  the  door  of  a  cottage,  on  a 
butcher's  block  in  a  market,  or  on  a  stump  by  the  wayside  ?  and  how 
many  Methodist  laymen  feel  at  ease  when  standing  by  the  siile  of  their 
ministers,  when  doing  such  work,  to  help  them  to  sing  and  pray  ?  Yet 
this  is  Methodism.  It  was  the  way  that  Methodism  was  founded,  and 
it  is  the  way  in  which  it  must  be  extended  and  enlarged.  The  educated 
and  respectable  may  not  be  reached  in  this  way,  but  the  millions  who 
constitute  the  great  mass  of  sinning,  suffering,  perishing  humanity, 
can  scarcely  be  reached  in  any  other  way.  If,  therefore,  we  rejoice  in 
our  liistory  of  saving  the  outcasts,  why  not  prolong  it  ?  if  we  boast  of 
the  self-denying  and  heroic  labours  of  our  ancestors,  why  not  imitate 
their  example  ?  We  have  got  the  materials  for  this  work.  Our 
doctrines  imply  it,  our  commission  commands  it,  and  our  hymnology  is 
well  suited  to  it.  The  list  of  hymns  furnished  the  Conference  at  a 
previous  session  jnight  have  been  lengthened  by  the  addition  of  some 
of  these,  as 

"  Weary  souls  that  wander  wide 
From  the  central  point  of  bliss  ;  " 


and 
and 


•'  Gather  the  outcasts  in,  and  save 
From  sin  and  Satan's  power  ; " 

"  Oh  !  for  a  trumpet- voice 
On  all  the  world  to  call." 


These  and  many  similar  hymns  seem  most  suitable  for  cut  of  doors, 
and  music-hall  and  similar  gatherings,  and  scarcely  to  harmonise  with 
the  gatherings  of  our  well-dressed,  well-fed,  well-housed,  comfortable 
church  and  chapel  going  people.  What,  then,  shall  we  do  with  these 
hymns  ?  Shall  we  eliminate  them  from  our  hymn-books  ?  Had  we 
not  better  return  to  our  former  ways,  in  which  they  will  be  again 
of  suitable  use?  Would  it  not  be  well  to  make  every  superinten- 
dent of  a  circuit  responsible  for  having  a  distinct  department, 
in  which  young  men  should  have  constant  practice  in  this  work, 
and  prove  their  fitness  for  the  local  preacher's  plan  by  their  pro- 
ficiency in  it ;  so  that  candidates  for  the  pulpit  would  understand  that 
the  first  qualification  required  of  them  for  the  work  was  such  a  zeal 
for  the  salvation  of  the  sinner  as  would  lead  them  to  preach  the 
Gospel  anywhere  to  save  him ;  and  so  become  all  things  to  all  men, 
if  that  by  any  means  they  might  save  some  ?  There  is  no  concealing 
the  fact  that  the  great  want  of  Methodism  in  these  islands  is  such  men 
as  John  Nelson  and  Gideon  Ouseley ;  nor  would  American  Methodism 


REV.   J.    MYERS'S   ADDRESS.  573 

Buffer  by  the  ai)i)earance   of   such  men   as  Peter   Cartwright  in  its 
service.     We  have  an  abundance  of  students  in  our  ranks  to  occupy 
our  respectable  pulpits  ;    our  need  is  men   who   can   go  among  the 
masses,  and,  thro-wing  aside  all  sermonising,  speak  the  trutli  of  God 
in  such  plain  and  pungent  words  as  they  can  understand  and  feel.     It 
is  painful  often  to  hear  how  intelligent   ministers  fail  to  interest  and 
impress  their  hearers,  when  they  stand  upon  a  wagon  or  any  similar 
pulpit  to  address  a  number  of  careless,  godless  men  who  may  gather 
around  them  in  the  open  air.     They  give  the  impression  that  they  are 
raw  at  the  business,  and  need  to  be  trained  for  it.     Yet  it  is  work  that 
must  be  done.     The  salvation  of  the  whole  world  is   in  the  Divine 
programme.     The  millions  of  outcasts  existing  in  our  large  cities  will 
be  gathered  in ;  and  Methodism,  though  she  has  no  longer  a  monopoly 
in  the  work,  will  have  to  play  a  ijrominent  part  in  it.     If  the  existing 
branches   of  Methodism   prove   too   respectable  to   carry   it  on,   the 
catholicity  of  her   spirit  will  assert  itself  as  it  has  done  before,  by 
pushing  some  persons  out  from  their  ranks  to  do  it ;  and  some  future 
conference  of  Methodists  will  hear  the  story  relocated,  of  a  denomina- 
•ion  being  born  in  the  oj)en  air,  or  at  a  meeting  in  a  theatre,  or  some 
kindred  jilace.     The  salvation  of  the  world  cannot  be  arrested.     Nor 
can  the  catholic  spirit  of  Christianity  which  longs  for  it  be  suppressed. 
Like  its  Master,  it  has  a  baptism  to  be  baptised  with,  and  how  is  it 
straitened  until  it  be  accomplished  !     In  some  form  or  other  it  will 
find  its  way  to  such  action  as  will   serve  its   object.     Indeed,   why 
conceal  that  it  is  even  now  asserting  itself.     "^Tiat  is  this  Salvation 
Army  of  which  we  hear  so  much,  and  is  everywhere  spoken  against, 
but  the  outgoing  of  this  spirit  ?     Who  is  its  founder  and  general  ?     A 
Methodist.     What  are  its  methods?     Those  it   finds  suitable   to   its 
purpose.     Are  they  not  objectionable  ?    Yes,  almost  as  objectionable 
to  the  Methodists  of  to-day  as  the  methods  of  the  Saviour  and  of  the 
early  Methodists  were  to  the  most  respectable  religious  teachers  and 
guides  of  their  times.     Are  not  many  of  their  leaders  ignorant  ?     Yes, 
as  ignorant  as  the  doctors  in  Jerusalem  considered  the  apostles   of 
Jesus  Christ,  and  as  the  bishops   of  Mr.  Wesley's   day  thought  his 
helpers.     And  let  us  beware  lest  history  repeats  to  us  what  Charles 
Wesley  is   reported   to   have  said  to   the  Archbishop  of  Armagh,  in 
answer  to  his  inquu'ies  respecting  their  work:  "I  am  told  that  you 
and  your  brother   employ  uneducated  men  to  iDreach  the  GosidcI." 
"So  we  do,  my  lord,"  said  Charles  Wesley,  "and  the  fault  is  yours 
and  your  brethren's."     "  How  so  ? "   asked  the  Archbishop.     "  The 
prophets  held  their  peace  and  the  asses  spake,"  said  Charles  Wesley. 

Have  we  done,  and  are  we  now  doing,  our  duty  towards  those 
millions  of  perishing  souls  for  whom  Christ  died?  Our  Conference 
will  soon  close,  our  essays  are  wcll-nigli  all  read,  our  addresses  nearly 
all  spoken,  our  discussions  nearly  ended;  and  what  are  to  be  the 
results  ?     Shall  Methodism  from  this  Conference  renew  its  youth,  and 


574  CHRISTIAN   UNITY. 

return  to  its  ancient  path  of  "  going"  into  the  highways  ancl  hedges  to 
compel  the  niillious  of  our  perishing  fellow-sinners  to  come  into  the 
feast  which  our  loving  Father  has  prepared  ?  Say  not  that  they  will 
not  hear,  for  the  thousands  that  press  along  the  streets,  and  crowd 
into  dreary,  most  uncomfortable  buildings  to  hear,  and  who  subscribe 
of  their  pence,  thousands  sterling  a  year  to  support  the  Salvation 
Army,  show  us  that  they  will  hear  where  the  conditions  of  hearing 
are  suitable  to  them.  They  may  not  come  to  our  churches  and 
chapels  to  present  their  destitution  as  a  contrast  to  our  respectability ; 
they  may  not  listen  to  well-prepared  essays,  whose  finish  is  so  perfect, 
that,  to  use  the  words  of  one  of  them,  they  are  so  smooth  that  there 
is  not  friction  enough  to  light  a  Congreve  match  upon  them.  But  the 
entire  history  of  Methodism  shows  that  whoever  will  tell  the  old,  old 
story  of  Jesus  and  His  love  in  such  plain  and  simple  words  and  loving 
tones  as  are  only  fit  to  convey  that  story,  will  never  want  an  ear  to 
hear  His  message. 

Professor  J.  P.  Shorter  (African  Methodist  Episcopal  Chiirch)  gave 
the  invited  address.  He  said  :  One  excellency  of  the  Christian  religion 
is  its  simplicity ;  but  the  catholicity  of  Methodism  is  its  Christianity. 
"  Go  ye  into  all  the  world  and  preach  My  Gospel"  is  not  only  as  exten- 
sive as  the  world  in  its  length  and  breadth,  but  includes  in  its  going  a 
bringing  of  whomsoever  will  to  partake  of  the  water  of  life  freely ; 
includes  in  ii  s  g  ling  a  searching  for  the  poor,  the  rich,  the  ignorant,  the 
learned,  passing  by  none.  Nay,  a  religion  that  is  not  Catholic  is  not 
Christian,  is  not  of  the  Bible.  When  I  was  youthful  and  inexperienced 
in  assuming  great  responsibilities,  and  not  kno\Ting  what  to  do,  my 
father  wrote  me  thus  : — "  I  have  somewhat  of  satisfaction  in  taking 
hold  of  a  cause  languishing,  dying,  and  making  a  success  of  it."  There 
hav3  been  times  in  the  history  of  the  world  when  God  has  said  to  a 
son,  "  Take  hold ;  be  successful."  Of  other  such  times  I  choose  that 
when  Collins  and  Tindall  had  denounced  Christianity  as  priestcraft, 
Whiston  pronounced  the  miracles  to  be  Jewish  imposition,  Woolston 
declared  them  to  be  allegories,  when  English  deism  was  introduced  into 
Germany,  and  founded  a  rationalism  which  nearly  extinguished  her 
religious  life  ;  when  piety  was  spoken  of  only  with  ridicule  ;  when 
ungodliness  was  the  universal  and  peculiar  characteristic.  It  was  a 
high  privilege  to  hear  God  speak  in  this  time  of  de<;ay  and  death,  but 
Christlike  to  obey.  My  friends,  because  Wesley  heard,  and  he  with  his 
coadjutors  obeyed,  the  CEcumenical  Council  of  ,1881  convenes — con- 
venes to  scan  the  doings  of  the  past,  and  arrange  if  possible  to  utilise 
more  effectually  its  ever-increasing  powers.  Some  one  has  said, 
"  What  was  needed  at  this  time  was  an  institution  that  might  gather 
the  fruits  of  a  century's  growth,  and  give  them  a  Divine  perpetuity.' 
Methodism  was  given  this  work  on  account  of  her  catholicity,  which  is 
as  broad  as  her  spirituality,  and  finds  its  excellency  in  serving.     There 


PROFESSOll    J.    P.    SnORTER'S   ADDRESS.  575 

is  not  an  orthodox  Church  which  on  knowing  the  motive  of  separation 
from  this  was  for  proximity  to  thai— thut  the  this  was  coldness,  barren- 
ness, ungodHness ;   the  that  a  burning  zeal,  growth,   Christianity — but 
would  join,  if  not  in  name,  in  sjiirit,  our  ranks.    For  awhile  let  us  throw 
aside  our  christened  names,  and  look  at  this  Methodism,  its  catholicity. 
The  Bible  knows  noihiug  of  a  solitary  religion.     When  the  valiant  few 
assembled,  and  the  Holy  Sisirit  with  them,  every  man  of  the  multitude 
which  came  heard  the  word  in  his  own   tongue — Parthians,    Medes, 
Elamites,  dwellers  in  Mesopotamia,  in  Judaea,  Cappadocia,  Pontus,  Asia, 
Phrygia,   Pamphylia,    Egypt,   and  in  parts   of   Lybia   about  Cyrene, 
strangers  of  Rome,  Jews  and  proselytes,  Cretes,  and  Arabians.    Heard, 
I  said  ;  but  in  the  Inuguage  of  Luke  I  add,  heard  in  their  own  tongue 
the  wonderful  works  of  God.     Were  I  speaking  to  a  class-meetiug  in 
Ohio  of  the  catholicity  of  Methodism,  of  its  universality,  how  it  sjireads 
to  every  land,  I  would  say,  as  Dr.  George  affirms,  "  Methodism  in  an 
organic  condition  is  in  America,  in  the  United  States,  in  Canada,  in 
Mexico,  in  Euroi^e,  on  the  British  Isles,  on  the  Continent,  in  Africa,  in 
Asia,  in  the  great  empires  of  India,  China,  and  Japan,  and  in  Australia." 
But  here  it  is   only   necessary   to   be  silent,  and  these  lands   speak 
through  their  own  representatives  ;  and  if  we  listen  more  saintly  voices 
greet  us   from  that  better  land  with  "I   am  sweeping  through   the 
gates,"  "  There  is  no  river  here,"  "  The  best  of  all  is,  God  is  with  us." 
Methodism  is  so  catholic  that  it  has  no  peculiar  tenets  which  shut  out 
any  seekers  after  God  through  Christ.     Indeed,   some  one  has   said, 
"  It  is  a  child  of  Providence,  and  never  was  an  offspring  more  like  its 
parentage."      Its   form   Godlike,    its    countenance    calm    and  serene, 
the  outgrowth  of  a  cleau   conscience.     Not  slow  of  motion,   its  feet 
running   swiftly  in  the  paths  of  truth,  even  to  the  uttermost  parts 
of  the   earth.     Hence  the  tender-footed,  who  refuse  to  go   where'er 
the  Master  calls,  have  not  the  idea  of  him  who  heard  when  God  called, 
and  by  obeying  became  the  father  of  Methodism.     Think  of  Wesley, 
with  all  the  disadvantages  of  his  day,  especially  of  travel,  saying  he 
had  doue  a  poor  j^ear's  work  in  going  out  to  call  them  in  if  he  had  not 
travelled  from  four  to  five  thousand  miles !    Of  the  zeal  that  urged  him, 
or  any  of  his  followers,  to  do  such  herculean  work,  I  say  nothing,  save 
they,  like  their  Master,  went  about  doing  good.     When  I  speak  thus  of 
Wesley,  or  that  peculiar  feature  of  Methodism  which  carries  a  man  five 
thousand  miles  in  a  year  to  spread  the  Gospel,  I  si)eak  not  of  it  in  the 
sense  of  compassing  land  and  sea  to  make  one  proselyte,  but  of  that 
itinerant,  aggressive  spirit,  which  the  Master  gives,  which  cannot  be  at 
rest  while  there  is  a  cry  beyond,  while  there  is  all  the  world  to  go  into. 
Such  an  offspring  not  only  has  the  tender  watch-care  of  the  Father, 
but   the  eyes   of  the   whole  world  are  upon  it.     I  think  it  is  Isaac 
Taylor  who,  in  si^caking  of  Methodism,  says,  "  That  gi'eat  religious 
movement    has    immediately    or   remotely    so  given  an    impulse  to 
Chi'istian  feeling  and  profession  on  all  sides  that  it  has  come  to  present 


576  CHRISTIAN    UNITY. 

itself  as  the  starting-point  of  modern  religious  history."  What  a  hroad 
foundation  was  needed.  Yet  such  is  Methodism,  broad  as  to  its  basis 
as  the  plan  of  salvation.  The  good  admire  the  genericness,  while  we 
congratulate  ourselves  on  a  specificness ;  in  the  fact  that  none  of  the 
individuals  which  make  up  the  whole  is  a  departure  from  the  essential 
doctrine  taught  in  the  beginning.  National  and  social  obligations  have 
classified  them,  but  the  same  Biblical  basis  is  common.  Is  that  not  a 
catholic  spirit  which  when  political  contingencies  arose,  and  division 
was  necessary,  proved  only  division  that  the  offspring  might  have  a 
special  name  and  thus  broaden  the  family  influence  ?  or  when  man, 
fettered  by  prejudice  and  dwarfed  by  its  influence,  would  proscribe, 
was  there  less  of  catholicity  in  Methodism  if  still  another  child  came 
which  loved  the  mother  because  of  her  broadness  of  views  spiritually, 
yet  christened  itself  African  Methodist  ?  or  when  severer,  if  possible, 
or  less  severe  tenets  arose,  now  and  then,  was  it  because  Methodism 
was  less  catholic,  or  individuals  striving  to  make  it  so?  Let  another 
answer.  Some  one  has  said,  "It  (Methodism)  has  had  no  doctrinal 
secessions.  The  maintenance  of  sj)iritual  life,  the  spread  of  Scrip- 
tural holiness,  the  conversion  of  men,  have  always  been  its  prominent 
thoughts,  and  it  is  not  uninteresting  to  note  that  the  special  urgency  of 
these  truths  in  other  Churches  has  often  subjected  them  to  the  charge 
of  being  Methodistic."  Let  God's  name  be  praised  that  the  distinctive 
features  of  Methodism  are  evident  everywhere.  Men  are  to  be 
saved  and  souls  redeemed.  So  then,  if  there  is  a  family  here  whose 
own  legitimate  offspring  is  1,700,000,  another's  830,000,  another's 
400,000,  &c.,  and  these,  with  tlieir  attendants,  who  will  find  shelter  and 
relief  nowhere  else,  aggregating  at  least  20,000,000  souls,  these  are  but 
a  part  of  the  tangible  outgrowth  ;  we  have  but  begun  to  walk  about 
her  bulwarks  and  examine  her  reachings.  Think  how  this  great 
Methodist  family  throbs  in  millions  of  tracts,  pamphlets,  newspapers, 
periodicals,  and  volumes  of  all  kinds ;  how  it  attracts  and  harmonises 
in  its  thousands  of  verse  and  metre ;  how  it  impresses  the  world 
with  its  hundreds  of  thousands  of  sanctuaries,  thousands  of  bene- 
volent homes,  and  ten  thousands  of  schools  and  colleges  ;  while 
above,  beneath,  and  through  all  these  flows  that  unpent  spirit  of  Christ 
and  love  of  the  Father.  Aye,  we  repeat,  let  God's  name  be  praised  and 
Hosannas  sung  in  the  highest,  that  there  is  such  broadness  in  Metho- 
dism that,  while  twenty  or  twenty-five  millions  rejoice  in  her  methods 
to  the  extent  that  they  are  classified  as  Methodists,  and  millions  more 
are  sailing  under  other  banners  while  their  distinctive  features  are  the 
same,  there  is  not  a  principle  of  right-doing,  of  justice  to  man,  of  faith 
in  Christ,  of  love  for  God,  that  she  rejects.  You  remember  that  John 
Wesley  said,  "  The  whole  world  will  never  be  converted  but  by  those 
of  a  truly  catholic  spirit.  '  Whosoever  doeth  the  will  of  My  Father 
which  is  in  heaven,  the  same  is  My  brother.  My  sister,  and  mother.'  " 
Then  Dean  Stanley  said,  "  In  this,  again,  John  Wesley  rose  above  not 


PROFESSOR  J.    P.   SHORTER'S    ADDRESS.  677 

only  his  own  aj^e,  but  above  onrs  also.  In  other  words,  Wesley,  having 
heard  God  when  He  spoke  at  that  oi^ijortune  time,  dared  be  more 
catholic  than  other  men  of  his  age,  and  we,  following  the  same  teach- 
ings, consider  man  our  brother,  the  field  the  world.  You  tell  me  of  the 
ridicule  that  her  valiant  ones  endured  and  the  condemnation  that  her 
requirements  met ;  but  these,  like  the  persecutions  of  Christ's  first 
faithful  ones,  only  made  the  teaching  more  dear  to  them,  and  more 
universal  in  its  nature.  Were  the  loving,  earnest  words  of  a  Wesley 
less  effectual  and  fruit-producing  to  twenty  thousand  sonls  on  the  fields 
of  Dublin  than  to  a  scoi'e  in  frescoed  walls  ?  Answer,  ye  blood-washed 
army,  whether  born  again  on  land  or  sea ;  whether  ye  heard  the  word 
of  God  in  peace  or  amid  the  confusion  of  mob  and  riot !  You  know  the 
answer — that  ridicule  was  the  world's  folly,  that  condemnation  human 
ignorance.  Methodism,  like  Christianity,  has  its  limitation  in  right 
action,  and  is  as  catholic  as  the  eternal  principles  of  riglit.  I  make 
but  one  reference  to  its  limitation.  In  America,  with  hundreds  of 
other  noble  names,  children  lisp  those  of  Gough,  Boole,  and  Mrs. 
Hayes  ;  because  for  years  this  trio,  in  the  forum,  on  the  rostrum,  in 
the  White  House,  and  elsewhere,  have  been  opposing  strong  drink  as 
beverage,  hence  enjoining  temperance  unions  and  societies  ;  but  God'a 
church  when  Methodised  becomes  and  is  a  great  universal  temperance 
society,  none  of  whose  members  touch,  handle,  or  taste  the  forbidden 
stuff.  Does  this  provoke  a  smile  ?  If  so,  take  your  Discipline  and  tell 
me  if  it,  based  on  the  Word  of  God  as  it  is,  does  not  verify  my  statement, 
viz.,  wherever  there  is  a  society  of  this  name,  there  is,  if  anything,  a  tem- 
perance society,  founded  when  the  Church  was  organised,  to  be  developed  ■ 
as  her  borders  increased.  See,  then,  the  broadness  of  our  statement. 
No  INIethodist — remember  they  are  millions — ever  gives  or  drinks 
strong  drink  or  rum  as  a  beverage.  I  am  reminded  that  this  shuts  out 
chancellors,  rulers,  perhaps  bishops,  who  take  a  little  win«3  for  good 
feeling's  sake ;  yet  God's  command — the  foundation  of  Methodism — is 
above  chancellors,  rulers,  or  bishops,  and  must  stand  thoug'u  each  and 
all  are  crushed.  In  the  same  manner  must  vanish  every  snare  of  the 
evil  one,  all  of  which  I  leave  you  to  enumerate  as  you  read  ijer  ensi<yns 
found  everywhere.  While  penning  these  words  the  catholicity  of 
Methodism  grew  more  glorious  in  my  sight  than  ever  before,  and 
another  catholicity  more  damning,  when  I  thought  of  the  thousands  of 
young  men  and  women  who,  under  the  defence  of  church  membership, 
have  broadness  of  permission  to  do  anything  a  modest  and  p&lite 
culture  wiU  allow ;  but  the  principle  of  right  and  justice  never.  Echo 
repeats,  the  catholicity  of  Methodism  is  very  great,  limited  only  by  bho 
eternal  principles  of  right.  Such  is  Methodism  tliat  it  sallies  forth  on 
the  strongholds  of  the  evil  one  with  such  earnestness,  such  assurance 

from  above,  that  the  strong  ones  flee  the  way— the  narrow  way aiid 

leave  it  the  highway,  on  which  none  but  the  redeemed  of  the  Lord  do 
walk.    Forget  all  else,  then,  only  let  her  X)riuciples  remain.     So  when 

r  p 


578  CHRISTIAN    UNITY. 

I  speak  of  millions  numerically  you  vfill  call  up  a  grander  and  more 
formidable  army  of  noble  principles  that  these  millions  are  to  herald. 
I  like  to  think  of  Asia,  Europe,  America,  Africa — of  our  whole  world, 
indeed,  the  universe ;  then  think  of  something  broad  enough  in  its 
tendencies,  catholic  enough  in  its  possibilities,  to  include  every  human 
being  or  image  of  God  found  therein  who  will  be  saved.  That  some- 
thing bade  me  in  God's  name  speak  for  her  to-day.  It  were  as  im- 
possible for  Methodism  to  set  herself  at  ease  in  Europe,  America,  or 
Asia,  and  do  her  work,  as  for  City  Eoad  Chapel  to  contain  all  the 
Methodist  family  ;  but  as  this  cliapel  does  well  in  her  undertaking  to 
accommodate  this  special  (Ecumenical  Council,  likewise  Methodism 
does  nobly  to  so  extend  her  borders  as  to  offer  life  to  whomsoever  will 
accept.  I  leave  off  as  I  began.  Throughout  the  history  of  Methodism 
we  are  continually  referred  to  the  first  principles  of  Christianity — the 
simphcity  of  the  Gospel  and  its  far-reaching  tendencies. 

"  Jesus  shall  reign  where'er  the  sun 
Does  Ms  successive  journeys  run  ; 
His  kingdom  spread  from  shore  to  shore, 
Till  suns  shall  rise  and  set  no  more." 

Eev.  W.  Arthur  (Wesleyan  Methodist)  :  I  rise,  desiring  to  support  in 
the  strongest  Wraj^  what  has  been  said  by  Dr.  Tiffany.  I  look  at  that  black 
cloth,  and  it  makes  me  remember  that  the  pulse,  the  beatings  of  which  have 
been  counted  for  two  months  past  in  the  homes  of  England  as  never  before 
were  counted  the  beatings  of  any  pulse  outside  our  English  palaces — that 
that  pulse  will  flutter  and  beat  no  more.  It  reminds  me  that  to-day  God 
hath  sent  soitow  to  the  hearts  of  millions  of  our  kinsmen.  It  makes  me 
say,  "  Great  King,  guide  the  widowed  nation  I  Great  Father,  comfort  the 
widowed  wife  !  "  Having  interjected  that,  let  me  say  with  very  deep  con- 
viction that  I  think  Dr.  Tift'any  is  profoundly  right  when  he  warns  us 
against  pushing  at  anything  like  confederation  or  uniformity.  I  hold  that 
our  unity  is  a  much  higher,  a  much  deeper,  a  much  nobler,  a  much  more 
persistent  one  than  you  ever  can  get  by  uniformity  ;  and  that  the  tendency 
in  the  direction  of  uniformity  is  to  be  very  carefully  guarded  to  see  that 
it  comes  from  antecedent  love  and  antecedent  sympathy,  and  that  you  do 
not  try  to  create  the  union  by  external  bonds.  Let  us  grow  one  into_  another 
as  by  God's  blessing  we  shall  grow\  People  think  that  notliing  particularly 
practical  is  being  done  in  this  Ecumenical  Conference.  Tliey  are  only  in 
the  engine-house  where  there  is  not  a  spool  being  spun,  and  not  a  web  being- 
woven,  and  not  a  single  tissue  being  dyed.  There  is  nothing  being  done 
but  generating  power,  and  therefore  there  is  nothing  practical  being  done. 
Sir,  below  the  sky  the  two  most  practical  things  are  human  thought  and 
human  feeling,  and  what  you  have  been  doing  here  is  making  large  thoughts 
and  holy  feelings  ;  and  what  is  practically  being  done  is  that  here  the  large 
man  is  becoming  larger,  and  the  small  man  is  becoming  less  small ;  that 
here  the  broad  man  is  becoming  broader,  and  the  narrow  man  less  narrow  ; 
and  that  here  the  lonely  and  isolated  preacher  is  somehow  or  other  being 
unconsciously  attracted  to  others,  that  after  all  he  feels  they  are  more  like 
him  than  he  thought  they  could  be.  That  is  the  practical  thing.  And  what 
will  come  out  of  it  ?  Neither  you  nor  I,  sir,  can  tell ;  not  the  longest  head 
here  can  tell,  not  the  wisest  body  here  can  tell  what  will  come  out  of 
it.  God  knows  what  will  come  out  of  it — good  will  come  out  of  it  ; 
the  glory  of  God  will  come  out  of  it ;  peace  among  men  will  come  out  of 


GENERAL   REMARKS.  579 

it  ;  new  power  to  preach  Christ  will  come  out  of  it ;  new  consciousness 
that  wc  are  working  witli  brethren  and  for  brethren  and  among  brethren 
will  come  out  of  it  ;  free  union  to  scattered  branches  will  come  out  of  it — 
let  it  come  naturally  and  quietly.  I  should  be  very  glad  to  see  a  hymn- 
book  for  us  all,  and  I  do  not  think  it  impossible,  but  do  not  try  to  force  it. 
I  should  be  v"ery  glad  to  see  one  burial  service  for  us  all  ;  I  think  it  quite 
possible,  but  do  not  let  us  force  it.  I  should  never  be  glad  to  see  one 
ritual  for  our  public  worship  for  us  all — God  forbid  1  One  of  the  grandest 
things  in  ovir  unity  is  that  side  by  side  an  Episcopal  Church  and  a  non- 
Episcopal,  a  Liturgical  Church  and  a  non-Liturgical,  may  live  together  and 
work  together,  and  never  raise  a  question  of  breach  of  unity. 

Hon.  J.  W.  Tucker  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South) :  A  single 
thought  in  the  interest  of  catholicity  and  harmony.  It  is  this — that  among 
all  the  many  families  of  ]\tt'thodisui  there  should  be  true  affection,  and  no 
one  should  be  less  esteemed  than  all  the  others.  Representing,  in  part,  as 
a  layman,  the  second  largest  division  of  Methodist  families,  with  a  com- 
munion of  not  much  less  than  one  million  of  souls,  I  wanted  to  say  for 
my  people,  in  the  presence  of  the  spiritual  sons  of  Wesley  coming  here 
from  the  land  of  the  rising  and  the  setting  sun,  that  Methodism  there,  too, 
represents  Christianity  in  earnest  ;  there,  too,  before  and  since  the  unhappy 
late  war  in  America,  we  have  witnessed  the  doings  of  the  right  hand  of 
the  Son  of  God.  Our  people  are  deeply  interested  for  the  spread  and  pre- 
valence of  Christian  influence  in  our  own  country,  and  thoughtful  men  are 
particularly  in  the  evangelisation  of  the  coloured  people  of  the  United 
States.  These  people,  for  the  most  part,  are  represented  here  by  those 
who  come  from  my  own  south  land  ;  they  are  my  countrymen,  my  fellow 
eitixens,  my  neighbours,  my  brethren  in  Christ,  and  in  whom  tliere  is 
"  neither  Jew,  nor  Greek,  barbarian,  Scythian,  bond  or  free  ; "  but  in  Him 
all  are  one.  If  these,  my  brethren,  be  truly  pious,  as  I  assume  them  to  be, 
and  belifve  them  to  be,  then  they  are  my  brethren,  co-workers  in  the  Church 
of  Christ,  and  are  entitled  here  and  elsewhere  to  a  kind  consideration,  pro- 
portioned to  the  measure  of  faith  and  the  gifts  and  graces  ministered  to 
each  by  the  Holy  Spirit.  I  may  regret,  and  do,  the  frequent  references  on 
this  floor,  to  the  fact  that  these,  my  coloured  brethren,  were  not  always  free 
men.  These  references  are  not  germane  to  our  business,  productive  of 
no  good,  but  only  minister  to  an  unwholesome  sentiment.  Let  them  cease 
now,  here,  elsewhere,  and  for  evei'more.  The  thought  I  wish  to  announce 
is  a  wish,  a  hope,  a  prayer  that  the  three  ]\Ietliodist  organisations  in  the 
United  States,  embracing  the  coloured  people,  may,  in  the  order  of  Divine 
Providence,  happily  fuse  into  one  organisation,  and  that  their  united  forces 
may  be  directed  to  the  evangelisation  of  the  coloured  race  in  the  United 
States.  If  such  a  union  be  effected  they  are  much  more  likely  to  attract 
the  regards  of  the  Christian  world,  and  to  receive  that  material  aid  so  im- 
portant for  them  just  at  this  time.  Mr.  President,  I  may  never  see  another 
Q^^cumenical  Conference  of  Methodism.  When  we  adjourn  and  leave  this 
consecrated  place,  it  is  to  meet  again,  I  believe — I  joyously  believe — at  the 
marriage  feast  in  the  kingdom  of  God.  I  return  to  my  home,  with,  if 
possible,  broader  convictions  of  Christian  duty,  and  with  a  more  absolute 
unqualiiicd  consecration  of  all  I  am  and  have  and  hope,  to  the  service  of 
Christ  my  Lord. 

Bishop  Dickerson  (African  Methodist  Episcopal  Church) :  Standing  here, 
sir,  in  the  shadow  of  the  greatest  grief  that  ever  rested  upon  a  people,  I 
can  but  say  that  I  regard  this  topic  as  the  most  fitting  of  all  for  discussion 
a.t  this  time.  We  are  all  touched,  sir  ;  our  flags  are  at  half-mast,  our  people 
are  mourning  ;  but  I  cannot  forbear  to  remark  that  I  am  more  than  glad  to 
have  travelled  three  thousand  miles,  and  at  the  end  of  the  journey,  after 
sitting  with  my   brethren  in   council,  to   find  that   at  home  in  my  own 

r  p  2 


580  CHRISTIAN   UNITY. 

America  we  have  reached  the  Benlah-land.  I  was  not  quite  so  well  aware  of 
it.  I  take  it  at  least  for  granted  tliat  it  is  to  be  so  hereafter,  at  any  rate, 
that  all  is  to  be  well.  I  only  desire  to  say  that  I  regard  three  things  as 
essential  to  the  production  and  the  maintenance  of  Christian  harmony,  and 
the  bringing  about  of  catholicity  of  our  Methodism  in  the  United  States  of 
America.  First  of  all,  sir,  we  must  have,  each  and  all,  a  profound  respect 
one  for  the  other  ;  then,  secondly,  we  must  have  mutual  confidence  in  each 
other  ;  and,  thirdly  and  lastly,  sir,  a  mutual  sympathy  will  spring  out  of  it. 
I  will  not  detain  you  longer  ;  I  know  where  your  thoughts  wander  when 
the  bell  rings,  but  may  God  grant  us  so  to  live,  and  so  to  do,  that  we  may 
always  hereafter  dwell  in  peace;  that,  in  the  spirit  and  in  the  language  in 
which  the  call  was  issued  to  the  Western  division,  in  essentials  we  maj'- 
have  unity,  we  may  have  oneness  ;  in  non-essentials  we  may  have  liberty, 
broad,  Christian,  brotherly  liberty  ;  and  in  all  things  the  crowning  grace, 
charity.  Havmg  this,  sir,  all  will  be  well.  I  think  that  we  shall  carry 
with  us  the  spirit  of  this  CEcumenical  Conference,  where  there  is  no  Jew, 
no  Greek,  no  bond,  no  free — all  one  in  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord. 

The  Benediction  having  been  pronounced  the  Conference  ad- 
journed. .  , 

ACTION  OF  THE  AMERICAN  DELEGATES. 

At  the  close  of  the  morning  session,  the  American  delegates 
assembled  in  the  chapel,  and,  on  motion  of  Dr.  Walden,  Bishop 
Simpson  was  called  to  the  chair,  and  a  committee  appointed  to 
prepare  a  minute  with  reference  to  the  death  of  President  Garfield. 
A  resolution  was  also  passed  requesting  the  publication  of  the 
minute  in  the  official  record  of  the  proceedings  of  the  Conference. 
The  meeting  was  closed  by  prayer,  offered  by  Bishop  McTyeire,  in 
behalf  of  President  Garfield's  family  in  their  present  bereavement. 


!«     lllcmormnT. 

At  the  close  of  the  morning  session  of  the  Methodist 
(Ecumenical  Conference,  the  American  delegates  were  called 
together,  and  the  meeting  Avas  organised  by  the  appointment 
of  Bishop  Simpson,  as  president,  and  Bishop  McTyeire,  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  as  vice-president. 
The  Rev.  Arthur  Edwards,  of  Chicago,  and  Gen.  Clinton  B. 
Fisk  were  chosen  secretaries. 

The  telegraphic  report  of  the  last  moments  of  President 
Garfield  was  then  read  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Newman,  and  a 
committee,  consisting  of  the  four  officers  of  the  meeting, 


BUSINESS   PROCEEDINGS.  581 

with  Bishop  Pciyne,  Dr.  McFerrin,  Hon.  E.  0.  Stannard,  Dr. 
J.  P.  Newman,  Dr.  W.  H.  Wheeler,  Dr.  J.  M.  Walden,  and 
Judge  R.  H.  East,  was  formed  to  prepare  a  proper  minute 
for  adoption  by  the  Americans  of  the  Conference,  and  a 
telegram  to  be  sent  to  the  fiimily  of  the  late  President. 

Prayer  was  then  offered  by  Bishop  McTyeire,  after  which 
the  meeting  adjourned. 

The  Committee  met  at  once,  and  adopted  the  following 
resolution  : — 

"  The  American  delegates  to  the  Methodist  Ecumenical 
Conference,  at  a  meeting  held  in  London,  September  20th, 
1881,  unanimously  adopted  the  following  minutes: — Ee- 
solved,  that  we  have  heard  with  profound  sorrow  of  the 
death  of  James  A.  Garfield,  President  of  the  United  States, 
which  blow  falls  all  the  more  jiainfully  upon  our  heads 
because  it  comes  to  us  in  a  foreign  land.  We  join  our 
countrymen  everywhere  in  mourning  our  great  national 
loss.  President  Garfield  was  an  able  statesman,  a  pure 
man,  a  humble  Christian.  We  most  sincerely  sympathise 
with  the  noble,  faithful  wife,  Mrs.  Garfield,  who  has  given 
to  the  world  a  higher  suggestion  of  Christian  strength  and 
wifely  devotion.  We  commend  her  and  her  children,  and 
the  President's  aged  mother,  to  God  and  to  the  Word  of 
His  grace,  praying  that  they  may  be  Divinely  comforted." 

The  above  was  telegraphed  to  Mrs.  Garfield,  with  a 
proper  statement  of  the  circumstances  under  which  the 
resolution  was  adoDted. 


In  the  Afternoon  the  Conference  reassembled  at  Half-past  Two, 
Rev.  Dr.  H.  Pope  again  presiding.  After  the  devotional  exercises. 
Rev.  Dr.  Buckley  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church)  brought  up  the 
report  of  the  committee  appointed  to  prepare  a  reply  to  the  letter 
addressed  to  the  Conference  by  the  Pan-Presbyterian  Council.  It 
was  as  follows  : — 

"  Honoured  Fathers  and  Brethren,— We  hare  great  pleasure  in  assur- 
ing you  of  the  deep  interest  and  Cliristian  emotion  with  which  your  letter, 
presented  by  ]Mr.  llugli  Matheson,  was  received  by  us  in  CEcunienical 
Conference  assembled.  It  was  eminently  fitting  that  you  should  precede  U3 
in  holding  such  a  Council  of  all  who  agree  in  doctrine  and  government 


582  BUSINESS   PROCEEDINGS. 

having  so  preceded  us,  it  became  possible  for  you  to  initiate  this  fraternal 
correspondence.  In  view  of  the  friendly  intercourse  now  of  long  time 
established  and  continually  increasing  between  many  of  your  ministers  and 
congregations  in  all  parts  of  the  world  and  our  own,  there  could  have  been 
no  doubt  in  your  minds  as  to  the  spirit  in  which  your  advances  would  be 
iieceived.  Whatever  may  be  the  difference  in  our  views  of  some  of  the  more 
recondite  elements  of  systematic  divinity,  on  the  cardinal  principles  of  human 
depravity,  the  necessity  of  regeneration,  the  guilt  of  all  men,  and  tlie 
necessity  of  recouciliadon  to  God  through  the  propitiation  and  mediation  of 
Jesus  Christ,  the  divinity  of  our  Lord,  justification  by  faith,  and  the 
probationary  character  of  this  life,  we  witness  the  same  confession  of  faith. 
Neither  confused  by  the  subtlety,  nor  dismayed  by  the  arrogance  of 
infidelity,  we  steadfastly  hold  with  you  to  the  inspiration  of  the  Holy 
Scriptures,  and  without  fear  of  the  anathemas  of  the  Roman  Church,  from 
whose  power  the  devotion  and  courage  of  your  spiritual  fathers  so  greatly 
contributed  to  free  us,  we  maintain  tlie  rights  of  private  judgment.  If  the 
exercise  of  that  right  leads  us  to  differ  in  a  few  points,  we  devoutly  thank 
the  Great  Head  of  the  Church  that  He  has  led  us  to  such  general  unanimity, 
and  to  zeal  for  the  conversion  of  the  worij  to  Christ.  Whatever  the 
struggles  awaiting  the  Christian  Cburch  may  be,  we  shall  confidently  rely 
upon  you  to  defend  evangelical  principles  against  extremes  of  Romanism 
and  Rationalism,  and  against  all  "Romanising  germs"  in  the  Protestant 
Communion ;  and  in  dependence  upon  the  God  of  our  fathers,  we  pledge 
you  the  co-operation  of  all  true  Methodists  everywhere.  Permit  us,  in 
conclusion,  honoured  fatheis  and  brethren,  to  express  the  hope  that  your 
prosperity  in  Christ  may  increase  more  and  more,  and  that  all  who  love  the 
Lord  Jesus  in  truth,  as  it  is  justly  set  forth  in  the  '  Preface  to  the  Harmony 
of  the  Confessions  of  the  Reformed  Churches,'  being  by  a  friendly  league 
united  together  in  Christ,  may  vanquish  all  antichi-ists,  and  may  sing  that 
hymn  to  the  Lord  our  God,  '  Behold  how  good  and  joyful  a  thing  it  is  for 
brethi'en  to  dwell  together  in  unity.' " 

On  the  motion  of  the  E,EV.  Dr.  George  the  report  was  adopted. 

Bishop  Peck  brought  up  the  revised  Pastoral  Address,  and  stated 
that  he  had  made  the  changes  suggested,  substituting  "  Christian 
baptism"  for  "holy  baptism,"  and  had  added  a  passage  against  war, 
and  in  favour  of  adjusting  international  difficulties  by  peaceful 
arbitration. 

ADDRESS  OF  THE   CECUMENICAL   CONFERENCE. 

The  Methodist  (Ecumenical  Conference,  to  the  Ministers  and 
Members  of  all  the  Methodist  Churches  throughout  the 
World, — Greeting. 

Dear  Brethren, — Some  four  hundred  delegates,  representing  four 
million  eight  hundred  thousand  members,  and  not  far  from  twenty 
millions  of  people  in  all,  assembled  in  the  City  Road  Chapel,  London, 
England,  on  the  7th  day  of  September,  1881 ,  to  look  carefully  into  our 


BUSINESS    PROCEEDINGS.  583  ' 

r 

condition,  history,  and  responsibilities,  and  to  promote  a  good  under- 
standing and  hearty  co-operation  with  each  other. 

From  all  known  organisations  of  Methodists  (twenty-six  iu  number) 
we  have  met  for  twelve  days,  and,  in  the  spirit  of  prayer,  conferred 
together,  with  many  evidences  of  the  Divine  favor  and  blessing.  From 
distant  lands,  and  of  divers  nations  and  languages,  we  have  enjoyed  "  the 
unity  of  the  Spirit  in  the  bonds  of  peace."  We  have  considered,  with  as 
much  thoroughness  as  time  and  opportunity  would  permit,  many  of  the 
great  questions  which  concern  the  prosjierity  of  Methodism,  and  we  are 
happy  to  state  that  we  have  reached  substantial  agreement  in  all  important 
particulars,  coming  fairly  within  the  scope  of  our  Conference. 

You  are  familiar  with  the  duties  of  piety  and  virtue.  We  shall  not, 
therefore,  rehearse  them  in  detail  after  the  usual  manner  of  a  pastoral 
address  ;  but  we  deem  it  right  to  submit  to  you  a  few  plain,  practical 
suggestions. 

With  humble  views  of  ourselves  let  us  trust  in  God  only. 

We  are  happy  to  observe  decided  tendencies  to  a  closer,  if  not  organic, 
union  with  each  other.  The  example  of  three  of  the  IMctliodist  Churches 
in  Canada,  and  two  in  Ireland,  indicates  that  when  Providence  points  the 
way,  our  different  bodies  in  the  same  countries  may  be  brought  into  one, 
with  promise  of  largely-increased  usefulness.  Such  unions,  Ave  believe, 
should  be  prudently  managed,  and  when  they  occur  under  favourable 
auspices,  should  be  hailed  with  great  joy. 

But  while  many  are  praying  and  waiting  for  them,  let  us  respect  each 
other,  especially  in  all  matters  of  church  discipline,  and  maintain  just  and 
truly  fraternal  relations  ;  and  being  one  in  doctrines,  aims,  and  essential 
methods,  and  really  one  spiritual  organism,  let  us  bring  together  annually 
in  one  year-book  the  results  of  our  labours  under  God,  and  be  known 
ever,vwhere  as  one  Methodist  Church.  To  promote  these  most  desirable 
results  we  advise  tliat  our  ecclesiastical  bodies  frequently  exchange  fra- 
ternal greetings,  either  by  letter  or  by  deputations. 

Let  the  Church  be  regarded  as  a  Divine  institution  for  the  salvation  of 
men,  by  clear  conversions  and  entire  sanctification,  through  faith  in  Christ, 
by  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost;  by  continued  growth  in  grace,  and  by 
the  constant,  faithful  labours  of  all  its  members. 

As  essential  to  the  edification  of  the  Church  let  us  draw  the  attention 
and  affections  of  our  people  to  the  regular,  established  means  of  grace,  as 
of  Divine  appointment.  Let  us  maintain  in  great  strength  the  public 
preaching  of  the  Word,  by  regularly  appointed  pastors  and  by  local 
preachers.  Let  all  our  members  faithfully  attend  the  holy  Sacrament  of 
the  Lord's  Supper.  Let  us  vigorously  sustain  our  weekly  prayer-meetings 
and  quarterly  love-feasts.  Let  us  revive  and  fully  maintain  our  class- 
meetings,  and  rest  not  until  all  our  people  attend  them  with  all  practicable 
regularity.  Let  us  organise  our  most  devoted  men  and  M'omen  for  work 
in  neglected  districts,  to  distribute  tracts,  and  look  after  the  poor  and  the 
wicked  ;  to  gatlier  them  into  the  churches,  and  their  children  into  the 


584  BUSINESS   PEOCEEDINGS. 

Sunday-schools.  Let  this  Cliristian  visiting  become  regular  and  thorough, 
and  employ  all  our  people  in  seeking  and  saving  the  lost.  Let  all  our 
local  preachers  have  regular  appointments,  and  let  them,  as  well  as  the 
pastors,  preach  frequently  in  the  open  air,  or  under  such  slielter  as  they 
can  find,  that  the  Gospel  may  reach  those  who  do  not  attend  the  churches. 
vVe  will  extend  the  warm  hand  of  Christian  fellowship  to  our  evangelical 
brethren  of  all  the  Churches.  We  will  encourage  lay  preaching,  and  watch 
carefully  tlie  leadings  of  Providence,  and  i£  we  find  any  casting  out  devils 
in  the  name  of  Christ  we  will  not  forbid  them,  though  they  follow  not  us. 
We  deem  it  right  that  our  pastors  should  lead  and  avail  themselves  of  all 
truly  evangelistic  labours,  by  godlj^  persons  evidently  called  of  God  to 
this  holy  work,  for  the  salvation  of  souls,  and  the  building  up  of  the 
organised  Church  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

Next  to  the  Christian  household,  the  Church  should  be  the  most  delight- 
ful home  of  our  children  and  young  people.  Let  its  services,  employments, 
and  social  refinements  fully  meet  their  largest,  purest  desires  for  happi- 
ness, leading  them  to  "  turn  away  from  such  diversions  as  cannot  be  used 
in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus."  We  must,  in  this  and  in  all  proper  ways 
seek  to  destroy  the  worldly  influences  which  are  coming  in  upon  us  like  a 
flood. 

In  further  definition  of  the  true  idea  of  the  Church,  we  insist  upon  a 
Ministry  called  of  God,  and  sanctioned  by  His  blessing,  with  constantly- 
improving  culture,  aiming  at  the  highest ;  expecting  our  preachers  to  be 
taken  from  all  classes  of  good  and  sensible  men,  insisting  that  their  preach- 
ing shall  be  loyal  to  the  law  and  the  Gospel,  in  their  revealed  penalties  of 
endless  punishment  to  the  finally  impenitent,  and  in  their  holy  love  for  the 
souls  of  men.  Let  all  our  preaching  be  "  in  the  demonstration  of  the  Spirit 
and  of  power." 

We  recognise  as  of  highest  importance  the  conversion  and  Christian 
nurture  of  children.  To  this  end  let  them  be  solemnly  consecrated  to  God 
in  Christian  baptism,  and  let  us  obsei-ve  with  pious  care  all  the  obligations 
of  the  baptismal  covenant.  All  children  are  to  be  regarded  as  redeemed  by 
the  blood  of  Christ,  and  as  dear  to  Him  and  justly  entitled  to  the  tenderest 
care  of  the  Church.  They  should  be  taught  at  home  and  in  all  our  Sunday- 
schools  the  doctrines  of  our  Church,  and  be  educated  in  all  the  principles 
of  our  holy  Christianity.  Let  one  day  in  every  year  be  faithfully  observed 
as  "  children's  day."  Especially  would  we  charge  all  our  people  to  see  that 
their  children  regularly  attend  the  preaching  of  the  Word.  The  Sunday- 
school  is  of  highest  moment  for  the  study  of  the  Holy  Bible,  and  the 
gracious  influences  which  attend  wise  and  faithful  instruction.  It  should 
constantly  add  numbers  to  its  millions  in  attendance.  Its  modern  progress 
in  scholarly  adjustments  to  the  great  ends  it  is  appointed  to  serve,  give  the 
largest  promise  as  to  its  future  mission.  Let  it  be  carried  forward  by 
ample  means,  thorough  study,  and  the  constant  presence  and  participation 
of  the  adult  members  of  our  congregations.  It  is,  however,  on  no  account 
to  take  the  place  of  public  Divine  service.     Let  us,  by  the  promptest  and 


BUSINESS   PROCEEDINGS.  585 

most  kindly  influences,  check  the  alarming  tendencies  to  this  result,  and  see 
that  we  do  not  in  our  Sunday-schools  rear  a  generation  of  Church  neglecters. 
In  order  to  this,  let  the  pastor  be  firmly  identified  with  the  Bchool. 

In  our  Schools  and  Colleges  of  all  grades  we  should  insist  upon  reaching 
the  highest  standard  of  excellence  in  science,  literature,  and  the  arts.  With 
the  breadth  and  discrimination  practicable  to  a  cultivated  people,  let  us 
lead  our  students  to  the  purest  and  largest  sources  of  knowledge  ;  but  in 
the  character  of  professors  and  teachers,  in  the  principles  tauglit,  in  Chris- 
tian privileges,  in  revivals  of  religion  and  loyalty  to  Jesus  Christ,  let  all 
our  schools  and  higher  seminaries  of  learning  be  thorough  Methodist 
institutions.  And  we  beg  our  people  to  send  their  sons  and  daughters  to 
our  own  schools  and  colleges,  and  especially  not  to  expose  them  to  the  in- 
sidious and  perilous  influences  of  Roman  Catholic  schools,  or  schools  of 
Eomish  tendency. 

It  is  fitting  tliat  we  should  move  in  the  front  ranks  of  Christian  phflan- 
thropy.  .  To  render  this  possible,  let  all  our  people,  young  and  old,  be 
trained  to  the  entire  consecration  of  property,  and  hence  to  liberal 
systematic  giving,  "  according  to  the  ability  which  God  giveth."  Then 
not  only  will  our  Church  treasuries  be  full,  but  our  men  of  means  will 
bear  their  proper  part  in  the  broader  charities  required  to  ameliorate  the 
condition  of  the  human  race. 

We  have  before  us  the  high  obligation,  in  co-operation  with  our  fellow- 
Christians,  to  give  the  Holy  Bible  to  all  people  in  all  languages. 

We  must  everywhere  stand  firmly  by  the  true  historic  Christian  Sabbath. 

There  must,  moreover,  be  a  large  measure  of  the  missionary  spirit 
amongst  us.  The  Lord  has  set  before  us  everywhere  open  doors.  We  must 
enter  these  doors  and  advance  in  all  lands,  or  incur  the  Divine  displeasure. 
While  souls,  perishing  by  millions,  are  crying  to  us  for  the  Gospel,  we,  in 
our  vast  numbers,  are  giving  an  average  of  only  a  few  pennies  a  year  for 
the  cause  of  missions,  and  expending  our  means  largely  for  luxuries  at 
home!  Brethren,  there  must — absolutely  must — be,  from  this  epoch  of 
our  history,  a  grand  uprising  of  the  Methodist  people  for  the  salvation  of 
the  world.  We  must,  in  our  giving,  make  the  transition  from  impulse 
to  principle.  For  this  purpose  let  correct  information  be  spread  every- 
where, in  periodicals,  tracts,  and  volumes  ;  by  conversation,  lecturing,  and 
preaching.  Let  the  monthly  concert  of  prayer  for  missions  become  the 
regular  habit  of  the  church.  Let  not  our  contributions  be  confined  to 
missionary  days  or  great  public  occasions,  but  let  them  be  frequent  and 
regular,  and  extend  through  the  year.  Let  all  our  Sunday-schools  become 
organised  Missionary  Societies.  Let  the  missionary  cause  be  remembered 
every  day  in  closet  and  family  prayer,  and  become  the  object  of  dearest 
affection  and  liveliest  interest  to  parents  and  children.  Let  us  entreat 
God  to  give  the  churches  everywhere  a  gracious  quickening  of  love  for 
souls.  Then  will  our  thousands  be  turned  to  millions,  and  more  rapid 
progress  than  we  have  ever  known  will  honour  God  and  build  up  the 
Church  in  all  her  interests. 


58  0  BUSINESS   PROCEEDINGS. 

"We  beg  also  to  say  that  it  is  time  that  onr  Chapels,  Churches,  and  Insti- 
tutions of  learning  should  be  relieved  from  debt,  and  no  more  of  the 
Lord's  precious  money  be  sunk  in  interest.  We  are  persuaded  that  with 
the  proper  determination  this  might  all  be  achieved  in  a  brief  period  of 
time.  We  entreat  our  brethren  to  move  forward  in  this  great  enterprise 
promptly  and,  as  nearly  as  possible,  simultaneously  throughout  the  world. 

In  the  building  of  churches  and  chapels,  let  us  avoid  all  extravagance, 
and  study  economy,  convenience,  chaste  architecture,  and  good  taste. 
While  we  are  advancing  rapidly  in  the  construction  of  houses  of  worship 
suitable  for  all  classes,  let  us  make  the  poorest  welcome  to  the  best  of 
them,  and  let  us  aid  the  destitute  and  struggling  on  our  frontiers,  and  all 
over  the  land,  to  provide  houses  of  worship,  however  humble,  for  them- 
selves, their  children,  and  their  neighbours. 

All  our  families  and  Sunday-schools  should  be  constantly  supplied  with 
periodicals  and  books  from  our  own  publishing  houses.  By  the  use 
of  fresh,  entertaining,  and  elevated  literature,  let  our  people,  young  and 
old,  be  saved  from  the  contaminating  influence  of  a  vicious  press. 

We  cannot  fail  to  know  that  the  alarming  evils  of  intemperance  demand 
the  prompt  attention  of  all  lovers  of  our  race.  The  world  is  literally 
groaning  in  anguish  under  the  wronsrs  which  come  from  this  evil.  It  is  so 
general,  and  so  fortified  by  class  interest,  and  intrenched  in  the  depraved 
appetites  of  men,  that  it  will  not  yield  to  mild  remedies,  and  there  are 
gratifying  evidences  that  there  has  already  begun  a  grand  uprising  of 
Christian  power  against  it.  Do  we  not  owe  it  to  the  memory  of  our  great 
founder,  whose  trenchant  words  are  still  ringing  round  the  world  ;  to  our 
history,  showing  that  for  more  than  a  century  we  have  led  public  opinion 
against  this  great  wrong  ;  and  to  the  truth  of  our  holy  religion,  to  stand  in 
this  reform  also  in  the  front  rank  of  philanthropists  ? 

While  we  must  allow  that  circumstances  are  diverse  in  the  several 
countries  from  which  we  come,  and  that  our  brethren  must  judge  for 
themselves  of  what  is  practicable  in  methods  and  imperative  in  duty 
where  they  reside,  may  we  not  assure  those  who  are  engaged  in  this 
struggle  that  they  can  depend  upon  more  than  four  million  Methodists  to 
give  all  the  force  of  a  consistent  example  and  of  private  and  public  influ- 
ence to  diminish,  as  rapidly  as  possible,  and  finally  remove  f  rona  the  world, 
this  grievous  crime? 

AVith  equal  earnestness  we  bear  our  testimony  against  war,  and  insist 
upon  the  most  thorough  efforts  of  nations  to  settle  all  difficulties  by 
peaceful  arbitration.  ' 

Finally,  brethren,  we  most  earnestly  desire  that  our  people  should  avoid 
all  self-laudation.  We  have  reached  numbers  and  wealth  and  power, 
which  fearfully  expose  us  to  temptations  to  church  pride.  If  we  yield  to 
these  temptations  we  shall  grievously  sin  against  God.  There  is  but  one 
way  to  avoid  our  dangers.  We  must  humble  ourselves  in  the  dust.  We 
must,  in  all  our  millions,  consecmte  all  we  have  and  are  to  Christ  and  His 
holy  work.  We  must  reach  the  vale  of  humility,  at  the  foot  of  the  cross, 
and  remain  there.     The  power  of  mighty  faith,  of  all-conquering  prayer, 


BUSINESS   PROCEEDINGS.  687 

and  of  inwfird  anrl  outward  holiness,  will  save  us.  To  this,  from  this 
(Ecumenical  Conference,  we  send  out  the  call  in  the  name  of  the  Master. 
Let  us  cry  to  God  night  and  day  for  a  great  awaking,  for  a  revival  that 
shall  shake  the  nations.  Let  us  call  up  the  old  simplicity,  directness,  and 
holy  energy  which  made  us  what  we  are.  and  thus  enter  upon  anew  era  of 
power  "to  spread  Scriptural  holiness  over  all  lands." 

Let  us  claim  as  our  inheritance  these  words  of  Wesley,  "The  world  is 
my  parish,"  and  "  The  best  of  all  is,  God  is  with  us," 

And  now,  brethren,  we  commend  you  to  God,  and  to  the  word  of  His 
grace,  which  is  able  to  build  you  up,  and  to  give  you  an  inheritance  among 
all  them  that  are  sanctified, 

(Signed) 

G.  OSBORN,  C.  KENDALL, 

JESSE  T.  PECK,  G.  DOUGLAS, 

J.  STACEY,  W.  ARTHUR, 

S.  B.  SOUTHERLAND,  D.  A.  PAYNE, 

E.  E.  JENKINS,  R.  CHEW, 

H.  N.  McTYEIRE,  H.  POPE, 

Presidents  of  the  Conference. 

JOHN  BOND,  J.  SWANN  WITHINGTON, 

A.  C.  GEORGE,  A.  SUTHERLAND, 

Secretaries  of  the  Conference. 

Rev.  H.  p.  Hughes  (Wesleyan  Methodist)  :  I  called  Bishop  Peck's 
attention  to  the  former  resolution  with  reference  to  war.  and  I  am  very 
grateful  to  hear  that  it  is  now  placed  in  the  Pastoral  Address  ;  but  this 
Conference  has  also  expressed  a  formal  and  unanimous  opinion  with  regard. 
to  two  other  social  evils,  the  opium  tralBc,  and  State  regulation  of  vice  ; 
and  as  this  Conference  has  by  formal  vote  referred  to  these  evils,  as  well 
as  to  temperance  and  to  war,  I  respectfully  submit  that  it  is  very  desirable 
that  some  discreet  and  proper  reference  should  be  made  to  them,  similar  to 
that  with  regard  to  war.  This  document  will  have  an  immense  influence, 
and  the  opinions  of  this  Conference  will  have  greater  weight  if  they  find 
place  in  this  Pastoral  Address. 

Rev.  Dr.  Todd  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church)  :  I  simply  want  to  suggest 
that  this  is  no  time  to  make  suggestions  like  these.  The  committee  which 
had  this  Pastoral  Address  in  charge,  notified  the  Conference  when  and 
where  they  would  meet,  and  asked  any  person  who  had  any  suggestion 
to  make,  to  make  it  ai  that  time  and  place.  They  come  now  with  all  the 
corrections  suggested  to  them,  and  brethren  get  up  and  make  new  sug- 
gestions.    At  this  rate  there  will  never  be  an  end. 

Bishop  Peck  :  The  title  of  this  Paper,  I  think,  should  not  be  "  Pastoral." 
We  are  not  pastors  ;  it  should  be  "Address."  I  have  left  it  in  that  form. 
I  want  your  attention  to  a  phrase  in  the  address.  It  is  there  proposed  that 
we  combine  our  statistics  and  so  on  in  one  Year-book.  I  wish  the  Confer- 
ence would  allow  me  to  move  that  the  Book  Steward  in  London  and  the 
Book  Agents  in  New  York  be  requested  to  prepare  such  a  Year-book,  and 
thai  the  official  returns  of  the  several  Connexions  be  made  to  these  officers. 

The  motion,  having  been  seconded  by  a  Delegate,  was  agreed  to. 

Rev.  Dr.  Reid  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church)  brought  up  the  report  of 
the  committee  on  "  Waste  in  Foreign  Missions."     "  It  is  much  to  be  desired 


588  CHRISTIAN   UNITY. 

that  the  variouf?  Methodist  bodies  that  have  established  missions  in  foreign 
lands  should  prosecute  their  work  with  the  largest  possible  economy  o£ 
men  and  means,  and  with  the  greatest  harmony  and  efficiency  ;  and  the 
(Ecumenical  Conference  would,  therefore,  suggest  the  following  general 
examples  : — (1)  That  any  Methodist  body  desiring  to  take  up  a  new 
mission-field  should,  if  possible,  select  one  not  occupied  by  any  other 
Methodist  body:  or  if  the  field  be  h.ige  enough  to  admit  of  joint  occupancy, 
a  portion  of  the  field  should  be  chosen  not  ah-eady  occupied  by  Methodists; 
or  if  the  work  must  necessarily  be  intermingled,  cities  and  towns  not 
already  occupied  by  Methodists  should  be  chosen  by  those  proposing  to 
enter,  always  considering,  however,  that  it  may  be  important  to  have 
centres  for  each  body  in  the  capital  cities  of  states  and  provinces,  and  that 
some  cities  are  of  such  great  population  as  to  admit  of  joint  occupancy, 
(2)  In  case  of  any  trespass,  real  or  imaginary,  upon  these  guiding  prin- 
ciples we  advise  that  the  largest  measure  of  forbearance  and  charity  be 
exercised.  Alienation  or  strife  in  the  presence  of  those  whom  we  came  to 
save  must  be  exceedingly  disastrous.  Let  each  case  of  alleged  interference 
be  fraternally  and  carefully  examined  by  the  missionaries,  all  the  considera- 
tions, pro  and  con,  be  carefully  weighed,  and  a  decision  reached  that  shall 
not  be  tainted  by  any  selfishness  or  desire  for  denominational  aggrandise- 
ment, but  solely  influenced  by  pure  and  noble  desires  for  the  greatest  glory 
of  our  common  Master  and  the  greatest  good  of  His  kingdom.  (3)  That 
when  different  bodies  of  Methodists,  for  any  reason,  have  entered  the  same 
field,  there  should  be  the  frankest  and  most  brotherly  mutual  recognition, 
and,  as  far  as  possible,  co-operation.  Where  this  prevails,  any  evils  that 
might  possibly  arise  will  be  reduced  to  a  minimum,  and  beneficial  influ- 
ences might  even  arise  from  the  loving  co-existence  of  the  bodies  in  the 
same  field.  (4)  We  are  not  prepared  to  recommend  any  general  council  of 
reference  for  the  adjustment  of  such  cases.  The  evils  complained  of  have 
not  assumed  such  dimensions  as  to  warrant  such  proposal.  Indeed,  from 
an  examination  of  this  subject  we  think  the  evil  may  be  far  less  in  extent 
than  is  generally  supposed,  and,  whatever  may  be  the  extent  of  the  evil 
complained  of,  we  must  look  for  Its  ultimate  remedy,  not  to  any  tribunal  of 
adjustment,  but  to  the  prevalence  of  the  spirit  of  brotherly  kindness  and 
Christian  wisdom  among  the  missionaries  themselves,  and  in  the  boards  and 
committees  of  direction.  (5)  Your  committee  cannot  refrain  from  adding, 
as  pertinent  to  this  subject,  that  the  tone  of  home  feeling  and  the  practice 
of  the  home  churches  must  largely  inspire  and  influence  the  missionaries  of 
the  foreign  fields  in  all  their  relations  to  each  other.  When  the  feeling  of 
fraternity  and  catholicity  has  sufficiently  penetrated  the  churches  at  home, 
and  influenced  the  home  practices,  there  will  be  little  likelihood  of  mis- 
understanding and  collision  in  the  mission-field  abroad. 

The  report  was  adopted. 

David  Allison,  LL.D.  (Methodist  Church  of  Canada),  read  the 
following  essay  on  Methodum  as  a  Bond  of  Brotherhood  among  the 
Nations. 

I  shall  not  subject  to  rigorous  analysis  and  definition  the  terms  of 
tte  fine  rhetorical  phrase  which  has  been  assigned  to  me  as  a  themo. 
There  is  assumed  the  classification  of  the  human  race  into  distinct 
iia.tional  communities  and  organisations.  Considered  generically,  these 
political  divisions  of  mankind  may  claim  a  Divine  purpose  and  approv 


DAVID  ALLISON'S  ADDRESS.  589 

in  certain  clearly  indicated  arrangements  of  Providence,  even  if  their 
principle  is  not  tanght  as  a  sort  of  minor  truth  in  St.  Paul's  sublime 
assurance  that  the  Invisible  Creator  "  hath  made  of  one  blood  all 
nations  of  men  to  dwell  upon  the  face  of  the  earth."  Of  course,  all 
modifications  or  disruptions  of  what  may,  perhaps,  be  termed  natural 
lines  and  principles  of  division,  under  the  play  of  the  almost  infinite 
variety  of  human  motive,  must  be  judged,  each  by  itself,  in  the  light 
of  its  own  historical  circumstances. 

National  divisions  of  mankind  being  then  assumed,  the  importance  of 
international  brotherliness  of  sentiment  and  conduct  is  recognised,  and 
I  am  asked  to  say  a  few  words  on  Methodism  as  a  means  of  promoting 
it.  If  the  tendency  of  Methodism  can  be  shown  to  be,  in  any  con- 
spicuous degree,  towards  ufiiting  as  friends  and  brothers,  the  people  of 
separated  communities,  a  new  and  attractive  phase  of  its  mission  will 
be  revealed.  For  nobler,  far,  than  the  poetic  dream  of  "  The  ParUa- 
mentof  man,  the  Federation  of  the  world,"  is  the  conception  of  the 
nations  as  each  occupying  its  allotted  sphere,  each  with  its  distinctive 
type  of  institution,  its  peculiar  current  of  national  life,  yet  each 
animated  in  respect  to  all  the  others  by  the  spirit  of  fraternal  sympathy 
and  love — a  spirit  growing  directly  out  of  a  common  recognition  of 
a  common  relationship  to  that  triumphant  and  ascended  Lord,  who 
holds  in  His  pierced  hand  the  sceptre  of  universal  dominion,  and  who 
is  "  Prince  of  the  kings  of  the  earth." 

"With  some  uncertainty  as  to  the  exact  mind  of  those  who  framed  my 
subject  I  give  it  a  political  or  national  rather  than  an  ethnic  interpre- 
tation. I  suj)pose  that  the  word  nations  is  used  in  a  strict  sense — 
political  persons  endowed  with  language,  reason,  conscience,  volition 
Between  these,  Methodism  is  to  be  conceived  of  as  an  agency  of  con- 
ciliation and  fraternity. 

It  would  be  a  fallacy  to  construct  my  argument,  if  argument  it  can 
be  called,  on  an  assumed  identity  of  Methodism  and  Christianity.  It 
would  be  easy  to  show  that  the  Divine  light  and  spiritual  power  of  the 
Christian  religion  are  the  most  effective  promoters  of  international 
concord,  but  this  would  prove  no  more  for  Methodism  than  for  any 
other  denomination  conceded  to  hold  and  teach  essential  Christian 
truth.  I  am  clearly  called  on  to  prove,  or  at  least  affirm,  something  of 
Methodism  distinctively. 

Let  us  then  briefly  consider  what  probabilities  may  be  fairly  raised 
in  view  of  its  fundamental  principles,  its  primary  law  of  life,  its 
essential  spirit. 

I.  As  it  does  not  present  the  spectacle  of  an  imposing  oecumenical 
ritual  and  of  a  grand  world-embracing  ecclesiastical  organisation,  so  it 
lacks  whatever  power  there  is  in  such  a  spectacle — and  human  nature 
would  be  quite  different  from  what  it  is  if  that  power  were  not  con- 
siderable— both  to  fascinate  the  imagination  and  to  stir  the  hf;art.  Our 
coming  together  here  is  the  "  outward  and  visible  sign  of  an  inward 


590  CHRISTIAN   UNITY. 

and  spiritual  "  unity.  It  testifies  that,  whatever  we  hold,  in  common 
or  apart,  of  either  doctrine  or  discipline,  we  do  not  presume  to 
identify  the  outer  framework,  the  human  scaffolding  of  our  little 
systems,  with  the  foundations  of  that  glorious  and  indefectible 
Church  which  the  Lord  bought  with  His  own  blood,  and  founded 
on  the  rock  of  His  own  truth.  Still,  the  fact  remains  that  in 
an  outward,  visible,  governmental  sense,  we  are  not  one  but  many. 
The  causes  of  this  external  diversity,  providential,  national,  personal, 
various,  are  not  to  be  inquired  into ;  but  the  question  cannot  be 
avoided,  Is  this  variety,  this  multiformity,  so  to  say,  of  Methodism 
capable  of  being  harmonised  with  that  idea  of  Methodism  here  pre- 
sented ?  I  think  it  is,  notwithstanding  the  concession  made  a 
moment  ago.  Indeed,  some  pages  of  human  history  would  almost 
throw  doubt  on  the  validity  of  that  concession,  and  lead  us  to  question 
if  the  aggregation  into  one  great  body,  under  one  system  of  Church 
government,  not  merely  of  all  Methodists,  but  of  all  "  who  jprofess  and 
call  themselves  Christians,"  would  of  itself  do  much  to  promote  the 
brotherhood  of  the  nations.  If  identity  of  ecclesiastical  j)olity  and 
ritual  is  a  guarantee  of  friendly  purpose  and  fraternal  feeling  among 
nations,  how  happened  it  that  when  the  visible  unity  of  Western 
Christendom  was  all  unbroken,  most  Christian  kings  waged  against 
others  wars  fiercer  than  which  never  deluged  the  earth  with  blood  ?  I 
allude  to  this,  not  to  underrate  the  salutary  influence  which  the  Church 
of  the  Middle  Ages  undoubtedly  exerted  in  important  respects,  both  on 
society  in  general,  and  on  the  relations  and  intercourse  of  nations,  but 
by  a  brief  historical  reference  to  show  that  it  is  not  in  the  literal 
unification  of  the  Methodist  bodies — however  desirable  this  may  be  in 
itself  in  whole  or  in  part — that  we  are  to  find  the  true  secret  of  their 
being  or  becoming  "  a  bond  of  brotherhood  among  the  nations."  A 
careful  balancing  of  considerations  would,  probably,  convince  us  that 
this  function  is  best  attained,  other  things  being  equal,  by  that  system 
which  combines  with  fixed  central  principles,  elastic  facility  of  adjust- 
ment in  non-essential  matters. 

II.  A  philosophical  inquiry  would  especially  ask  as  to  the  working  of 
the  doctrinal  ideas  of  Methodism.  No  doubt  all  dogmatic  truth  is 
imxDortant,  and  no  doubt,  as  our  theologians  delight  to  assure  us, 
Methodism  embraces  its  entire  circle,  quod  semper,  quod  nhique,  et  quod 
ah  omnibus.  But  as  a  matter  of  fact,  each  denomination  in  prosecuting 
its  special  mission  pushes  some  special  truths  to  the  front.  In  this 
Methodism  does  not  much  differ  from  others,  and  in  her  popular 
theology  lays  emphasis  on  those  Divine  ideas  which  alone  can  be  made 
the  basis  of  a  rational  scheme  of  brotherhood.  One  blood  flowing  in 
all  veins  ;  cue  ever -available  sacrifice  for  all  sin ;  one  sublime  relation- 
sliip  swallowing  up  all  minor  distinctions,  there  being  in  Christ  Jesus 
"  neither  Jew  nor  Greek,  neither  bond  nor  free  " — Himself  being  all 
and  in   all ; — it  is  the   Church  which  fii-mly  grasps  these  lofty  and 


DAVID  ALLISON'3  ADDRESS.  o91 

ennobling,  yet,  in  a  true  sense,  popular  doctrines,  and  -which  makes 
them  not  the  matter  of  occasional  statement,  and  carefullj'^  qualified 
acceptance,  but  the  very  life-blood  of  its  teaching,  -which  one  might  say 
logically  constitutes  itself  "  a  bond  of  brotherhood." 

III.  The  inquiry  should  extend  to  the  life  which  interpenetrates 
and  animates  the  forms  and  formulse  of  the  Church.  Dogma  may 
be  unqiiestionably  orthodox,  striking  its  roots  down  into  the  prc- 
foundest  depths  of  catholic  antiquity,  and  yet  be  a  very  dead  and  barren 
thing.  Are  there  not  missionary  members  of  this  Conference  who 
could  tell  us  of  even  great  liistoriQal  Protestant  communions,  with 
right  noble  confessions  and  symbols,  yet  themselves  so  corpse-like  that 
the  most  careful  auscultation  cannot  detect  in  them  the  faintest  pulse 
of  spiritual  life  ?  Such  Churches  have  no  power  for  the  promotion  of 
human  brotherhood.  Fraternity  for  our  purpose  means  friendliness, 
and  hearts  cannot  be  bound  together  by  a  cold  faith  of  the  head.  The 
Church  which  is  to  do  anything  wortliy  of  record  for  this  great  cause, 
must  teach  a  truly  spiritual  philosophy  ;  must  constantly  echo  the 
voice  of  the  Son  of  the  God.  "  Ye  shall  know  the  truth,  and  the 
truth  shall  make  you  free,"  must  be,  in  short,  not  simply  a  system  of 
polity  or  a  set  of  doctrines,  but  such  a  Divine  life  revealed  in  its 
members  as  shall  completely  dispel  the  monstrous  fiction  of  the  philo- 
sophers that  Divine  truth  is  essentially  unknowable.  So  long  as 
Methodism  does  and  is  all  this,  so  long  she  works  in  the  direction 
of  the  brotherhood  of  man. 

The  question  how  far  these  presumptions  have  justified  themselves 
in  actual  history  I  can  do  little  more  than  raise.  Indeed,  what  I  have 
said  a^iplies  to  brotherhood  within  nations,  or  brotherhood  between, 
individuals  of  different  nations,  rather  than  brotherhood  between  or 
among  nations.  My  argument — pardon  me,  it  is  an  argument;  you  do 
not  know  how  hard  it  is  to  apply  the  forms  of  syllogistic  reasoning 
to  a  poetical  phrase — sui^poses  several  things.  In  the  fii'st  place,  it 
supposes  nothing  at  all  respecting  nations  ruled  by  despotisms,  save 
to  omit  them  from  consideration  entirely.  Next,  it  takes  it  for  granted 
that  in  constitutionally-governed  countries,  where  the  people  are  the 
fountain  of  power,  the  action  of  governments  is  a  fair  average  reflection 
of  the  popular  sentiment  and  will.  It  also  assumes  that  Methodists 
understand  their  political  rights  and  privileges,  and  "  knowing,  dare 
maintain  them." 

A  complete  answer  to  the  question  would  require  us  to  consider  in 
what  nations  Methodism  is  planted,  the  extent  of  its  influence  therein 
as  measured  by  the  number,  intelligence,  and  activity  of  its  adherents, 
how  those  nations  are  governed,  and  especially  what  have  been  aod 
what  are  their  relations  to  each  other.  Some  of  these  data  could  be 
easily  obtained  :  others  are  peculiarly  elusive.  Let  me  simply  con- 
nect the  foregoing  theoretical  considerations  as  to  the  tendencies  of 
Methodist  polity,   doctrine,   and    life,  with   the   unsought   testimony 


592  CHRISTIAN   UNITY. 

borne  to  the  deep,  pervasive  national  influence  of  Methodism  by 
numerous  recent  witnesses  of  high  standing,  who  represent  every 
variety  of  liostile  philosophy  and  creed.  And  the  fact  is  at  once 
palpable  and  significant  that  the  nations  in  which  that  inflrience  is 
strongest  are  the  nations  fastest  bound  to  each  other  by  fraternal  ties. 
Without,  tlien,  affirming  that  Methodism  among  the  evangelical  com- 
munions has  earned  a  distinctive  right  to  the  title  of  "a  bond  of 
brotherhood,"  we  may  fairly  claim  that  it  has  contributed  its  full 
share  of  influence  to  whatever  amelioration  of  international  temper 
and  procedure  modern  times  liave  seen. 

I  would  recall  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  influence  to  which  I  have 
been  referring  is  not  simply,  perhaps  not  chiefly,  the  influence  of 
Methodism  as  a  Church,  or  ecclesiastical  organisation.  It  is  not  the 
influence  of  Methodism  in  the  last  analysis,  so  much  as  of  the 
Methodist  people.  Nor  is  it  the  influence  ctf  the  Methodist  people 
exerted  solely  through  religious  channels  or  media.  It  includes  the 
whole  range  of  influences  possible  to  God-fearing,  public-spirited  men, 
endowed  with  political  franchises  in  a  free  country.  Methodism  is  not 
a  mere  matter  of  articles  of  religion,  of  conferences,  of  ecclesiastical 
regulations,  of  class-meetings,  of  hymns.  The  Methodism  which  the 
rest  of  mankind  knows  consists  essentially  in  the  millions  of  men  and 
women  who  bear  the  name  of  IMethodists.  These  learn  from  their 
accredited  religious  teachers,  not  what  views  to  form  on  questions  a,nd 
policies  regarding  which  opinions  almost  necessarily  differ,  and  the 
pulpit  is  presumably  no  wiser  than  the  pew ;  not,  as  a  general  thing, 
how  to  act  in  this  or  that  peculiar  crisis,  but  the  great  fundamental 
lesson  of  subordinating  all  their  conduct,  personal  and  private,  public 
and  relative,  to  the  supreme  considerations  of  duty  to  God  and  duty  to 
man. 

Just  one  word  here.  The  critical  temper,  the  analytic  spirit  of  this 
age  extend  into  all  departments  of  thought  and  activity.  At  such  a 
time,  of  all  times,  confusing  and  misleading  language  should  be 
avoided.  All  forms  of  speech  lead  to  danger  which  seem  to  represent 
civil  society  and  its  institutions,  or  the  mass  of  men,  Christians  as  well 
as  others,  innocently  engaged  in  their  secular  pursuits,  as  identical 
with  that  terrible,  Christ-hating  world  of  the  New  Testament.  So  also 
a  clear  distinction  should  be  established  between  the  Church  as  an 
organised  institution  with  polity,  creed,  and  sacraments,  and  the 
Church  as  meaning  merely  Christian  men  and  women,  with  individual 
responsibilities.  Confusion  here  often  paralyses  that  individual  effort 
which  would  be  most  effectual,  and  less  frequently,  but  yet  too 
frequently,  involves  the  Church  in  enterprises  in  respect  to  which 
neither  her  obligation  nor  aptitude  is  apparent. 

Will  this  Conference  do  anything  for  the  great  cause  of  human 
brotherhood  ?  Undoubtedly  much  ;  but  as  regards  international  re- 
lations, am  I  not  justified  in  saying  that  it  will  do  most  where  least 


DAVID   ALLISON'S  ADDRESS.  593 

is  needed  ?  Between  that  greatest  of  empires,  the  i^ulsations  of  whose 
mighty  heart  are  sounding  in  our  ears,  and  that  greatest  of  republics 
over  whose  magnificent  expanse  there  hangs  to-day  a  cloud  of  darkest 
sorrow,  Christian  piety  and  principle  have  already  had  almost  their 
•*  perfect  work."  Tlie  cord  which  our  meeting  will  strengthen  was 
strong  when  it  began. 

A  religious  paper  of  this  city— the  organ,  as  I  understand,  of  the 
Cardinal  Archbishop  of  Westminster — in  an  article,  on  the  whole, 
most  temperate  and  appreciative,  politely  recalls  us  from  our  lofty 
statistical  soarings  by  reminding  us  that  we  are  but  an  Anglo-Saxon 
community.  Let  us  admit  that  there  is  a  strong  element  of  truth  in 
this  criticism.  We  must  admit  it.  Every  Church  represented  here, 
with,  I  believe,  a  single  exception,  has  its  ecclesiastical  centre  in 
either  the  British  Empire  or  the  United  States  of  America.  About 
ninety-nine  one-hundredths  of  us,  I  should  judge,  are  either  subjects 
of  the  former,  or  citizens  of  the  latter.  A  smaller  proportion,  but 
still  an  immense  majority  of  us,  are  Anglo-Saxons  in  a  strict  ethnical 
sense.  Other  speakers  have  shown  the  remarkable  power  which 
Methodism  has  evinced  for  the  intellectual  and  spiritual  lifting  up  of 
other  races.  The  statement  under  review  does  not  do  justice  to  the 
work  accomplished  outside  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  race  both  within  and 
without  the  territories  wherein  it  has  established  its  language  and 
civilisation.  But  let  that  go.  Let  us  simply  reply  to  our  good 
friends  :  All  this,  and  you  admit  it  to  be  very  much,  has  been  done  in 
a  little  more  than  a  hundred  years.  Give  us  another  hundred  years. 
With  an  accuracy  which  does  credit  both  to  his  candour  and  his 
correct  reading  of  history,  Cardinal  Manning  admits  that  Methodism 
in  its  infancy  saved  England  from  a  dire  spiritual  and  moral  eclipse. 
"Who  can  say  that  now,  in  the  day  of  its  mature  strength,  it  will  not 
save  some  other  countries  too — countries  threatened  with  the  same 
danger  ? 

In  this  world  we  meet  to  part.  What  has  our  meeting  revealed  ? 
First.  A  deep  fundamental  unity,  which  few,  jjerbaps,  expected. 
Secondly.  Minor  variations,  disclosing  themselves  chiefl}'',  I  think,  in 
laying  down  with  the  emphasis  of  universal  truths,  propositions  true 
and  acceptable  only  in  view  o!  a  peculiar  set  of  conditions.  Yet  how 
much  knowledge,  subjective  as  well  as  objective,  has  come  to  all  our 
minds  by  observing  how  others  speak  and  think.  "  But  the  greatest 
of  tliese  is  charity."  And  what  a  lesson  of  Divine  charity  has  this 
Conference  read  to  all  our  hearts  !  "  There  shall  be  one  flock  and  one 
Shepherd."  Under  the  critical  touch  of  the  Revisers  the  "  one  fold  " 
has  vanished  from  Scripture.  But  surely  "  one  fold  "  is  the  natural 
correlative  or  complement  of  "  one  flock "  and  "  one  Shepherd." 
Surely  it  is ;  but  the  lesson  we  learn  here  is  that  the  "one  fold"  is 
not  my  enclosure  or  yours;  it  is  tlie  Shcj)hcrd's  own  infinite  hca^t  of 
love.     Proceeding  upon  these  principles,  subordinating  everything  to 

QQ 


594)  CHRISTIAN   UNITY. 

the  great  law  of  spiritual  life,  "  growing  -with  tbe  growth  and 
strengthening  with  the  strength  "  of  the  mighty  nations  in  which  its 
jiower  now  chiefly  lies,  wisely  fostering  those  seeds  of  Divine  truth 
which  it  has  already  planted  in  so  many  other  soils,  heyond  all 
peradventure  Methodism  will  yet  become  in  some  grand  peculiar  sense 
a  bond  of  brotherhood  among  the  nations. 

Rev.  Benjamin  Gregory  (Wesleyan  Methodist)  gave  the  invited 
address.  He  said :  When  we  put  forth  the  thesis,  Methodism  a  bond 
of  brotherhood  amongst  the  nations,  we  are  neither  asserting  an 
arrogant  and  invidious  Catholic  claim,  nor  attempting  to  expound 
unfulfilled  prophecy.  We  simply  set  before  ourselves  a  working 
hypothesis.  What  then  are  the  indispensable  requirements  in  that 
which  aspires  to  be  a  bond  of  brotherhood  amongst  the  nations  ?  It 
must  first  of  all  be  very  strong  and  firm  and  durable ;  it  must  be  close  in 
texture,  well  knit  together  ;  it  must  be  as  flexible  as  it  is  firm,  capable 
of  bearing  the  severest  strain  by  reason  of  its  elasticity  as  well  as  the 
stoutness  of  its  fibre.  That,  again,  which,  like  the  equator,  is  to  be 
the  world's  girdle,  must  be  expansive.  Do  these  rare  quaUties  combine 
and  cohere  in  Methodism  ?  They  do,  according  to  the  original  idea  of 
Methodism  ;  they  do,  according  to  the  spirit  which  animated  Methodism 
at  first,  and  which  animates  this  Council  at  this  hojir  ;  they  do,  on  the 
principles  which  presided  over  the  details  of  the  structure  of  Methodism 
at  first,  of  which  it  has  not  yet  lost  hold,  princijjles  which  tend  most 
directly  to  draw  men  together  and  to  bind  men  together ;  in  other 
words,  it  is  so  by  the  oi-ganisation  shaped  by  its  inner  life.  It  is  shown 
to  be  so  bj'  the  distinctive  characteristics  of  its  theology  and  its 
hymnology  ;  it  is  so,  according  to  the  idea  formed  of  it  by  other  Pro- 
testant Churches.  As  to  its  doctrines,  Methodism  has  hitherto  been 
firm.  With  the  rest  of  Protestant  Christendom,  it  is  at  once  the  glory 
and  the  rejjroach  of  Methodism  that  it  not  only  holds  fast  the  vital 
truths  which  gave  it  life  at  first,  but  that  it  also  holds  fast  the  form  of 
sound  words. 

Again,  Methodism  is  admitted  to  be,  in  its  original  ground-plan,  and 
in  its  present  structure,  of  all  Church  systems  the  closest  in  texture 
and  the  most  cohesive.  Its  original  structure  was  that  of  united 
societies.  That  structure  it  must  retain  or  recur  to,  if  it  is  to  be 
a  bond  of  universal  brotherhood.  That  can  never  be  a  bond  of 
brotherhood  amongst  nations  which  is  not  a  bond  of  brotherhood 
amongst  neighbours.  Brotherhood  implies  closeness  of  relationship, 
of  reciprocal  obligation,  of  affection  and  endearments.  It  is  the  special 
virtue  of  a  brother  to  stick  close.  Now.  Methodism  is  the  only  Church 
system  which  insists  upon  fellowship  in  its  true  sense  as  not  only,  to 
borrow  Dr.  Arnold's  words,  "  the  communion  of  saints "  practically 
taught,  but  as  the  communion  of  saints  personally  and  habitually 
realised.    As  Mr.  Dale  so  solemnly  told  us,  at  Birmingham,  the  other 


EEV.    BENJAMIN    GREGORY'S   ADDRESS.  595 

N 
S 

Protestant  Churches  look  to  us  to  maintain  that  testimony,  and  to  keep 
before  the  ej'cs  of  all  men  a  living  demonstration  that  Christian  fellow- 
ship may  be  as  real  to-day  as  it  was  on  the  morrow  after  Pentecost. 
The  class-meeting  and  the  love-feast  are  essential  elements  of  Metho- 
dism, abandoning  which  it  must  abandon  all  hope  of  being  a  bond  of 
brotherhood  amongst  the  nations.  The  class,  or  its  equivalent,  can 
alone  secure  to  Methodism  the  closeness  of  texture  required  in  a  bond. 
The  central  rite  of  Christianity — the  Lord's  Supper — we  have  in  com- 
mon with  our  sister  churches.  We  have  also  the  Bible-class  and  the 
tea-meeting,  which  when  wisely  and  spiritually  conducted  may  be 
effective,  subsidiary  modes  of  fellowship.  Some  of  us  also  have  happily 
the  camp-meeting. 

No  other  Church  has  such  a  concatenation  of  appliances  for  binding 
its  members  together.  Methodism  is,  in  fact,  as  in  name,  a  Connexion ; 
in  plain  English,  a  whole  which  is  bound  and  fastened  together  by 
ever-widening  and  ail-embraciug  coils — class-meeting,  leaders'  meeting, 
circuit  quarterly  meeting,  district  meeting,  conference,  the  community 
of  ministers  which  the  itinerancy  secures — affiliated  conference,  fra- 
ternal conference,  and  now  the  top  stone  is  at  last  brought  on,  with 
shouting  —  The  CEcumenical  Conference.  A  bond  of  brotherhood 
amongst  nations  must  not  be  a  thing  of  shreds  and  jxatches ;  it  must 
be  without  seam,  woven  from  the  top  throughout.  But  a  bond  must 
be  as  flexible  as  it  is  firm,  as  elastic  as  it  is  stout  in  texture.  Jotham 
Preston,  the  Yorkshire  local  preacher,  used  to  say,  "I  love  Methodism: 
I  love  its  doctrine ;  I  love  its  discipline.  It  fits  men,  as  well  as  my 
coit "  (ot  well  as  my  coat) ,  and  every  one  could  see  that  it  was  by  no 
means  a  very  tight  fit.  Methodism  has  proved  itself  to  possess  the 
power  of  adaptation  and  readjustment  in  a  wonderful  degree ;  adapta- 
tion to  circumstances,  to  the  varying  structure  of  society  in  every  land, 
to  all  stages  of  civilisation,  under  all  forms  of  government,  and  to  a 
changed  state  of  the  public  mind.  It  is  able  to  naturalise  itself  every- 
where, and  that  according  to  the  action  of  unforeseen  events,  so  that  it 
is  episcopal  in  a  young  republic  and  Presbyterian  under  an  ancient 
monarchy— begun  with  the  very  threads  of  the  girdle.  But  elasticity, 
like  charity,  must  begin  at  home — must  begin  ^^  ith  the  class-meeting. 
Our  first  duty,  our  first  interest,  is,  and  our  first  solicitude  should  be — 
to  revive,  and,  if  necessary,  remodel  the  class-meeting,  It  is  with 
Christian  fellowship  as  with  Christian  giving — the  problem  is  to  com- 
bine the  systematic  with  the  spontaneous.  A  man  who  does  not  give 
both  sj'stematically  and  spontaneously  is  not  a  perfect  giver.  And 
Christian  fellowship  which  is  not  both  systematic  and  spontaneous  is 
not  the  fellowship  of  Primitive  Christianity.  Our  class-meetings 
must  still  be  experience-meetings,  and  our  classes  facilities  for  pastoral 
oversight,  but,  retaining  their  main  idea,  the  search  for  a  realised  and  a 
full  salvation,  they  must  be  made  as  free,  as  informal,  aa  varied,  a.s 
interesting,  and  as  attractive  as  possible. 

QO  2 


596  CHRISTIAN   UNITY. 

Eev.  Dr.  Buckley  :  "  Melliodism  as  a  bond  of  broth erhoo^  among  the 
nations,"  or  "  between  the  nations."     It  appears  to  me,  sir,  that  the  theme 
contemplates  the  influence  which  Methodists  in  different  nations  will  have 
upon  each  other  in  promoting  the  general  brotherhood  of  humanity.     It 
has  pleased  God  to  appoint  bounds  of  tlie  different  nations  of  the  earth ; 
and  the  fact  that  those   bounds  are  continually  changing  does  not  at  all 
disturb  Christian  faith,  which  recognii-es  Providence  as  continually  operat- 
ing.    It  strikes  me  that  the   migration   of  nations  which  has  taken  place 
within  the  past  hundred  years  has  liad  very  much  to  do,  not  only  with  the 
development  of  Methodism,  but  with  its  influence  upon  civilisation  and 
Christianity  in  the  brief  period  of  its  existence.     Now,  Dr.  Stevens,  in  his 
history  of  Methodism  in  the  United  States,  has  very  beautifully  traced  the 
migration  of  certain  persons  from  the  continent  of  Europe  to  Ireland,  and 
fi'om  Ireland  to  the  city  of  New  York,  and   shown  how,  by  those  migra- 
tions, a  kind   of  poetical  justice  was  done  after  the   lapse  of  many  years. 
We  are  credited,  as  the  essayist  of  the  afternoon  has   said,  with  being  an 
Anglo-Saxon   community  ;   but  what  does  that  mean — an  Anglo-Saxon 
community  ?     If  it  means  that  Methodism  is  where  the  Anglo-Saxons  are, 
where  their  influence  is  felt,  where  tl.eir  principles  prevail,  where  their 
spirit  is  powerful,  does  it  not  mean  that  Methodism  is  everywhere  on  this 
round  globe  ?     The  Anglo-Sa.xon   community  is  a  very  restless  and  a  very 
energetic  community.     To  me  the  most  impressive  fact  is  that  from  every 
point  of  the  compass,  fulfilling  our  Saviour's  words,  they  have  come  here 
from  the  North  and  from  the  South,  fiom  the  East  and  from  the  West,  and 
have  sat  down  together  to  consider  a  common  interest,  and  that  interest 
centring  in  Methodism.     Now  it  is  a  fact  that  whatever  Methodism  is,  it 
is  obliged  to  look  back  over  every  boundary  line  to  this  little  island  on  the 
westward  of  the  continent  of  Europe.     No  matter  where  you  find  Metho- 
dism, it  has  to  look  back  to  this  spot.     American  Methodism  looks  back 
here  ;   Australian  Methodism  looks  back  here  ;  Canadian  Methodism  looks 
back  here,  even  if  it  has  to  look  round  through  the  United  States  to  get 
back  here.     And  the  influence  of  Methodism  can  be  seen  in  the  fact  that 
the  able  essayist  of  the  afternoon,  who  comes  from  Halifax,  Nova  Scotia, 
and  I  were  students  together  in  the  Wesleyan  University  at  Middletown 
more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago.     Methodism  is  spread  everywhere. 
Now,  as  to  whether  a  monarchy  is  better  than  a  republic,  or  a  republic 
than  a  monarchy,  that  is  a  question   of  judgment  ;  and   a  man  may  be  a 
good  Methodist  and  absolutely  disbelieve  what  another  Methodist  holds 
upon  that  subject ;  and  as  to  the  peculiar  meaning  of  a  constitution  in  a 
country,  Methodists  may  differ.     My  friend  the  bishop — who  sits  not  very 
far  from  me — and  I  might  get  into  the  wildest  contention  imaginable 
upon  the  question  of  State  rights.     But,  Mr.  President,  the  influence  of 
Methodism  is  such  that,  wherever  you  find  Methodists,  however  they  differ 
in  judgment,  except  sometimes  where  all  things  are  reduced  to  chaos,  as 
in  a  struggle  between   a  foreign    nation   or  at  home,  the  influence  of 
Methodism  is  to  modify  the  acerbities  and  to  make  it  possible  to  adjust 
differences,  and  to  sit  down  together  under  a  common  vine  and  fig-tree. 
No  man  can  measure  that  peculiar  influence.     Methodism  does  differ  from 
Christianity  in  this  sense,  that  Methodism  is  a  species — not  a  genus. 

Rev.  R.  Aeercrombik  (United  Methodist  Free  Churches)  :  It  seems  tome 
that  the  subject  divides  itself  into  two  parts  :  first,  the  indirect  influence  of 
Methodism  as  a  bond  of  brotherhood  ;  and  secondly,  the  direct  influence  of 
Methodism  as  affecting  international  relations.  First,  let  me  say  a  few 
words  on  the  indirect  influence  of  Methodism  as  a  bond  of  brotherhood. 
There  can  be  no  doubt  that  Christianity  does  not  directly  deal  with  political 
and  social  systems,  but  it  indirectly  affects  them.  The  apostles  did  not 
proclaim  any  social  war,  but  by  teaching  the  great  principles  of  brother- 


GENERAL   REMARKS.  597 

hooi^,  by  teaching  that  the  proud  emperor  of  Rome  and  the  meanest  slave 
in  his  household  were  brothers  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  that  in  Christ  there 
was  neither  bond  nor  free,  male  nor  female  ;  by  teaching  that  they  did 
more  than  thej' could  have  done  in  any  other  way,  to  undermine  slavery  and 
to  set  up  a  new  social  and  political  system  throughout  the  great  Roman 
Empire.  So  I  maintain  in  the  same  way  of  every  form  throughout  Chris- 
tianity, and  therefore  Methodism,  as  Christianity  in  earnest,  has  done  a  great 
deal  indirectly  to  promote  the  spirit  of  brotherhood.  We  have  the  evidence 
of  it  before  us  in  this  Conference  to-day,  where  we  have  representatives 
from  all  points  of  the  globe,  where  we  have  the  white  and  coloured  races, 
I  might  say  men  of  all  various  shades  and  colour,  mingling  together  in  true 
brotherhood.  The  brotherhood  of  the  Church  was  intended  to  be  the  por- 
tico to  what  I  may  call  the  Temple  of  Universal  Brotherhood,  and  our 
Methodist  brotherhood  we  may  look  upon  as  a  little  chapel  to  that  great 
temple.  In  the  second  place,  we  may  look  upon  this  subject  from  the  other 
point  of  view — namely,  we  may  regard  the  direct  influence  of  Methodism 
on  international  relations.  Now,  there  have  been  some  religious  movements 
which  in  the  beginning  were  political  as  well  as  religious.  Puritanism,  for 
instance,  was  almost  as  much  a  political  movement  as  it  was  a  religious 
movement  at  its  first  rise.  Wesleyanism  in  its  first  rise  was  certainly  not  a 
political  movement ;  it  was  exclusively  a  religious  movement  ;  and  my  own 
decided  conviction  is  that  John  Wesley  showed  his  great  political  wisdom 
and  sagacity  at  that  2Jiirticular  time  in  not  interfering  with  politics,  and  in 
making  his  movement  quite  independent  of  politics.  But  does  it  follow 
that  Methodism  is  alwaj-s  to  occupy  precisely  the  same  position  ?  Do  we 
not  find  in  history  that  every  great  religious  power  has  in  the  end  also  become 
a  great  social  and  political  power  ?  Have  we  not  some  very  small  bodies 
of  Christians  in  England  who  have  exerted  a  very  great  political  power  ? 
We  need  only  refer  to  our  friends  the  Quakers,  who  have  exerted  an 
immense  influence  upon  the  politics  of  our  nation  and  of  the  world.  Let 
it  be  remembered  that  John  Wesley  after  all  was  before  his  time  in  his 
utterance  on  some  great  questions  relating  to  human  brotherhood.  He  was 
almost  the  first  great  man  in  this  land  who  denounced  American  slavery  as 
the  "  sum  of  all  villanies." 

Rev.  Dr.  A.  S.  Andrews  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South)  :  I  have 
heard  with  pleasure  the  paper  which  has  been  read  this  afternoon,  and  the 
remarks  that  have  been  made.  I  rise  especially  to  express  my  admiration 
of  the  sentiment  advanced  by  Mr.  Arthur  this  morning.  I  earnestly  believe, 
6ir,  that  unity  of  effort  is  consistent  in  some  instances  with  diversity  of 
form.  It  has  occurred  that,  in  the  providence  of  God,  a  large  portion  of 
my  life  has  been  in  the  schoolroom.  I  have  taught  in  both  male  and 
female  colleges.  I  have  heard  my  professor  in  the  department  of  music 
drill  his  pupils  until  it  seemed  to  me  that  the  whole  process  was  one  con- 
tinued discord  ;  but,  sir,  when  the  hour  for  the  brilliant  concert  came  on, 
all  was  harmony  ;  there  was  not  a  single  discordant  note,  and  I  earnestly 
believe  that  the  thousands  and  millions  of  earnest  Methodists  that  are  work- 
ing in  those  places  in  which  the  Providence  of  God  has  placed  them,  are 
tending  directly  to  harmony.  I  believe,  though  they  are  diflierent  in  form, 
and  face,  and  feature,  and  iu  name,  in  some  instances,  they  are  doing  the 
work  of  their  Lord  and  Master,  and  the  nearer  we  come  to  the  end,  the 
nearer  in  thought,  and  feeling,  and  sentiment  we  will  be.  And,  sir,  when 
our  work  is  done  and  the  world  has  been  successfully  won  for  Jesus  Christ 
we  shall  stand  shoulder  to  shoulder  on  the  very  apex  of  Christian  success 
to  be  attained  in  this  world.  I  rejoice  to  be  here  this  afternoon  ;  I  rejoice 
to  hear  the  expressions  of  brotherhood  that  have  come  from  warm  hearts 
that  are  one  in  the  cause  of  Jesus  Christ  ;  and  I  hope  that  there  is  one  thing 
in  which  Methodist  preachers  and  Methodist  laymen  will  agre«,  and  that  is, 


598  BUSINESS   PROCEEDINGS. 

that  in  the  years  to  come,  as  during  the  past  140  years,  this  shall  he  our 
chief  work,  to  preach  the  Word  of  God.  Oh  I  let  that  Word  be  held  up  full 
oft,  and  depend  upon  it,  Methodism  will  be  a  unity,  although  it  may  be 
diverse  in  form  and  instrumentality.  And  I  earnestly  desire  to  be  present, 
and  I  believe  I  shall  be  with  soul  and  body  reunited,  when  Mr.  Wesley  at 
the  head  of  blood-washed  millions  that  through  his  influence  and  through 
the  influence  of  his  successors  have  been  led  to  Jesus  Christ,  shall  modestly 
say,  "  Here,  Lord,  am  I  and  the  children  that  Thou  hast  given  me  ;  "  and  I 
hope,  without  straining  the  instrumentalities  that  are  aheady  brought  to 
bear  on  the  kingdom  of  Christ  to  try  and  make  us  exactly  like  each  other, 
that  every  man  in  his  own  sphere  in  which  God  Almighty  has  placed  him, 
will  go  home  and  prepare,  as  much  as  in  him  lies,  to  do  the  whole  duty  that 
God  has  imposed  upon  him. 

Bishop  Peck  :  I  hope  by  unanimous  consent  we  may  hear  the 
report  of  the  Business  Committee  with  regard  to  another  (Ecumenical 
Conference.  I  believe  there  will  be  no  other  time  at  which  that 
report  can  be  brought  forward  except  the  present. 

Rev.  Dr.  George  read  the  following  report  and  moved  its 
adoption  : 

The  Business  Committee,  haAang  received  a  Paper,  signed  by 
Bishop  Simpson  and  others,  in  respect  to  a  second  (Ecumenical 
Conference  of  Methodism,  respectfully  recommend  the  adoption  of 
the  following  resolutions : 


'& 


1.  Eesolved — "That  it  is  expedient  that  a  second  (Ecumenical  Con- 
ference be  assembled,  and,  if  practicable,  in  the  United  States,  in  the 
year  1887." 

2.  Eesolved — "  That  in  order  thereto,  and  for  the  promotion  of  Christian 
fraternity,  the  several  Methodist  bodies  are  earnestly  desired  to  create  an 
Executive  Committee,  as  now  constituted,  subject  to  such  changes  in  its 
membership  as  they,  in  their  wisdom,  may  ordain,  beginning  with  the 
British  AVesleyan  Conference  in  the  year  1883." 

3.  Eesolved — "  That  the  Executive  Committee,  constituted  in  accord- 
ance with  these  resolutions,  shall  determine  the  time  and  place  of  holding 
the  second  (Ecumenical  Conference,  the  number  of  delegates  to  be  chosen, 
and  the  ratio  of  their  distribution  amongst  the  respective  Methodist 
bodies,  shall  prepare  a  programme  of  exercises  and  rules  and  regulations 
for  the  government  of  the  Conference,  and  shall  make  all  other  necessary 
arrangements." 

Bishop  Peck  seconded  the  resolution,  which  was  agreed  to. 

Dr.  C.  K.  Marshall  :  I  merely  rise  to  correct  a  mistake  in  history.  I 
do  not  think  I  have  heard  Mr.  Wesley  misquoted  more  than  once  since  I 
have  been  at  this  (Ecumenical  Conference,  and  I  think  it  is  due  to  Mr. 
Wesley's  fame,  it  is  due  to  Methodism,  and  to  the  American  people,  to 
correct  a  misstatement  made  unintentionally  by  mj^brother  Mr.  Abercrombie. 
Ho  said  Mr.  Wesley  pronounced  American  slavery  the  sum  of  all  villanies; 
Mr.  Wesley  never  did  say  that,  but  he  said  that  the  slave  trade  was  the 
sum  of  all  villanies,  and  America  believed  it. 

Eev.  E.  Abercrombie  :  As  I  understand,  what  Mr.  Wesley  said  was  that 
the  American  slave  trade  was  the  sum  of  all  villanies. 


BUSINESS.  PROCEEDINGS.  599 

Eev.  F.  W.  Bourne  (Bible  Christian  Churches)  brought  up  the 
reply  to  the  address  of  the  United  Brethren. 

"  To  the  Biahops,  Pastors,  and  Churches  of  the  United  Brethren. 

"Dearly  Beloved   Brethren   in   Christ  Jesus, — We  received   your 
ftHdress   of   congratulation  and   sympathy  with  the  truest  affection   and 
regard,    and    with   you   rejoice   in   the   preaching   of    'Christ   and    Him 
crucified'  throughout   the  world   by   devoted   and   zealous   ministers  of 
the  Churches  of  our  faith,  chiefly  because  millions  of  souls,  redeemed 
by  Christ,  have  through  their  preaching  been  saved,  and  the  Saviour  of  all 
men,  specially  of  them  that  believe,  has  been  honoured  and  exalted.     We 
desire  to  continue  to  be  faithful  to  the  truth  of  the  Gospel,  and  to  the 
will  of  our  Bivine  Master,  and  in  that  way  successfully  resist  the  encroach- 
ments of  superstition  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  assaults  of  infidelity  on 
the   other.      We   remember   gratefully   the   relation    of   the   founder   of 
Methodism  to  your  Church,  and  how  his  mind   at  a  critical  period  was 
instructed,  and  his  heai-t  strangely  warmed  by  his  intercourse  with  Peter 
Bolder  and  others,  and  the  lifelong  interest  he  felt  in  the  leaders  of  your 
Church,  and  the  earnest  desires  he  'repeatedly  expressed  for  the  success  of 
their  efforts.     Having  regard  to  your  honourable  history,  dear  brethren, 
and  to  the  fact  of  your  holding,  as  you  do,  the  faith  once  for  all  delivered 
to  the  saints  with  much  simplicity  and  earnestness  ;  and  considering  also 
the  variety  and  extent  of  your  missionary  labours,  we  feel  constrained  to 
pray  that  every  blessing  of  our  covenant  God  may  be  vouchsafed  unto 
you,  and  that  He  may  make  you  a  thousand  times  more  than  you  are. 
Accept,  dear  brethren,  our  heartiest  expressions  of  goodwill,  and  our  best 
wishes  for  your  truest  welfare  and  prosperity." 

The  reply  was  adopted. 

On  the  motion  of  the  Eev.  J.  Bond  it  was  agreed  that  the 
address  to  the  Methodist  Churches  should  be  signed  by  the  Presi- 
dents who  had  successively  directed  the  business  of  the  Conference, 
and  by  the  Secretaries  of  the  Conference. 

Several  resolutions  proposed  by  the  Business  Committee  were 
agreed  to,  including  a  recommendation  to  appoint  one  day  in  each 
year  as  a  children's  day  for  devotional  services  among  children,  as  far 
as  possible  in  harmony  with  other  Methodist  denominations  in  their 
respective  localities.  A  resolution  concerning  Training-schools  in 
ibreign  lands  :  "That  it  be  submitted  and  hereby  is  submitted  to  the 
general  secretaries  of  the  various  Methodist  bodies  represented  in 
this  Conference,  whether  it  might  not  be  possible  by  correspondence 
to  prepare  a  plan  for  co-operation  in  the  establishment  and  support 
of  training-schools  in  foreign  mission-fields."  A  resolution  on  the 
Temperance  question  :  "  That  in  the  opinion   of  the  Business  Com- 


600  BUSINESS  PROCEEDINGS. 

raittee  the  subject  has  been  so  prominently  before  the  Conference, 
and  its  judgment  has  been  so  pronounced  in  condemnation  of  the 
great  evil,  that  any  further  deliverance  on  this  subject  is  not 
required." 

The  Conference  then  spent  an  hour  in  devotional  exercises. 
Prayers  Avere  offered  by  the  Rev.  W.  Arthur,  Bishop  Peck,  Mr. 
Waddy,  General  Fisk,  Dr.  Douglas,  Dr.  Cocker,  Dr.  McFerrin,  and 
Bishop  Dickerson. 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  Devotional  Service, 

Dr.  Osboen  came  forward  to  the  front  of  the  platform,  which  was 
draped  with  black  cloth,  and  offered  some  parting  words.  He  said,  looking 
at  those  sable  hangings,  he  had  felt  oppressed  by  the  feelings  which  they 
called  forth.  They  spoke  to  the  hearts  of  all,  so  far  as  all  had  domestic 
sympathies,  national  sympathies,  and  Christian  sympathies — all  these 
feelings  were  evoked  by  turns  when  with  the  great  fact  so  recently 
brought  to  their  knowledge  he  coupled  the  other  fact,  announced  by  the 
President  on  the  previous  day,  that  death  had  invaded  their  little  assembly, 
and  taken  one  of  their  own  members  to  his  eternal  rest  before  the 
Conference  closed,  he  seemed  to  hear  a  voice  which  said,  "  Speak  as  in  the 
prospect  of  eternity;"  and  when  he  looked  to  the  national  aspects  of  that 
great  national  calamity  of  wh'ch  he  had  spoken,  and  remembered  that  this 
was  the  second  time  that  an  affliction  of  precisely  the  same  description  had 
happened  to  that  same  nation  within  a  comparatively  short  space  of  time ; 
and  when  he  remembered  that  during  the  same  interval  two  similar 
attempts  had  been  made  upon  the  lives  of  two  of  the  mighty  potentates 
in  the  Western  World,  and  one  of  them  a  successful  attempt,  he  heard 
something  that  said,  "  While  you  are  quiet  and  calm  here,  rejoicing  in  the 
thought  that  the  words  of  the  Psalmist  are  fulfilled,  '  Behold,  how  good 
and  how  pleasant  a  thing  it  is  for  brethren  to  dwell  together  in  unity,'  you 
must  not  forget  that  there  is  a  troubled  world  outside."  No  wise  man 
would  attempt  to  forecast  either  the  immediate  or  the  remote  issue  of 
these  events,  but  every  man  must  feel  that  there  was  much  yet  to  be  done 
before  that  peace  which  our  Saviour  came  to  bring  to  this  distracted  world 
was  realised.  All  those  present  must  be  prepared,  by  God's  grace,  to  go 
home  and  work  in  the  spread  of  the  Gospel,  which  would  enable  men  to 
realise  the  true  and  full  ideal  of  brotherhood,  an  ideal  towards  which  the 
Conference  had  approximated  during  the  last  twelve  days.  Fraternity  was 
the  fruit  and  product  of  Christianity,  and  they  only  knew  in  the  full 
sense  what  it  was  to  be  brothers  who  felt  that  they  had  an  Elder  Brother 
before  the  Throne  of  God.  The  harmony  which  had  prevailed  through  the 
sessions  of  the  Conference  had  been  a  just  subject  of  congratulation 
among  themselves,  and  a  just  ground  of  thanksgiving  to  God,  and  yet  it 
liad  not  been  harmony  irrespective  of  differences,  not  harmony  which  had 
been   subversive  of   differences,  nor  harmony   which   had  excluded  dif- 


BUSINESS   PROCEEDINGS.  601 

ferences.  Prom  that  fact  he  gathered  the  lesson  that  true  Cliristian  unity 
never  would  in  this  world  exclude  differences.  Lines  drawn  from  the  cir- 
cumference as  they  approached  the  centre,  must  approach  each  other ;  that 
Avas  a  law,  and  it  could  not  be  otherwise  ;  and  so  all  his  hope  for  our 
Christianity  was  that  approaching  the  centre  they  would  approach  each 
other  ;  and  when  they  had  arrived  at  the  centre,  he  would  not  attempt  to 
depict  tlie  scene,  their  imaginations  and  prayers  would  sui)ply  the  descrip- 
tion. Let  them  thank  God  that  they  had  been  permitted  to  hold  their 
differences  in  harmonious  and  unimpaired  unison.  Let  them  thank  God 
that  they  had  learned  to  respect  each  other,  and  to  love  each  other  more 
than  they  did  twelve  days  ago.  He  believed  he  risked  nothing  when  he 
said,  that  had  been  the  experience  of  the  whole  Conference.  He  believed 
he  risked  nothing  when  he  said,  that  if  a  resolution  to  that  effect  were  put 
to  the  vote,  there  would  not  be  a  hand  held  down,  and  still  less  a  hand  held 
up  against  it.     They  could  now  truly  say — 

"  Our  bodies  may  far  off  remove, 
We  Btill  are  one  in  heart." 

That  oneness  of  heart  was  the  best  foretaste  of  the  great  reunion  which 
awaited  them.  Their  work  in  promoting  that  union  was  a  work  of  faith, 
but  then  it  was  no  more  a  work  of  faith  than  any  other  part  of  their 
Cliristian  labours,  and  in  proportion  as  it  became  successful  and  attracted 
attention  it  would  be  criticised,  not  in  the  spirit  of  faith  but  in  the  spirit 
of  unbelief.  However  it  might  be  criticised  in  the  spirit  of  unbelief,  he 
trusted  that  no  criticism  would  be  permitted  for  a  moment  to  interfere 
with  their  xealous  prosecution  of  it,  and  their  zealous  prosecution  of  it  on 
the  principles  of  faith — faith  in  the  power  of  their  ever-loving  Saviour, 
faith  in  the  promised  Spirit  whom  He  had  left  in  the  Church  to  abide  in  it 
for  ever.  In  conclusion,  he  might  venture,  on  behalf  of  the  British  Con- 
ference, and  of  all  the  British  brethren,  to  say  to  those  who  had  come  to 
them  bringing  so  many  accomplishments,  so  many  graces,  and  so  much 
genuine  joy  from  the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic,  We  will  follow  in  the 
apostolic  footsteps  and  commend  you  to  God  and  to  the  word  of  His  grace, 
which  is  able  to  build  you  up,  and  to  give  you  an  inheritance  among  them 
that  are  sanctified.  May  He  hold  you  in  the  hollow  of  His  hand  ;  may 
He  enlarge  your  hearts  ;  may  He  multiply  your  graces  ;  may  He  raise  up 
for  you  a  still  larger  number  of  able  and  accomplished  ministers  of  the 
new  covenant ;  and  may  He  crown,  in  all  their  diversified  spheres  of 
labour,  their  efforts  with  His  continuous  and  unceasing  blessing.  May 
the  work,  which  has  begun  in  connection  with  this  Conference,  and  which 
will  be  carried  on  with  still  greater  energy,  never  stand  still  until  we  hear 
the  ti-umpet  sound,  and  welcome  each  other  unto  the  heavenly  shore ! 

Bishop  Simpson,  in  replying  for  the  delegates  who  had  come  from  other 
lands,  said  there  were  at  that  moment  in  their  hearts  mingled  emotions  of 
gladness  and  sorrow — of  sorrow  at  parting  from  brethren  with  whom  tiiey 
had  taken  sweet  counsel,  sorrow  because  out  of  their  midst  a  beloved 

K  11 


602  BUSINESS   PROCEEDINGS. 

brother  had  been  suddenly  removed,  sorrow  because  of  the  national  pain 
and  grief  which,  as  citizens  of  another  land,  many  of  them  had  felt,  and 
the  same  sorrow,  to  some  extent,  at  least,  had  reached  all  hearts  through 
the  great  sympathj'  of  brotherhood ;  of  gladness,  because  they  were 
permitted  to  meet  together  in  that  church  hallowed  by  so  many  memories, 
and  in  the  midst  of  brethren  beloved  from  all  parts  of  the  world,  and 
thus  to  realise  the  consummation  of  long-entertained  wishes  ;  and  of 
gladness,  because  of  the  continuance  of  unity  among  them.  Not  one 
unkind  expression  bad  been  heard  on  that  floor  ;  and  there  had  been  no 
violation  of  the  rules  of  propriety  or  of  brotherly  feeling,  during  any  part 
of  the  session.  He  was  glad  that  in  the  midst  of  the  sorrow  of  the 
nation  he  represented,  and  the  sorrow  of  sympathising  hearts  in  this 
country,  they  had  the  knowledge  that  the  death  which  had  taken  place 
would  be  folIoM'ed  neither  by  anarchy  nor  by  disruption  of  the  peaceful 
relations  of  nation  with  nation,  nor  by  anything  that  would  impair 
the  national  credit  or  the  national  peace ;  but  that  under  the  con- 
stitution of  his  country,  the  Government  moved  on  harmoniously  and 
sweetly,  and  still  ranked  as  one  among  the  great  family  of  nations. 
While  they  mourned  the  loss  of  a  distinguished  President,  they 
rejoiced  to  know  that  his  successor  would  be  a  man  able  wisely  and 
discreetly  to  conduct  the  affairs  of  a  great  nation.  The  great  over- 
powering feeling  of  the  moment  was  one  of  grateful  acknowledgment 
of  the  kindness  with  which  the  delegates  from  afar  had  been  received  in 
that  old  homestead,  in  that  house  where  Wesley  had  worked  and  preached, 
and  where  the  sainted  dead  in  memory  were  all  around  them.  He  knew 
he  was  expressing  the  feelings  of  his  brethren  when  he  said,  the  hospitality 
they  had  enjoyed,  and  the  fraternal  feelingL  with  which  they  had  been 
greeted,  exceeded  their  most  sanguine  expectations,  and  their  prayer  would 
be  that  a  rich  blessing  might  abide  in  all  the  families  whose  kind  hospitality 
would  enable  them  to  caiTy  away  pleasant  and  agreeable  memories.  He 
rejoiced  at  the  proceedings  of  the  Conference,  as  well  as  the  spirit  which 
had  animated  them.  Although  they  might  not  be  able  to  point  to  very 
many  visible  results,  still  there  were  some  which  might  be  very  speci- 
ficially  mentioned.  First  amongst  them  was  the  broadening  effect  on  the 
minds  and  feelings  of  all  the  delegates.  The  meeting  of  this  (Ecumenical 
Conference  would  have  the  advantage  of  enabling  the  brethren  on  the 
other  side  of  the  Atlantic  the  sooner  to  hold  an  American  Conference  of 
Methodism,  which  it  might  have  been  difficult  to  convene  but  for  the 
present  Conference  ;  and  he  also  thought  it  would  have  the  effect  of  bring- 
ing the  different  branches  of  Methodism  together  more  easily  than  would 
have  been  the  case  if  such  a  Conference  had  not  been  held.  Had  no  other 
results  arisen  from  tliis  meeting,  it  would  have  amply  repaid  them  for  all 
the  time  and  labour  they  had  expended.  Another  effect  would  be  to  make 
them  pay  more  attention  to  the  great  essentials  of  Methodism,  and  think 
less  of  little  varieties.  They  saw  that  they  were  all  brethren  beloved,  and 
all  Methodists.     God  had  smiled  upon  all  of  them,  and  notwithstanding 


•  BUSINESS   PROCEEDINGS.  (JOo 

their  peculiarities  He  liad  seen  fit  to  use  them  for  Ilis  glory,  and  all  this 
they  recognised  to  the  praise  of  His  great  name.  The  different  branches 
of  Methodism  would  also  feel  that  they  could  agree  together,  notwithstand- 
ing their  services  varied  somewhat — that  Methodists  could  worship  very  pro- 
perly with  a  liturgical  service — say  prayers  out  of  a  book,  and  yet  say  them 
very  devotionally — and  that  other  Methodists,  even  though  they  did  not  use 
a  book,  could  still  be  as  devotional,  when  they  prayed  simply  from  the  heart 
and  the  soul.  He  thought  also  they  would  feel  that  non -episcopal  bodies 
could  get  along  triumphantly  and  gloriously  without  bishops  at  all,  while 
on  tne  other  hand  some  recognised  the  fact  that  even  if  there  were  amongst 
them  certain  persons  called  bishops,  there  was  not  much  prelacy  about 
them.  They  would,  in  short,  go  away  from  that  place,  prepared  to  bear 
with  one  another's  little  variations— he  had  almost  said  infirmities — with  no 
less  love  of  Methodism  than  they  had  when  they  came.  For  his  part,  if  it 
were  possible,  he  loved  Methodism  more  than  ever  ;  he  had  loved  it  from 
his  infancy  ;  he  received  the  love  of  it  from  his  mother,  by  whose  hand  he 
was  taken  to  the  class-meeting,  whose  prayers  he  heard  ;  he  had  mingled 
witli  jNIethodists  all  his  days,  and  while  he  had  never  had  controversies 
with  brethren  of  any  other  denomination — he  thought  he  loved  them  all — 
his  heart  was  imbued  with  such  love  that  the  prosperity  and  success  of 
Methodism  was  dearer  to  him  than  his  own  life.  When  he  saw  assembled 
in  that  Conference  men  from  Fiji,  and  other  islands  of  the  sea,  and  men 
from  races  speaking  different  languages,  he  saw  how,  in  a  little  more  than 
a  century,  God  had  given  to  Methodism  a  wonderful  enlargement,  and  that 
made  him  love  Methodism  more  than  he  had  ever  loved  it  before.  If  God 
spared  his  life,  he  lioped  to  do  more  for  its  enlargement  and  its  stability. 
Notwithstanding  all  this,  he  thought  they  would  go  away  with  a  greater 
love  for  the  Head  of  the  Church,  and  for  that  great  Christian  family  of 
which  they  formed  only  a  part,  a  greater  love  for  each  other,  and  for  all 
who  loved'  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  of  every  nation,  and  of  every  clime. 
They  had  in  that  Conference  uttered  an  expression  which  would  go  out 
before  the  world  in  favour  of  peace,  and  in  behalf  of  arbitration  where 
disputes  arose  between  nations.  In  this  respect  they  had  done  more  than 
congresses  of  Great  Powers  did.  They  had  not  simply  arrived  at  certain 
decisions,  but  their  hearts  had  been  drawn  together  in  united  sympathy. 
Both  nations  had  stood  around  the  dying  bed  of  the  President  of  the 
United  States,  their  tears  had  mingled,  their  prayers  had  been  blended,  and 
had  gone  up  together  to  the  Throne  of  Grace  ;  and  that  sympathy  in  sorrow 
had  perfected  their  friendship,  strengthened  their  bonds,  and  now  they 
were  going  back  into  every  town,  every  village,  every  neighbourhood  in 
America,  telling  the  people  everywhere  that  the  heart  of  England  was  in 
sympathy  with  the  heart  of  America.  So  long  as  these  ties,  stronger  than 
enactments,  stronger  than  treaties,  bound  the  heart  of  England  to  the  heart 
of  America,  war  was  not  likely  to  come.  ]\Iethodism,  it  had  been  said,  was 
one  of  the  bonds  of  the  brotherhood  of  nations.  He  believed  it  in  his 
heart,  and  he  believed  it  had  something  to  do  with  preventing  a  rupture  of 

R  R  2 


60i  BUSINESS   PROCEEDINGS. 

peace  between  the  two  countries.  They  had  not  only  been  a  Peace  Con- 
gress, but  also  a  Temperance  Congress,  and  a  Congress  smiling  upon 
Woman's  Work  in  the  world.  Upon  what,  indeed,  had  they  not  been  a 
Congress  ?  They  had  been  a  Congress  upon  almost  everything  that  was 
calculated  to  raise  humanity  higher,  and  to  broaden  the  thoughts  and 
sj^mpathies  of  men.  In  parting  from  his  English  brethren  he  bade  them 
God-speed,  and  that  wish  was  shared  by  all  his  American  brethren.  He 
and  his  friends  from  the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic  prayed  that  throughout 
England  might  be  felt  the  increasing  power  of  evangelical  truth,  and  that 
their  Methodism  might  triumph  gloriously.  That  was  his  prayer  for  all 
parts  of  the  Church.  In  conclusion,  the  speaker  said  :  "  Let  us  look  for 
that  greater  power,  that  holier  baptism,  and  that  power  which  will  subdue 
the  world  unto  Christ.  We  may  live  to  see  greater  outpourings  of  the 
Spirit  of  God  upon  earth  ;  but  whether  we  live  to  see  it  or  not  here,  I 
trust  we  shall  see  from  above,  and  that  God  will  let  us  look  down  through 
those  windows  of  glory,  and  behold  the  time  coming  when  the  Saviour 
shall  see  of  the  travail  of  His  soul,  and  shall  be  satisfied." 

Upon  the  conclusion  of  Bishop  Simpson's  address,  the  thanks 
of  the  Conference  were,  by  resolutions  unanimously  and  cordiaiiy 
adopted,  conveyed — 

1.  To  the  friends  who  had  entertained  members  of  the  Con- 
ference during  their  residence  in  London. 

2.  To  the  Eight  Hon.  the  Lord  Mayor  of  London  and  the  Lady 
Mayoress  for  their  kind  hospitality  at  the  Mansion  House. 

3.  To  the  ministers  and  kymen  connected  with  the  City  Eoad 
Chapel. 

4.  To  the  Revs.  John  Bond,  Dr.  George,  J.  S.  Withington,  and 
Dr.  Sutherland,  the  Secretaries  of  the  Confei'ence. 

5.  To  the  Secretaries  of  the  Executive  and  other  Committees  of 
the  Conference. 

The  Doxology  was  then  sung — 

"  Praise  God  from  whom  all  blessings  flow," 

And,   the  President   having    pronounced    the    Benediction,   the 
Conference  was  brought  to  a  close. 


FRATERNAL  MEETING 

AT  EXETER  HALL,  LONDON, 
Thursday  Evening,  September  15,  1881. 


President — Rev.  Matthew  Simpson,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  Methodist  Episcopal 

Church. 


DEPUTATIONS    FROM 


THE  PAN-PRESBYTERIAN  COUNCIL,  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH  OP  ENGLAND, 

UNITED  BRETHREN  CHURCH.  BAPTIST  UNION  OF  GREAT  BRITAIN  AND 

IRELAND,  CONGREGATIONAL  UNION  OF  ENGLAND  AND  WALES. 

AND  THE  BRITISH  SOCIETY  FOR  THE  PROPAGATION 

OF  THE  GOSPEL  AMONG  THE  JEWS. 


THE  (Ecumenical  Methodist  Conference  met  in  Exeter  Hall,  pur- 
suant to  adjournment,  to  receive    the  fraternal  deputations. 
Bishop  Simpson  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church)  presiding. 
The  proceedings  commenced  by  singing  the  hymn, — 

"  Come,  let  us  join  our  cheerful  songs;" 

after    which    the   Rev.    Chas.    Garrett    (Wesleyan   Methodist) 
offered  prayer. 

The  Chairman,  Bishop  Simpson,  said :  Dear  brethren — The  special  ob- 
ject for  which  we  are  convened  this  evening  is  to  receive  deputations 
from  other  Christian  bodies,  and  to  extend  to  them  a  cordial  and  frater- 
nal welcome.  We  can  all  understand  how  our  own  union  in  this  form, 
acting  together  from  different  Churches,  has  attracted  the  attention  of 
sister  denominations,  and  it  is  but  a  law  of  nature  that  the  larger  the 
bodies  become  the  stronger  is  the  attraction;  and  so  the  attracting  love 
that  has  convened  us  as  Methodists  has  reached  a  little  l)eyoiKl  our  own 
borders,  and  has  attracted  to  us  the  love  and  fellowship  of  other  de- 
nominations. I,  Applause.)  We  are  here  to  bid  them  welcome,  and  to 
pray  God's  blessing  upon  every  member  of  each  deputation,  and  upon 
the  Churches  which  they  represent. 

The  Fraternal  Delegates  were  presented  to  the  Chairman  by 
Rev.  John  Bond,  First  Secretary  of  the  Conference. 


606  FEATERNAL    MEETING. 

PAN-PRESBYTERIAN    COUNCIL. 

Rev.  John  Bond  said :  I  have  to  present  to  you,  in  the  first  place, 
Mr.  Hugh  Matheson,  the  bearer  of  a  letter  from  the  Pan-Presbyterian 
Council,  lately  assembled  in  Philadelphia.     (Applause.) 

Mr.  Hugh  Matheson  then  read  the  following  address : 

To  the  members  of  the  CEcumenical  Wesleyan  Conference  to  meet  in 
London,  September,  1881 :  Honoured  Fathers  and  Brethren, — At  a 
meeting  of  the  Council  of  the  Alliance  of  Reformed  Churches  through- 
out the  world  holding  the  Presbyterian  system,  which  took  place  at 
Philadelphia,  United  States  of  America,  last  September,  it  was  remitted 
to  us  as  clerks  of  the  Council  to  convey  to  you  its  brotherly  salutations, 
and  to  express  its  very  deep  interest  in  the  movement  on  which  you 
are  embarked,  bearing,  as  it  does,  so  close  a  resemblance  to  our  own. 
We  have  much  pleasure  in  assuring  you  that  among  the  many  Churches 
throughout  the  world  embraced  in  our  Alliance  there  prevails  a  very 
profound  appreciation  of  the  great  spiritual  work  with  which  the  name 
of  Metliodism  is  associated,  as  well  as  a  grateful  sense  of  the  beneficial 
influence  which,  indirectly,  that  work  has  had  on  otlier  Churches.  We 
as  cordially  wish  success  to  your  present  movement,  and  we  hope  that 
your  experience  of  its  benefits  both  in  promoting  brotherly  fellowship, 
and  in  giving  an  impulse  to  the  work  of  the  Lord  over  the  world,  will 
be  not  inferior  to  that  which  it  has  been  our  privilege  to  have.  In 
forming  our  alliance,  we  recorded  our  purpose  to  make  no  change  in 
our  fraternal  relations  to  other  Churches,  but  to  be  ready,  as  heretofore, 
to  join  with  them  in  Christian  fellowship,  and  in  advancing  the  cause 
of  the  Redeemer  on  the  general  principle  maintained  and  taught  in  the 
Reformed  Confessions  that  the  Church -of  God  on  earth,  though  com- 
posed of  many  members,  is  one  body  in  the  communion  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  of  which  body  Chi'ist  is  the  Supreme  Head,  and  the  Scriptures 
alone  are  the  infallible  law.  (Applause.)  Permit  us,  in  conclusion,  to 
give  expression  to  the  desire  which  we  know  animates  many  of  our 
brethren  that  this  CEcumenical  Conference  may  one  day  have  a  wider 
scope,  and  may  lead  ultimately  to  closer  relations  among  Christian 
Churches  that  however  separated  otherwise  are  near  each  other  in  their 
faith,  their  spirit,  and  their  aims.  (Hear,  hear.)  In  the  fellowship  and 
service  of  our  common  Lord,  we  remain,  rev.  fathers  and  brethren,  in 
the  name  and  by  appointment  of  the  Council  of  the  Alliance  of  Re- 
formed Churches  throughout  the  world  holding  the  Presbyterian  system. 
[Signed]  Rev.  George  Blackie  (Edinburgh),  and  G.  P.  Matthews 
(Quebec),  Clerks  of  the  Council. 

Mr.  Matheson  said :  On  behalf  of  the  eldership  of  the  Presbyterian 
Churches  he  wished  to  express  the  warm  esteem  and  regard  in  which 
they  held  the  dear  brethren  of  the  Methodist  Churches.  They  had 
long  known  their  catholic  spirit  and  admired  their  earnest  Christian  zeal. 
He  remembered  that  when  the  great  disruption  occurred  in  Scotland, 
and  some  of  tlie  best  men  of  the  Free  Churcli  came  to  England  to  claim 
the  sympathy  of  the  brethren  of  other  Christian  denominations,  it  was 
from  the  Wesleyan  Methodists  that  the  most  prompt  and  hearty  recep- 
tion first  came.  What  Presbyterian  could  have  read  the  reports  of  the 
Conference  now  being  held  without  being  profoundly  struck  by  the 
identity  of  views  which  had  been  promulgated  upon  great  cardinal 
truths  of  their  holy  faith  ?  He  would  also,  in  a  single  word,  instance  one 
great  social  question,  upon  which  they  had  given  no  uncertain  sound — 
-he  meant  that  of  the  great  temperance  reformation.  (Loud  applause.) 
He  hoped  that  the  voice  which  had  gone  forth  from  the  Council  upon 
that  question  would  be  echoed  by  other  Christian  communities,  and  be 
very  influential  in  encouraging  those  who  upon  this  question  had  nailed 
their  colours  to  the  mast.     (Applause.) 


FRATERNAL.    MEETING.  607 

PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH   OF  ENGLAND. 

The  deputation  from  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  England  was 
introduced,  comprising  the  Moderator,  Rev.  W.  Kennedy  Moore, 
D.D.,  Mr.  Ballautyne,  Rev.  T.  W.  Brown,  M.A.,  Rev.  Walter 
Morrison,  D.D.,  Rev.  D.  McEwan,  D.D.,  Rev.  J.  T.  Davidson, 
D.D.,  Rev.  W.  Dinwiddie,  LL.D.,  Rev.  Hugh  S.  Pattison,  M.D., 
H.  M.  Matheson,  Esq.,  Mr.  D.  Bruce,  Mr.  R.  B.  Turnbull,  and 
Mr.  Robert  Wale. 

Mr.  Ballantyne  read  an  address  of  welcome  and  fraternal 
greeting.  * 

Rev.  Dr.  Morrison  said:  Mr.  Chairman  and  Christian  friends, — You 
are  our  kindly  hosts  this  evening;  and,  as  the  unworthy  representative 
of  the  representatives  of  the  Presbytery,  I  dehght  to  think  that  I  can 
cast  myself  on  tlie  courtesy  of  your  forbearance.  We  should  have  had 
the  presence  of  Dr.  Edmond  with  us  this  evening;  and  not  only  so,  but 
I  think  he  would  have  spoken  to  you ;  and,  possibly,  he  would  wish 
that  he  were  here  just  now  in  this  comfortable  meeting,  if  they  have 
rough  water  on  the  Atlantic.  (Laughter.)  He  is  on  his  way  to  America, 
and  very  likely  he  will  find  some  means  of  showing  there  the  interest 
that  Presbyterianism  takes  in  Methodism.  I  may  be  allowed,  Mr. 
Chairman,  to  express  to  you  the  satisfaction  which  is  shared,  I  am  sure, 
by  the  brethren  of  other  denominations  here  that  you  have  given  a  place 
in  your  programme  to  the  receiving  of  deputations,  and  that  such  depu- 
tations have  been  appointed.  I  wish  that  there  could  be  a  Council  of 
so  oecumenical  a  character  that  deputations  would  be  impossible — (ap- 
plause)— there  being  no  parties  outside  to  send  them ;  but  until  that 
consummation  is  reached  I  think  that  those  councils  do  well  that  show 
by  the  receiving  of  deputations  they  do  not  believe  that  they  represent 
the  whole  Church.  (Hear,  hear.)  I  should  be  sorry  to  think  that 
Presbyterianism  did  so.  I  believe  you  have  bishops,  and  they  are  hon- 
oured and  useful ;  but  I  do  not  suppose  you  ascribe  to  them  the  power 
of  communicating  or  transmitting  orders.  (Hear,  hear.)  You  recognize, 
I  am  sure,  as  vahd  all  oi-ders  that  have  come — not  along  a  doubtful  line, 
stretched  around  the  earth,  but  straight  from  the  living  Head  of  the 
Church.  (Applause.)  I  like  a  healthy  denominationalism ;  I  think  it 
is  wholesome.  (Hear,  hear.)  Michael  Faraday  said:  "I  like  a  smith's 
shop  and  every  thing  about  smithery ;  my  father  was  a  smith ;"  and  I 
should  not  be  very  sorry  to  hear  any  one  say,  "  I  like  a  Methodist 
chapel,  and  every  thing  about  Methodism;  my  father  was  a  Methodist." 
I  do  not  like  when  people  make  changes  which  are  not  of  the  nature  of 
spiritual  irtiprovemcnt,  and  are  not  made  under  the  influence  of  spiritual 
growth.  (Hear,  hear.)  I  think  the  first  duty  of  a  denomination  is  to 
be  denominational.  If  God  has  given  us  a  special  banner  to  be  dis- 
played in  the  cause  of  truth,  we  are  bound  to  display  it;  it  must  be 
thrown  upon  the  wind,  and  its  legend  must  be  legible.  Let  us  be  de- 
nominational: not  IMethodism,  not  Presbyterianism,  is  the  Church  of 
Christ.  "  There  is  something  better  than  Protestantism,"  said  Curran, 
and  "  that  is  Christianity."  And  there  is  something  greater  than  Meth- 
odism and  Presbyterianism,  and  Congregationalism,  and  Episcopacy, 
and  all  the  others,  namely,  that  which  it  takes  them  all  to  make  up,  the 
body  of  Christ.  There  is  a  universal  Church,  lofty  as  is  the  love  of 
God,  and  ample  as  the  wants  of  man.     (Applause.) 

I  have  a  very  easy  and  a  very  pleasant  task.     I  have  to  express  a  little 

*The  copy  of  this  Address  was  not  received.— Editoks. 


608  FRATERNAL    MEETING. 

further  than  has  been  done  in  the  address  the  sentiments  of  Presbyter- 
ians towards  you.  Presbyterianism  is  in  a  sense  to  the  front  to-night;  but 
it  is  only  the  low  note  of  what  will  ascend  into  a  climax.  Presbyterian- 
ism resembles  Methodism  in  this  particular;  it  has  had  divisions — (laugh- 
ter and  applause) — but  there  has  be^  in  the  Colonies,  and  here  in  Eng- 
land, some  healing  of  divisions;  in  that  resembling,  I  suppose  I  may  say, 
the  Methodism  of  the  future.  (Applause.)  The  address  spoke  of  inter- 
preting the  feelings  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  England.  An  official 
document  coukl  not  go  any  farther  than  to  interpret  the  feelings  of  the 
body  which  it  represented ;  but  I  am  not  under  any  such  restriction  as 
an  individual;  and  without  any  special  power  of  divination,  I  think  I 
may  endeavour  to  interpret  the  feelings  of  Presbyterians  all  over  Scot- 
land, and  the  colonies,  and  America,  everywhere,  and  say,  "  We  bid 
you  God-speed."     (Hear,  hear.) 

It  is  proper  to  say  that  T  belong  to  a  section  of  Presbyterians  differ- 
ent to  that  represented  by  certain  other  members  of  the  deputation. 
Ecclesiastically  we  are  descended  from  the  Erskines  in  Scotland ;  and 
I  refer  to  these  honoured  men,  because  they  were  the  instruments, 
under  the  providence  of  God,  of  doing  a  work  on  a  smaller  scale  in  the 
North,  that  your  Wesleyan  fathers  and  mothers  were  the  instruments 
of  doing  here  and  over  the  world.  George  Whitefield  visited  Scotland  to 
help  in  that  work,  and  you  know  v/hat  happened.  It  is  historical.  The 
good  men  quarrelled.  I  am  not  here  to  be  hard  upon  them  because  they 
followed  a  somewhat  mistaken  policy  at  first.  They  had  a  conference 
very  soon  after  Whitefield  went  down.  For  what  purpose  ?  Not  to  say, 
"How  we  love  one  another,"  but  to  try  to  convert  one  another — or, 
rather,  the  Northerners  thought  they  would  convert  Whitefield  to  Pres- 
byterianism. The  good  men  afterwards  met,  and  we  are  told  that  they 
embraced  each  other  with  tears.  I  think  it  is  better  to  begin  as  we  are 
to-night  with  the  embracing,  and  we  will  do  without  the  tears,  and 
■we  will  do  without  the  coimcil  for  settling  matters  of  controversy  too. 
George  Whitefield  was  asked  to  do  one  thing  that  we  do  not  ask  you  to 
do.  He  was  asked  to  confine  his  labours  to  the  seceders  in  Scotland. 
Under  the  influence  of  good  motives,  they  were  afraid  that  if  he  preached 
in  the  churches  of  the  Establishment  their  cause  would  be  injured,  and 
they  regarded  it  as  the  cause  of  Christ.  But  George  Whitefield  was  of 
a  better  spirit  and  a  larger  mind.  God  had  sent  him  to  do  certain  evan- 
gelistic work,  and  he  would  do  it  wherever  God  seemed  to  give  him  the 
opportunity,  and  God  did  bless  his  labours  among  the  Established 
Churches.  Now,  we  do  not  ask  you  to  confine  the  benefit  you  are  able 
to  impart  to  us.  Give  it  all  round ;  do  all  the  good  you  can  to  the  Estab- 
lished Churches;  we  have  only  good  will  towards  them  as  Churches. 
Do  all  the  good  you  can  to  the  Baptists  and  Congregationalists.  Yes ; 
they  all  need  it  very  much — (laughter) — and  do  not  spare  us ;  and  that 
you  may  be  able  to  do  the  good,  may  you  continue  living. 

Mr.  Matheson  referred  to  the  reports  of  your  meetings;  and  I  am  sure, 
while  I  have  read  reports  of  councils  that  seemed  the  reports  of  political 
gatherings,  and  while  I  have  read  reports  of  Congresses  that  seemed  re- 
ports of  Ecclesiastical  Corporations,  I  could  not  help  saying,  "  These  are 
meetings  of  servants  of  Christ."  So  long  as  you  are  that,  God  will  bless 
you,  and  make  you  a  blessing.  You  have  had  difficulties  in  the  past: 
you  are  having  them  now.  One  is  the  new  difficulty  of  prosperity  and 
wealth.  You  will  be  able  to  stand  it  where  there  is  life.  A  Church- 
man was  surprised  once  by  the  entrance  of  a  visitor,  who  found  him 
counting  over  the  treasures  of  the  religious  house  to  which  he  belonged. 
He  thought  he  would  take  the  first  word,  and  he  said,  "  You  see  the 
Church  is  not  now  in  the  position  in  which  it  was,  w^hen  it  was  obliged 
to  say,  '  Silver  and  gold  I  have  none ;'  "  to  which  the  response  was 
ready,  "Neither  in  the  position  when  it  could ?ay  to  the  lame  man,  'In 
the  name  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Nazai'eth,  rise  up  and  walk.' "     May  you 


FRATERNAL    MEETING.  609 

never  know  what  it  is  to  undergo  the  change  from  spiritual  power  to 
worldly  wealth !  (Hear,  hear.)  Methodism  will  be  a  power  only  so  long 
as  it  is  one  of  God's  methods  for  evangelizing  the  world,  and  edifying 
Lis  Church.     (Applause.) 

UNITED   BRETHREN    CHURCH. 

The  deputation  from  the  Church  of  the  United  Brethren,  known 
in  Great  Britain  as  Moravians,  comprise  the  Rev.  Bishop  Latrobe 
(Senior  Bishop  of  that  Church),  the  Rev.  Wm.  Taylor  (President 
of  the  Conference  in  England),  the  Rev.  Thos.  Paddon  (Secretary), 
the  Rev.  Wm.  Robins,  and  the  Rev.  John  Porter. 

The  address*  was  read  by  Bishop  Taylor. 

Bishop  Latrobe  said:  I  count  it  a  very  great  honour  that  on  this 
occasion  I  am  permitted  to  be  a  representative  among  you  of  the  ancient 
Episcopal  Church  of  the  United  Brethren.  (Applause.)  The  commis- 
sion that  we  have  received  from  the  Bishops  and  Elders  of  our  Church  to 
come  among  you  this  evening  is  all  the  easier  because  we  come  among 
you  as  Methodists ;  not  as  strangers,  but  as  brethren  of  one  household, 
who  have  very  much  in  common,  because  from  our  household  your 
founder  went  forth.  (Applause.)  Nor  shall  our  greeting  be  less  cordial 
because  we  remember  that  some  hundred  years  ago  your  fathers  and 
our  fathers  had  a  misunderstanding.  (Laughter.)  I  would  God  that 
in  our  days,  along  with  the  love  that  shall  keep  us  from  misunderstand- 
ings, we  might  have  the  zeal  for  truth  that  led,  after  all,  to  the  misun- 
derstanding— the  unwillingness  to  give  up  that  which  God  had  taught 
the  two  sides.  But  this  misunderstanding  has  been  entirely  cleared  up 
long,  long  ago,  and  we  thank  your  historians  of  later  date — such  as  the 
Rev.  Thos.  Jackson,  and  others — that  they  have  set  the  matter  in  the 
true  light,  and  we  both  of  us  can  discover  now  what  the  design  of  God 
was  in  the  diversity  of  thought,  and  the  diversity,  apparently,  and  only 
apparently,  of  doctrine  which  led  to  this  and  to  your  moving  forth  in 
this  land  especially  as  the  i:>ioneers  of  evangelical  doctrines. 

Your  committee  thought  quite  right  when  they  expressed  the  convic- 
tion that  theMora\'ian  Church,  whose  early  associations  with  the  Meth- 
odist body  can  never  be  forgotten,  would  like  to  be  welcomed  and  to 
welcome  you  on  such  an  occasion  as  this.  "We  thank  God  for  this  out- 
spoken appreciation  of  our  feeling  towards  you,  and  we  join  with  all  the 
other  Christian  bodies  who  are  here  assembled  in  thanking  God  for  the 
success  which  he  has  so  eminently  given  to  you  in  our  land  and  in 
England,  too.  The  "  little  one  "  that  went  out  from  the  old  Fetter-lane 
Chapel  that  stands  to  this  day,  and  is  one  of  the  ancient  things  of  Lon- 
don; (applause) — the  "little  one"  that  went  forth  from  there,  I  be- 
lieve, twelve  in  number,  to  the  Foundry  where  you  have  wielded  the 
hammer  ever  since,  has  become,  not  "a  thousand,"  no,  nor  ten  thou- 
sand, but  thou  nds  of  thousands,  and  we  say  with  you  to-day,  "The 
Lord  hath  done  for  you  great  things ;"  and  I  know  your  response  is, 
"whereof  we  are  glad."  (Applause.)  The  subject  seems  to  take  me 
back  four  hundred  years,  to  the  time  when  God  reared  up  our  ancient 
Church,  amid  storms  and  trials,  in  Bohemia,  where  our  brethren,  whilst 
contending  for  the  faith  delivered  to  the  saints,  were  all  the  time  as 
anxious  for  union  of  spirit  and  union,  if  possible,  of  action  with  the 
children  of  God  scattered  abroad  on  the  face  of  the  earth,  and  sent  per- 

*The  copy  of  this  Address  was  not  received.— Editoks. 

S  S 


610  FRATERNAL    MEETING. 

sons  through  all  Europe  to  seek  out  the  children  of  God  wherever  they 
could  find  them,  and  so  to  give  them  the  right  hand  of  fellowship.  The 
bishop  then  referred  to  a  Conference  held  in  the  year  1467  between  the 
Bohemians  and  the  Waldensians,  the  Bohemians  returning  home  with 
the  episcopacy  given  to  them  from  the  ancient  Waldensian  body  by  their 
last  bishop,  Stephen,  who  very  likely  in  consequence  of  that  act  in  a 
subsequent  persecution  won  the  martyr's  crown.  He  concluded  by  giv- 
ing the  ]\Iethodist  bodies  the  hearty  salutations  of  the  United  Brethren 
in  the  name  of  the  Lord. 

BAPTIST   CHURCHES   OF   GREAT   BRITAIN. 

The  deputation  from  the  Baptist  Churches  of  Great  Britain,  com- 
prised the  Rev.  H.  Dowson  (President  of  the  Baptist  Union),  Rev. 
J.  Jenkins-Brown  (Vice-president),  Rev.  W.  Sampson  (Secretary), 
Rev.  S.  V.  Timms  (President  of  the  London  Baptist  Association), 
Rev.  Dr.  Stanford  (Vice-president),  Rev.  H.  R.  Martin  (Secre- 
tary), and  the  Rev.  J.  P.  Chown. 

Rev.  H.  Dowson  :  Mr.  Chairman  and  Christian  friends, — There  have 
been  so  many  excellent  sentiments  uttered  to-night — so  truthful,  so  ap- 
propriate, and  so  loving,  that  it  is  scarcely  necessary  that  I  should  detain 
your  attention  but  for  a  few  moments.  Before  the  address  is  read  by 
my  esteemed  friend,  the  Rev.  William  Sampson,  permit  me  to  say  that  it 
affords  myself  and  brethren  very  great  satisfaction  that  we  have  an 
opportunity  on  this  occasion  of  tendering  to  yourself  and  the  Wesleyan 
body  the  expression  of  our  cordial  and  fraternal  greetings.  (Applause.) 
Your  annual  assemblies  have  always  excited  interest  with  us  in  com- 
mon with  other  evangelical  denominations  of  Christians.  We  have 
sympathised  with  you  in  your  reverses,  and  we  have  not  been  envious 
at  your  successes,  but  have  been  enabled,  I  trust,  with  true  heartiness 
to  wish  you  God-speed  in  the  great  work  to  which  the  Head  of  the 
Church  has  evidently  called  you,  and  in  the  midst  of  which  He  has  so 
greatly  blessed  you.  But  this  Conference  has  its  peculiar  interest,  for 
you  have  gathered  from  various  parts  of  the  globe  brethren  who  have 
borne  the  burden  and  heat  of  the  day,  who  have  faced  difficulties  which 
we  in  this  land  of  light  and  privilege  have  not  had  to  encounter,  and 
who  have  sought  to  pierce  the  darkness  of  a  heathen  superstition  and 
barbarism  with  the  only  true  light  which  can  bless  and  elevate  the  souls 
of  men ;  and  you  have  proved  in  distant  lands— and  I  had  almost  said 
in  all  languages  and  climes — that  the  Gospel  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
even  in  the  face  of  the  greatest  difficulties  and  under  most  disadvan- 
tageous circumstances  wherever  it  is  faithfully  preached  is  the  power  of 
God  unto  salvation.     (Applause.) 

Not  only  are  your  labours  in  foreign  lands  a  source  of  congratulation 
and  of  triumph,  but  there  are  some  instances  of  your  efforts  at  home 
which  deserve  special  notice.  We  rejoice  that  you  have  kindled  the 
lamp  of  truth  in  obscure  hamlets  and  villages ;  and  as  we  travel  from 
one  place  to  another,  sometimes  seeking  recreation,  we  are  delighted  to 
see  these  spots  of  verdure  in  places  that  seemed  to  be  desolate  of  relig- 
ious cultivation ;  and  those  unpretending  houses  of  prayer  which  are 
scattered  about  this  land  are,  to  my  mind,  stronger  proofs  of  your  Chris- 
tian liberality  and  energy  than  the  more  costly  buildings  with  which  you 
have  adorned  our  towns  and  cities.  (Applause.)  We  are  thankful  for 
your  spiritual  conservatism — that  in  every  pulpit  in  this  land  Christ  is 
preached — (hear,  hear) — for  you  are   "not  ashamed  of  the  Gospel  of 


FRATERNAL    MEETING.  611 

Christ," — that  the  great  doctrines  of  His  divinity,  of  His  atonement, 
justification  by  faith  and  salvation  by  the  grace  of  God  are  sounded  in 
the  midst  of  your  assemblies  and  made  a  blessing  to  many.  (Applause.) 
And  it  has  been  my  privilege  to  be  acquainted  with  some  of  your  most 
eminent  men  through  a  long  course  of  ministry.  I  have  been  brought 
in  contact  with  Dr.  Bunting,  with  that  eminent  and  diarming  preacher, 
Dr.  Newton,  and  the  eloquent  and  lamented  Dr.  Punshon.  (Applause.) 
Witli  these  men  I  have  held  from  time  to  time  Christian  fellowship. 
They  were  men  of  great  mental  energy ;  they  were  men  of  great  moral 
power;  they  were  men  of  spiritual  influence,  whose  hearts  were  per- 
vaded by  the  love  of  Christ ;  and  I  can  not  utter  a  better  wish,  or  breathe 
a  more  ajipropriate  prayer,  than  that  the  mantle  of  these  sainted  men 
may  fall  upon  their  successors,  and  that  the  Spirit  that  energised  them 
may  move  in  all  your  assemblies  and  consecrate  your  holy  work.  (Ap- 
plause.) 

The  Rev.  William  Sampson  said  that  the  Rev.  Dr.  Landcls,  of  Re- 
gent's Park,  was,  unhappily,  unable  to  be  present,  and  he  was  also  com- 
missioned to  say  that  their  brother,  Mr.  Spurgeon,  whose  praise  was  in 
all  the  Churches — (applause) — would  have  been  present  but  for  another 
engagement.  He  then  read  an  address  of  welcome  from  the  Baptist 
Union  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland.* 

Rev.  J.  P.  Chown,  in  response  to  repeated  calls,  said:  Allow  me,  my 
beloved  Christian  friends,  simply  to  say  one  word  in  the  expression  of 
the  great  joy  and  pleasure  and  privilege  that  I  feel  it  to  be  here.  We 
are  very  much  nearer  together  than  we  are  sometimes  accustomed  to 
suppose.  As  our  dear  friend  Mr.  Spurgeon  said  in  my  hearing  once,  we 
Baptists  believe  that  if  a  man  is  saved,  it  will  be  by  Divine  grace,  and 
if  he  is  lost  that  will  be  by  his  own  unbelief  and  sin ;  and  you  Wesleyan 
brethren  believe  that  if  he  is  lost  it  will  be  by  his  own  unbelief  and 
sin,  and  if  he  is  saved  It  will  be  by  the  grace  of  God.  (Applause.)  So 
we  can  afTord  to  unite  together  in  that  in  which  there  shall  be  no  real 
difference — as  our  dear  friend  Mr.  Dowson  said,  we  are  all  one.  All  my 
life  I  have  had  abundant  reason  to  thank  God  for  the  love  and  zeal  and 
energy  of  our  beloved  Wesleyan  brethren.  I  have  never  been  a  local 
preacher  among  you,  but  when  I  was  a  little  boy  I  used  to  travel  with 
my  uncle,  who  was  one  for  fifty  years — (applause) — and  I  am  not  sure 
that  I  did  not  get  the  first  idea  of  preaching  then.  I  may  mention  that 
I  have  been  interested  in  your  body  and  its  work  for  a  very  considera- 
ble period ;  for  I  remember  very  distinctly,  though  I  am  less  than  a 
hundred  to-day,  when  the  late  Dr.  Waddy — (applause) — was  junior 
preacher,  and  his  father  was  superintendent  of  the  Northampton  cir- 
cuit. That  is  a  long  time  ago,  and  I  from  then  till  now  have  always 
cherished  for  you  a  feeling  of  love  and  honour  that  no  words  of  mine 
can  ever  express.  Permit  me  to  say  how  very  heartily  and  fervently  I 
crave  for  you  all  the  best  of  blessings,  and  wish  you  God-speed.  (Ap- 
plause.) 

CONGREGATIONAL   CHURCHES. 

The  deputation  from  the  Congregationalists  of  England  and 
Wales  comprised  the  Rev.  Dr.  Kennedy  and  the  Rev.  Dr.  Newth. 

Rev.  Dr.  Kennedy,  after  apologizing  for  the  absence  of  the 
Rev.  Joshua  Harrison  and  the  Rev.  F.  AUon,  Chairman  of  the 
Congregational  Union,  who,  he  said,  was  far  distant  from  London, 

•The  copy  of  this  Address  was  not  received.— Editors. 


612  FRATERNAL    MEETING. 

overwhelmed  with  anxieties  connected  with  his  own  office  as  chair- 
man of  the  Union,  read  the  following  address : 

The  Congregational  Union  of  England  and  Wales  has  through  its 
committee,  deputed  us  to  convey  its  Christian  greetings  to  the  (Ecu- 
menical Methodist  Conference.  In  fulfilling  our  mission,  we  unite  with 
you  in  fervent  thanksgiving  to  God  for  the  rich  blessing  which  has  rested 
on  the  spiritual  successors  of  John  Wesley,  and  on  the  communities 
which  bear  his  name,  or  which,  without  assuming  the  name,  have 
sprung  from  the  great  spiritual  movement  with  which  his  name  is 
identified.  We  need  no  statistics  to  assure  us  that  the  fruits  of  what 
you  call  Methodism  have  been  many  and  blessed.  In  the  words  of  the 
Apostle,  your  faith  is  spoken  of  throughout  the  world,  and  there  are  few 
parts  of  the  world  in  which  it  has  not  "  wrought  righteousness,  turned 
to  flight  armies  of  the  aliens,"  and  won  souls  for  the  kingdom  of  God. 
We  thankfully  acknowledge  that  the  revival  which  began  with  the  labors 
of  the  Oxford  Methodists — Wesley  and  Whitefield — was  shared,  and  con- 
tinues, probably,  to  be  shared,  by  other  sections  of  the  Church.  The 
whole  blessing  was  not  condensed  into  the  Wesleyan  mould;  it  came 
from  Christ  himself,  and  by  his  grace  it  exercised  a  quickening  influence 
over  Churches  which  already  had  a  long  history,  but  which,  though 
orthodox,  greatly  needed  a  time  of  revival  and  refreshing  from  the 
presence  of  the  Lord.  There  are  several  aspects  of  your  Conference 
which  we  regard  with  great  interest.  We  offer  you  most  hearty  con- 
gratulation that  you  have  been  able  to  collect  and  to  combine  into  a  har- 
monious whole  for  worship  and  council,  all  the  organised  societies  which 
hold  the  distinctive  theology  of  Wesley,  and  profess,  more  or  less,  a 
Methodist  constitution.  The  occasions  which  separated  some  of  these 
societies  from  the  parent  stem  were  not  friendly,  and  the  separations 
were  accompanied,  in  some  instances  at  least,  it  must  be  confessed,  witli 
painful  manifestations  of  human  infirmity ;  but  now,  at  no  great  distance 
of  time  from  the  date  of  some  of  them.  Christian  charity,  or,  as  the 
Revisers  (of  whom  my  honored  colleague  to-night  is  one)  instruct  us  to 
say,  "  Christian  love,"  has  annihilated  the  gulf  and  brought  together  in 
a  spirit  of  honest  affection  and  mutual  confidence  the  representatives  of 
these  differing  bodies.  This  is  a  matter  of  interest  and  an  occasion 
of  deep  satisfaction,  not  to  you  only  but  to  all  who  concern  themselves 
in  a  catholic  spirit  with  the  honor  and  progress  of  the  kingdom  of  God. 
We  observe  likewise,  with  intense  pleasure,  the  j^resence  among  you,  on 
equal  terms,  of  brethren  who  do  not  belong  to  what  used  to  be  proudly 
called  the  Caucasian  race.  (Applause.)  Historians  credit  the  Inde- 
pendents of  a  former  age  with  an  intense  love  of  liberty,  and  with  hav- 
ing contributed  not  a  little  to  the  working  out  of  the  liberties  which 
England  now  enjoys.  The  descendants  of  these  old  Independents  be- 
lieve— and  if  we  are  too  bold  in  saying  it,  forgive  us — that  they  inherit 
the  spirit  of  their  ancestors ;  and  few  subjects  of  public  concern  have 
moved  them  more  profoundly  or  roused  them  to  more  passionate  efforts 
than  the  emancipation  from  bondage  of  the  sons  of  Africa,  first  in  our 
own  West  Indian  colonies,  and  then  in  the  United  States  of  America. 
(Applause.)  To-day  England  and  America  can  thank  God,  not  in  a 
spirit  of  Phariseeism — the  memories  of  the  past  are  too  fresh  and  hu- 
miliating to  allow  such  a  spirit  to  arise — still  they  can  thank  God  de- 
voutly that  no  slave  can  breathe  their  air;  and  we  thank  God  that  in 
j'our  Conference  there  has  been  no  distinction  between  the  children  of 
Japhet  and  the  children  of  Ham.  (Applause.)  Christianity,  brethren, 
let  us  say,  in  conclusion,  is  a  larger  thing  and  a  better  thing  than  either 
your  Methodism  or  our  Congregationalism,  than  either  Episcopacy  or 
Presbytery.     All  our  systems  may  be  Christian,  but  none  of  them  is 


FRATERNAL    MEETING.  613 

Christianity.  On  this  platform  to-night  we  acknowledge  your  Chris- 
tianity, and  you  acknowledge  ours.  We  are  fellow-servants  of  the  one 
Master  and  fellow-soldiers  under  one  Captain.  The  work  and  war  to 
Avhich  Christ  has  called  us  are  his  work  and  warfare,  and  we  shouUl  all 
have  no  deeper  solicitude  than  that  we  should  be  found  spiritually  qual- 
ified for  a  service  so  divine  and  holy.  Brethren,  we  pray  for  you  and 
ask  you  to  pray  for  us,  that  we  may  be  found  worthy  of  our  calling. — 
Signed,  on  behalf  of  the  Congregational  Union  of  England  and  Wales, 
John  Kennedy  and  Samuel  Newtii. 

Dr.  Kennedy  said :  After  all  that  has  been  addressed  to  you  to-night 
I  should  feel  myself  guilty  of  an  unpardonable  sin  if  I  ventured  to  utter 
a  speech.  I  will  only  say  this,  that  being  no  prophet,  nor  the  son  of  a 
prophet,  though  an  evangelist,  and  the  pou  of  an  evangelist,  I  can  not 
foretell  the  future  of  Methodism,  or  the  future  of  Congregationalsm,  or 
the  future  of  Presbyterianism,  but  I  can  foretell  the  future  of  Chris- 
tianity. (Applause.)  Whatever  difficulties  await  its  progress  in  the 
future,  whatever  enemies  arise  to  destroy  it,  if  by  any  means  they  might, 
I  believe  that  Christianity  is  not  of  man  but  of  God,  and  that  being  of 
God  it  is  under  His  protection,  and  that  the  Gospel  will  continue  to  the 
end  of  the  world  to  be  the  "  power  of  God  unto  salvation."  "  The  kings 
of  the  earth  may  take  council  together,"  so-called  wise  men  may  take 
council  together;  "but  the  Lord  will  have  them  all  in  derision."  His 
grace  will  become  to  the  world  a  power  of  healing  and  salvation,  and 
Christ  shall  "  see  the  travail  of  His  soul  and  shall  be  satisfied."  In  this 
spirit  I  know  you  are  one  with  me,  and  to  me  it  is  a  matter  of  the  great- 
est possible  pleasure  to  be  here  to-night  and  to  represent  a  body  which 
I  trust  is  worthy  of  some  honour  and  confidence,  even  if  it  do  not  bear 
the  name  of  Methodist.     (Applause.) 

Eev.  Dr.  Newth  also  addressed  the  meeting.* 

BRITISH  SOCIETY  FOR  THE  PROPAGATION  OF  THE  GOSPEL  AMONG 

THE   JEWS. 

The  Rev.  J.  Dunlop  and  the  Rev.  "W.  Rose  were  introduced  as 
representatives  of  this  Society. 

Rev.  J.  Dunlop  said:  Mr.  Chairman  and  dear  Christian  friends, — It 
is  meet,  I  think,  that  the  Jews  should  be  represented  on  this  platform 
to-night.  The  British  Society  is  a  kind  of  small  Evangelical  Alliance,  and 
a  large  section  of  that  alliance  belongs  to  the  Methodist  denomination. 
Dr.  Punshon  was  one  of  our  best  friends,  Dr.  Rigg  is  now  one  of  our 
honorary  secretaries,  and  the  Rev.  William  Arthur  is  one  of  our  mem- 
])ers  of  Council.  (Applause.)  One  of  the  most  interesting  things  that 
I  ever  came  in  contact  Avith  in  our  own  land  I  found  in  a  large  Wes- 
leyan  chapel  in  the  Midland  counties.  I  was  going  then  on  a  deputa- 
tion on  behalf  of  this  society,  and  was  told  I  should  see  something  in 
the  pulpit  that  would  delight  me.  On  the  Saturday  night  when  I  got 
there  I  was  so  anxious  that  I  asked  my  friend  to  allow  _me  to  enter  the 
chapel ;  he  did  so,  and  going  up  into  the  pulpit,  I  saw  printed  in  the  pul- 
pit these  grand  words,  that  ought  to  be  printed  in  all  the  Gospel  pulj)iis 
throughout  Great  Britain  and  throughout  the  world:  "Pray  for  the 
Jews."  I  have  often  wished  that  all  Gospel  pulpits  would  have  this, 
not  only  inside  for  the  minister,  but  outside  for  the  people ;  for,  depend 
upon  it,  the  success  of  the  Church  of  Christ  is  bound  up  with  JcAvish 
missions.  I  am  glad  to  find  so  much  interest  tiiken  in  Jewish  missions 
throughout  the  ]Mcthodist  body,  and  I  have  great  pleasure  in  saying  to 

♦Address  not  published  in  the  Daily  Recorder.— Editors. 


614  FRATERNAL    MEETING. 

you  on  behalf  of  the  society  God-speed.  Our  success  is  bound  up  with 
you,  and  your  success  is  bound  up  with  us.  God  speed  you  in  your 
work  for  the  evangeUzation  of  the  world !     (Applause.) 

RESPONSE   BY   REV.  MATTHEW   SIMPSON,  D.  D. ,  LL.  D. , 
BISHOP  OF   THE   METHODIST   EPISCOPAL   CHURCH. 

Bishop  Simpson  said  :  The  reception  of  the  deputations  is  now  ended, 
and  we  shall  have  some  replies  from  different  sections  of  the  Churches 
represented  in  our  Conference.  I  have  been  requested  by  the  commit- 
tee to  say  a  few  words  on  behalf  of  the  Episcopal  Methodist  Churches 
of  America.  (Applause.)  Our  Churches  and  our  people,  so  far  as  I  know, 
most  cordially  greet  the  brethren  of  all  denominations  which  have  been 
represented  here  this  evening.  We  know  and  love  the  friends  of  the 
Presbyterian  brethren,  looking  to  Scotland,  as  we  are  accustomed  to  do, 
for  many  of  our  earliest  professors  and  presidents  of  our  colleges,  and 
receiving  from  Scotland  through  the  north  of  Ireland  in  large  masses 
that  Scotch-Irish  population  w'hich  laid  the  foundation  of  many  flour- 
ishing colonies  in  our  country.  So,  too,  we  are  brought  into  contact  with 
the  Baptists,  and,  as  has  been  said  of  themselves  this  evening,  we  find 
the  Baptists  almost  wherever  we  go,  scattered  among  the  people  as  we 
are  scattered  and  working  in  a  great  measure  on  the  same  great  plat- 
form. The  Moravians,  though  not  so  numerous,  receive  our  affection 
and  most  fraternal  feelings,  accustomed  as  we  have  been  to  read  of  Mr. 
Wesley  as  having  had  those  interesting  conversations  with  Count  Zin- 
zendorf ;  and  so  the  Methodists  of  America  fraternise  most  joyfully  and 
gladly  with  our  brethren  of  other  denominations.     (Applause.) 

I  Qan  only  join  in  wishing  that  the  time  might  soon  come  when  we 
could  stand  more  closely  together,  not  in  organic  union,  but  in  present- 
ing before  the  world  the  unity  of  affection  and  love,  the  unity  of  Chris- 
tian effort  more  earnest  for  the  souls  of  men  in  all  parts  of  the  world. 
For  myself  I  want  to  say  that  I  have  had  some  close  connections  with 
these  bodies.  I  visited  Herrnhut  a  number  of  years  ago,  and  saw 
their  order.  About  the  same  time  I  was  a  member  of  the  Evangelical 
Alliance  Meeting  at  Berlin,  and  we  were  received  by  the  King  of  Prus- 
sia at  Potsdam.  When  I  was  introduced,  he  asked  me  where  my  diocese 
was.  Well,  as  we  have  no  diocese  in  our  country,  I  was  rather  at  a  loss, 
and  I  said  to  him:  "I  live  in  Pennsylvania."  He  said,  "0,  that  is 
not  it.  I  want  to  know  what  your  district  is  over  which  you  preside." 
"  Well,"  said  I,  "  may  it  please  your  majesty,  we  have  no  particular 
districts;  we  travel  at  large  over  the  country."  "O  yes,"  said  he  in  a 
moment,  "  you  are  like  the  Herrnhuters."  He  understood  their  Episco- 
pacy :  it  was  a  type  of  ours. 

As  for  myself,  in  religious  training  I  come  on  the  one  side  from  the 
Scotch-Irish— these  Presbyterians  represented  here.  _  My  father's  family 
were  from  Ireland,  and  from  Scotland  before  that  time ;  and  so,  on  my 
father's  side,  I  am  about  half  Presbyterian.  (Laughter,)  My  mother  was 
of  an  old  American  family,  and  was  a  Baptist — (laughter) — and  so  the 
Baptist  and  the  Presbyterian  uniting  formed  a  Methodist.  (Great  laugh- 
ter.) I  mention  this  as  a  type  of  the  coming  union.  (Laughter.)  I 
rejoice  to  meet  with  my  brothers  of  all  these  denominations,  and  to  bid 
them  God-speed.  It  may  be  a  little  time  in  our  own  Methodist  bodies 
before  we  attain  present  and  perfect  unity.  I  have  stood  in  our  own 
country  by  the  side  of  great  rivers  where  they  come  together,  and  I 
have  noticed  the  flow  of  the  waters,  that  although  they  come  together, 
perhaps  for  two  or  three  miles,  the  streams  seem  to  keep  a  little  to  their 
own  sides  of  the  shore.  But  by-and-by  they  forget  it  all ;  the  drops 
mingle  into  one,  and  no  one  can  tell  whence  they  came.     (Applause.) 


FRATERNAL   MEETING.  615 

So  may  it  be  with  all  Christians  of  all  denominations — melting  into  the 
Spirit  of  Christ,  and  doing  good  through  all  the  world. 

RESPONSE   BY   REV.  GEORGE    OSBORN,  D.  D. , 

PRESIDENT  OF  THE  WESLKYAN   METHODIST  CONFERENCE. 

Dr.  Osborn  said :  I  am  here,  as  you  well  know,  to  represent  the  old, 
original  Wesleyan  Methodists.  ("Primitive,"  some  one  responded.) 
(Laughter.)  No,  I  won't  say  Primitive — (laughter) — -because  I  am  sure 
that  would  convey  an  incorrect  impression — but  the  old,  original  Wes- 
leyan Methodists;  and  on  their  behalf,  and  in  their  name,  humbly  and 
respectfully  to  thank  the  brethren  who  have  addressed  us  this  evening 
from  the  Presbyterian  body,  from  the  Moravian  body,  from  the  Baptist 
body,  from  the  Congregationalist  body,  and  from  the  Jews'  Society,  for 
those  kind  sentiments  which  they  have  been  pleased  to  express,  for  that 
appreciation  of  our  unworthy  character  to  which  they  have  given  utter- 
ance, and  for  those  good  wishes  which  on  this  occasion  they  have  so 
freely  and  so  eloquently  poured  forth.  As  we  have  been  speaking  on 
the  subject  of  hymnology  to-day,  and  this  is  an  adjourned  meeting  of 
the  Conference,  it  did  occur  to  mo  that  if  I  could  find  a  Moravian  verse, 
and  a  Presbyterian  verse,  and  a  Baptist  verse,  and  a  Congregationalist 
verse,  the  best  thing  I  could  do  would  be  to  recite  it,  and  give  them  a 
welcome  in  the  shape  and  form  with  which  we  are  both  familiar ;  but 
for  the  life  of  me  they  won't  come  just  now.  (Laughter.)  I  can  re- 
member a  Presbyterian  verse  which,  forty-five  years  ago,  when,  with 
many  of  the  glorious  old  Presbyterians  witli  whom  I  was  then  on  terms 
of  familiarity,  not  to  say  intimacy,  Dr.  Candlish,  Dr.  DufF,  Dr.  Buchanan, 
Dr.  Cunningham,  Dr.  John  Brown,  Dr.  William  Symington,  and  a  score 
of  others,  I  used  to  delight  in  singing: 

"  Behold  how  good  a  thing  it  is, 
Ajid  how  becoming  well, 
Together,  sueh  as  brethren  are, 
In  unity  to  dwell." 

(Applause.)  And  the  other  verse  that  comes  at  this  moment  into  my 
mmd  is  a  Baptist  verse : 

"  Blest  be  the  tie  that  binds 

Our  hearts  in  Christian  love; 
The  fellowship  of  kindred  minds 
Is  like  to  that  above." 

We  all  agree  how  good  and  pleasant  it  is  to  look  one  another  in  the 
face;  not  to  provoke  one  another  to  renew  hostilities  cir  to  envenom  ex- 
isting controversies ;  but  to  see  how  much  we  can  diminish  the  area  of 
controversy^ (hear,  hear) — how  much  we  can  enlarge  the  area  of  agree- 
ment, how  much  we  can  assist  one  another  in  a  common  struggle  against 
the  common  enemy  of  God  and  man.  (Applause.)  Those  great  and 
holy  men  (if  whom  I  have  just  spoken,  and  not  a  few  others  with  whom 
it  was  my  happiness  to  be  associated  at  the  time  to  which  I  refer,  in  an 
attempt  to  promote  Christian  union  held  with  me  and  I  with  them,  that 
our  union  is  to  be  sought,  not  in  a  uniform  system  of  Church  govern- 
ment, not  in  uniform  standpoints  of  doctrine,  but  by  the  cultivation  of 
a  uniform  love ;  and  that  it  is  by  the  cultivation  of  the  principle  of 
Christian  love  that  the  essential  unity  which  really  subsists,  although 
sometimes  we  find  it  hard  to  manifest,  will  become  increasingly  mani- 
fold, until  the  world  is  compelled  to  own  it. 

But  that  cultivation  and  develo])ment  of  mutual  love  absolutely  re- 
quires intercourse  as  frequent  as  we  can  make  it ;  the  wider  we  stand 
apart  the  wider  v/e  shall  keep  apart,  and  the  oftener  we  come  together 
the  oftener  we  shall  like  to  come  together,  and  the  better  we  know  one 


616  FRATERNAL  MEETING. 

another  the  better  we  shall  like  one  another ;  and  therefore,  at  meetings 
like  these,  although  they  may  of  necessity  be  few,  and  be  (whenever 
they  are  held),  I  was  going  to  say  conscientiously  attended,  every  op- 
portunity should  be  given  in  the  manner  just  now  indicated,  to  set  forth 
that  in  heart  we  are  une,  however  our  respective  intellectual  convictions 
may  differ,  and  however  our  external  forms  may  difTer.  At  the  throne 
of  grace  there  is  no  perceptible  difference  whatever,  and  before  the 
throne  of  glory,  to  which,  I  trust,  we  are  all  hastening,  what  difference 
will  there  be?  What  do  those  blessed  men  of  whom  I  have  now  spoken, 
who  are  all  gone,  not  one  of  whom  is  here  on  earth — after  forty-five 
years,what  do  they  think  now  of  our  attemps  to  approximate?  And 
what  shall  I  think  forty-five  years  hence  of  our  attempts  to  approxi- 
mate? Shall  I  regard  them  ?  Do  they  now  regard  them?  I  have  held 
to  this  principle  from  the  beginning  of  my  long  ministry.  Every  year 
confirms  me  in  it ;  and  now,  perhaps,  on  the  brink  of  that  world  to  which 
they  are  gone,  I  would  only  express,  in  the  words  of  John  Wesley,  his 
ideal  of  Christian  unity,  and  pray  that  Ave  may  be  enabled  to  reahze  it: 

"  Many  are  we  now,  and  one 
We  who  Jesus  have  put  on. 
There  is  neither  bond  nor  free, 
Male  nor  female,  Lord,  in  thee  I 

Love,  like  death,  hath  all  destroyed, 

Rendered  all  distinctions  void  ; 

Names  and  sects,  and  parties  fall ; 

Thou,  0  Christ,  art  all  in  all!"  (Applause.) 

RESPONSE    BY   REV.  W.    B.    REED, 

PRESIDENT  OF  THE  BIBLE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCHES. 

Mr.  Reid  said  he  believed  he  should  correctly  express  the  sentiments 
of  all  the  bodies  that  were  represented  when  he  said  that  they  heartily 
reciprocated  the  kind  and  fraternal  greetings  to  which  it  had  been  their 
pleasure  to  listen.  In  conmion  with  all  the  sections  of  the  Methodist 
family,  and  of  all  the  families  of  Christendom,  they  would  hail  with  in- 
terest and  delight  the  assembly  of  such  a  council  as  would  comprise 
representatives  from  all  those  who  held  the  headship  and  faith  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ.  AVhilst  holding  to  those  doctrines  which  with  so 
much  stability  and  fixity  had  been  held  by  the  INIethodist  bodies,  and 
adhering  to  those  usages  which  they  had  preserved  in  common  to  so 
large  an  extent,  yet  they  might  be  permitted  to  yearn  after  a  wider  and 
fuller  catholicity  than  had  yet  obtained.  They  had  heard  once  and 
again  of  divisions,  and  certainly  the  time  had  been  when  the  various 
phases  of  Christian  doctrine  had  been  vividly  and  distinctly  expressed, 
and  when  the  several  forms  of  Church  polity  had  been  illustratecl,  to  say 
the  least,  with  equal  amplitude  and  emphasis,  and  yet  possibly  they 
were  reaching  a  period  when  they  would  look  not  to  the  extension  or 
even  the  overshadowing  of  any  one  of  those  phases  of  faith  and  practice ; 
but  to  such  a  reconciliation  of  the  whole  as  should  take  place  when 
their  Lord  the  great  Head  of  the  whole  Church  should  reconcile  all 
things  unto  Himself,  both  wliich  were  in  heaven  and  which  were  on 
earth — (applause) — and  should  make  them  to  be  beautiful  as  the  rain- 
bow which  surrounds  the  throne. 

RESPONSE   BY   REV.    JAMES   GARDNER,    D.    D., 

OF  THE  CANADA   METHODIST  CHtTRCH. 

r>R.  Gardner,  after  expressing  a  desire  to  repeat  the  sentiments 
to  which  utterance  had  already  been  given,  said  in  their  distant  geo- 
graphical position  in  Canada  they  were  not  separated  by  any  estrange- 
ments, any  doctrine  or  usage  or  sympathy  or  fraternity,   either  from 


PUBLIC  MEETINGS,  SERVICES,  AND  RECEPTIONS.        617 

their  own  Methodist  people  in  other  parts  of  the  world  or  from  the 
branches  of  the  several  bodies  represented  that  evening.  It  had  been 
his  privilege  for  more  than  forty  years  to  co-operate  in  several  depart- 
ments of  Christian  enterprise  and  activity  most  cordially  with  all  these 
branches,  save  the  Moravians,  not  having  met  those  honoured  people  in 
the  range  of  his  special  ministration.  They  treated  each  other  with 
great  courtesy,  with  Christian  kindness,  with  brotherly  love,  occupying 
often  each  other's  pulpits,  bearing  one  another's  burdens,  and  so  attempt- 
ing mutually  in  the  name  of  Christ  to  fulfil  His  law.  (Applause.)  Hav- 
ing these  privileges,  he  had  scarcely  been  able  to  decide  that  there  was 
really  a  distinction  in  the  branches  of  the  Church  where  they  met  away 
near  sunset. 

Once  and  again  it  had  been  his  privilege,  with  other  brethren,  to  tread 
that  far-distant  west  to  which  they  were  inviting  the  overflow  popula- 
tion of  Great  Britain  and  the  Continent,  because  they  had  room  for 
them  all,  and  a  place  in  which  they  might  carve  out  an  honoured  posi- 
tion and  greatly  increase  the  interest  of  the  new  settlements  by  bringing 
with  them  a  fervent  piety,  a  true  loyalty,  and  a  broad  Christian  catholic- 
ity— the  charity  and  love  of  Jesus  Christ.  (Applause.)  In  the  name  of 
the  five  jNIetliodist  churches  of  Canada  he  desired  to  extend  to  the  dep- 
utations, and  to  those  whom  they  represented,  their  most  afTectionate 
response,  not  simply  formal  or  barely  cordial,  but  most  affectionate  and 
most  devout ;  for  in  love  to  God,  in  love  to  souls,  in  love  to  each  other, 
and  in  love  to  their  common  Christianity,  they  claimed  to  be  peers  with 
the  most  earnest  and  the  most  devoted  of  God's  dear  servants  in  any 
and  in  all  the  Evangelical  Churches  of  the  land.     (Applause.) 

The  proceedings  were  brought  to  a  close  by  the  Benediction. 


PUBLIC  MEETINGS,  SERVICES,  AND  RECEPTIONS. 


PUBLIC  MEETINGS  IN  LONDON. 

(a)  Numerous  meetings  were  held  during  the  Conference  in  the  Meth- 
odist chapels  of  London  in  connection  with  local  religious  objects,  and 
for  Christian  fellowship ;  and  in  these  meetings  Eepresentatives,  espe- 
cially from  America  and  Canada,  took  a  prominent  part. 

{b)  Three  large  central  meetings  were  held  at  Exeter  Hall,  as  follows: 
On  Monday  evening,  September  12th,  the  meeting  was  under  the  presi- 
dency of  General  Clinton  B.  Fisk,  of  New  York:  the  subject  being 
Methodht  Work  on  the  Continent  of  America.  The  speakers  were  the  Rev. 
Dr.  0.  H.  Tiffany,  Rev.  Dr.  J.  M.  King,  Rev.  Dr.  A.  W.  "Wilson,  John 
]Macdonald,  Esq.,  Rev.  Dr.  Southerland,  and  Bishop  Dickerson. 

On  Tuesday  evening,  September  13th,  the  meeting  was  under  the  presi- 
dency of  S.  D.  Waddy,  Esq.,  Q.C. ;  the  subject  for  consideration  being 
Methodid  Work  in  India,  China,  and  Japan.  The  speakers  were  Rev. 
Robert  Stephenson,  Rev.  Dr.  R.  S.  Maclay,  Rev.  Dr.  J.  W.  "Waugh,  Rev. 
Dr.  A.  Sutherland,  and  Rev.  David  Hill. 

On  Wednesday  evening,  September  14th,  the  meeting  was  under  the 
presidency  of  Governor  E.  0.  Stannard,  of  St.  Louis;  the  subject  being 
MetJiodism  in  Anstralia  and  Australasian  }fissions.     The  speakers  were 


618         PUBLIC  MEETINGS,   SERVICES,   AND  EECEPTIONS. 

the  Kev.  John  Watsford,  Rev.  A.  Eeid,  Rev.  J.  D.  Dodgson,  S.  S.  Bar- 
ton, and  P.  C.  Kendall. 

[We  regret  the  necessity  of  omitting  the  Addresses  at  these  meetings 
as  published  in  the  Daily  Recorder.  Their  insertion  here  would  increase 
the  volume  to  about  seven  hundred  pages,  whereas,  in  view  of  the  pro- 
position for  the  publication  of  the  Journal,  accepted  by  the  Conference, 
we  are  not  at  liberty  to  so  far  exceed  the  specified  size  of  volume. — 
Editors, 

PROVINCIAL  MEETINGS. 
An  important  feature,  and,  as  it  proved,  one  of  the  most  successful  in 
connection  with  the  Conference  proceedings,  was  the  holding  of  central 
meetings  in  several  conveniently-situated  provincial  towns  of  England. 
The  meetings,  six  in  number,  were  held  at  Bristol,  Leeds,  Truro,  New- 
castle-on-Tyne,  Hanley,  and  Birmingham.  The  following  list  contains 
the  names  of  the  representatives  who  attended  the  provincial  meetings 
as  deputations  from  the  Conference : — 
Bristol,  September  21st  and  22nd,  Rev.  Bishop  Peck,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  Rev, 

J.  M.  Walden,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  Rev.  Bishop  Wood,  Rev.  J.  C.  Price. 
Leeds,  September  21st  and  22nd,  Rev.  Bishop  Simpson,  Rev.  Bishop 

DicKERSON,  D.D.,  Rev.  G.  R.  Crooks,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  Rev.  A.W.Wilson, 

D.D.,  Rev.  David  Morton,  Gen.  Clinton  B.  Fisk. 
Truro,  September  21st  and  22nd,  Rev.  A.  C.  George,  D.D.,  Rev.  A. 

Edwards,  D.D.,  Hon.  G.  W.  Frost. 
Newcastle-on-Tyne,  September  22nd,  23rd,  and  25th,  Rev.  O.  H.  Tiffany, 

D.D.,  Rev.  W.  P.  Harrison,  D.D.,  Rev.  G.  R.  Crooks,  D.D.,  LL.D., 

Rev.  J.  B.  McFerrin,  D.D.,  Rev.  S.  L.  Baldwin,-  D.D.,  Hon.  Oliver 

HoYT,  Esq. 
Hanley,  September  25th  and  26th,  Rev.  Park  S.  Donelson,  D.D.,  Hon. 

J.  WoFFORD  Tucker. 
Birmingham,  September  28th,  Rev.  Bishop  Dickerson,  D.D.,  Rev.W.  P. 

Harrison,  D.D.,  Rev.  A.  C.  George,  D.D.,  Rev.  T.  D.  Dodgson, 

Gen.  Clinton  B.  Fisk. 

SUNDAY  SERVICES  IN  LONDON. 
Arrangements  were  made  by  the  Committee  for  the  Services  in  most 
of  the  Methodist  chapels  in  and  around  London  to  be  conducted  on 
Sunday,  September  11th  and  September  18th,  by  delegates  to  the  Con- 
ference. By  this  arrangement  most  of  the  Ministers  in  attendance  had 
an  opportunity  of  preaching  in  London  pulpits.  ^ 

RECEPTIONS  IN  LONDON. 

(a)  The  Religious  Tract  Society  of  London  entertained  the  Conference 
to  breakfast  at  Exeter  Hall,  on  Tuesday,  September  6th.  The  Treasurer 
of  the  Society  presided.  The  meeting  was  addressed  by  the  President 
of  the  Wesleyan  Conference,  the  Revs.  Dr.  Craig,  Bishop  Simpson,  the 
Lord  Mayor,  Bishop  Payne,  Rev.  W.  Hocart,  Rev.  W.  Arthur,  Rev.  E. 
E.  Jenkins,  Rev.  Bishop  McTyeire,  Rev.  Dr.  Cooke,  Rev.  C.  Kendall, 
Rev.  Dr.  Stoughton,  and  Rev.  W,  Grifiith. 


NOTES   FROM   THE   PRESS   OF   ENGLAND.  619 

(b)  The  Eight  Hon.  the  Lord  Mayor  of  London  (W.  McArthur,  Esq., 
M.  P.)  and  the  Lady  Mayoress  gave  a  reception  at  the  Mansion  House, 
on  Wednesday  evening,  September  7th,  to  the  delegates  attending  the 
Conference,  and  to  ministers  in  London  who  had  been  invited  to  meet 
them.  The  State  Apartments  were  thrown  open  to  the  guests,  who 
numbered  upwards  of  one  thousand.  The  Lord  IMayor  and  Lady  May- 
oress were  attended  by  the  Sword  and  Mace  Bearers,  and  City  INLarshal. 
Mr.  Alderman  Fowler,  M.P.,  senior  Sheriff,  and  Mr.  A.  M' Arthur,  M.P., 
and  other  Members  of  Parliament,  were  present.  The  band  of  the  Cold- 
stream Guards  i)layed  a  selection  of  music.  After  the  reception  the  Lord 
Mayor  entered  the  Egyj^tian  Hall,  and  a  series  of  short  addresses  were 
dehvered.  The  Lord  IMayor  said  that  there  never  was  a  period  when 
the  different  bodies  of  Methodism  in  this  country  had  a  more  fraternal 
feeling  towards  each  other  than  prevailed  amongst  theni  at  the  present 
time,  and  he  hoped  the  day  was  not  far  distant  when  they  might  all 
come  nearer  still  to  each  other.  Addresses  were  delivered  by  the  Rev. 
AV.  Arthur,  Bishop  Warren,  General  Fisk,  Dr.  Tiffany,  Bishop  Payne, 
Dr.  Newman,  Dr.  McFerrin,  and  Dr.  Payne. 


NOTES  FROM  THE  PRESS  OF  ENGLAND. 


The  Methodist  (Ecumenical  Conference  engaged  the  attention  of  both 
the  secular  and  religious  press  of  England,  and  was  the  occasion  of  many 
editorial  articles  and  paragraj)hs — most  of  them  kind  in  spirit  and  com- 
plimentary. We  have  not  space  to  publish  a  tithe  of  these,  but  think  it 
will  add  to  the  interest  of  this  volume  to  fill  up  the  few  pages  in  this 
last  form  with  extracts  which  give  the  general  drift  of  the  utterances 
both  of  the  London  and  provincial  press.  More  than  one  important 
article  appeared  in  the  Times  and  other  London  papers,  but  we  cannot 
give  any  of  them  in  full — only  excerpts. — American  Editors. 

The  London  Times:  The  Pan- Anglican  Synods  at  Lambeth  probably 
suggested  the  INIethodist  (Ecumenical  Conference  which  is  to  meet  at 
the  City-road  Wesleyan  Chapel.    The  Conference  is,  however,  at  once 

narrower  and  deeper  in  its  basis  than  the  Synod By  the 

theory  of  an  Episcopal  church  an  assembly  of  bishops  such  as  has 
more  than  once  responded  to  the  invitation  of  the  Archbishop  of  Can- 
terbury has  sovereign  rights The  four  hundred  delegates 

of  Methodism  disclaim  all  pretension  to  be  legislators.  The  various 
])ranches  which  share  the  common  denomination  of  Methodists  are  at 
least  as  independent  of  one  another  as  the  Episcopal  churches  of  Eng- 
land and  Scotland,  of  Ireland  since  its  disestablishment,  of  the  ITnited 
States,  and  of  Canada.  They  have  set  up  varying  institutions.  Several 
are  under  bishops,  though  they  are  not,  therefore,  the  more  prelatical. 
In  some  the  Presbyterian  type  is  more  sacerdotal  than  in  otliers.  It 
wouUHiave  been  impossible  for  their  representatives  in  the  City-road 
to  legislate  for  all  these  distinct  requirements,  could  they  have  been 
commissioned  for  such  a  purpose  by  their  constituents.  They  are  gath- 
ered simply  to  confer  and  consult,  as  the  programme  of  their  convoca- 
tion stated,  "  for  co-operation,  not  for  consolidation."    A  Lambeth  Synod 


620  NOTES    FROM    THE    PEESS    OF    ENGLAND. 

desires  uniformity  as  its  ideal ;  the  Methodist  Conference  desires,  "  not 
uniformity,  but  unity."  ....  The  (Ecumenical  Conference  will 
present  a  spectacle  of  imposing  variety  with  its  bishops,  its  negroes,  and 
its  delegates  of  Continental  chapels ;  at  bottom  it  is  a  monster  class- 
meeting,  assembled  to  pray  and  confess  and  hear  confessions,  and  to 
collect  subscriptions  for  the  more  speedy  distribution  of  the  rest  of  man- 
kind into  weeldy  classes.  Its  discussions  may  not  be  very  brilliant,  or 
even  enlightening  to  the  general  public.  No  encyclicals  will  issue  from 
it  for  the  government  of  the  several  Methodist  communities.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  temper  of  its  deliberations,  and  the  directions  they  spon- 
taneously take,  will  teach  those  who  have  the  key  to  the  language  in 
which  they  are  couched  as  much  of  the  prospects  of  Methodism  on  both 
sides  of  the  Atlantic  as  if  they  had  traveled  in  person  through  the 
whole  Methodist  world.  Methodism  was  never  more  prosperous  than 
now  since  its  early  militant  stage Could  Methodism  be  ab- 
sorbed back  into  the  Church,  as  for  this  and  profounder  reasons  it  can 
not  be,  the  only  result  might  be  to  prepare  materials  for  another  vast 
internal  convulsion.  It  may  be  doubted  whether  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land, with  virtues  in  its  own  sphere  unequalled  by  any  other  ecclesias- 
tical system,  could  without  violence  widen  its  borders  to  house  Meth- 
odism. There  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  experiment,  now  that 
Methodism  exists  and  is  very  content  to  exist,  would  not  be  worth 
making,  were  the  chances  of  success  tenfold  what  they  are.  Methodists 
can  best  follow  their  bent  without  lowering  their  voices  to  the  modest 
level  of  Church  plain  song.  Churchmen,  reticent  and  bashful,  would 
be  incommoded  by  being  called  ujion  to  raise  their  note  of  emotion  to 
the  pitch  of  a  Methodist  prayer-meeting.  The  grooves  in  which  the 
two  lines  of  devotion  proceed  suit  well  the  wheels  which  have  learnt 
to  run  in  them.  The  peril  of  collision  is,  perhaps,  the  less  the  more 
deeply  they  are  cut,  and  the  more  completely  ackowledged  the  imprac- 
ticability of  their  nearer  approximation. 

TJie  Daily  Chronicle:  Never  before  has  such  a  Conference  been  held. 
Not  merely  the  Methodist  Churches  of  America,  Africa,  and  Australasia, 
but  all  the  offshoots  of  the  original  IMethodist  body  in  this  country  will 
be  represented  in  this  Ecumenical  Conference.  It  is  a  felicitous  circum- 
stance that  on  the  occasion  of  such  an  unprecedented  gathering  in  the 
British  metropolis,  the  Lord  Maj'or  of  London  should  happen  to  be  a 
Wesleyan  and  the  son  of  a  Wesleyan  minister.  Equally  singular  is  the 
fact  that  the  Lady  Mayoress  is  the  daughter  of  a  Wesleyan  minister ;  so 
that  in  the  civic  palace  the  members  of  the  Conference  will  be  certain  to 
receive  a  cordial  welcome.  It  is  less  than  a  century  and  a  half  since  the 
Methodist  Society  was  founded,  and  its  adherents  are  numbered  by  mill- 
ions. Indeed,  a  late  President  of  the  Wesleyan  Conference  quoted  sta- 
tistics to  prove  that  the  adherents  of  Methodism  throughout  the  world 
outnumber  those  of  the  Anglican  Church.  This  wondrous  system  is,  as 
we  have  shown,  of  comparatively  recent  growth,  and  there  is  no  sign  of 
lessened  vitality.  On  the  contrary,  its  numbers  continue  to  increase, 
and  it  manfully  upholds  the  doctrines  of  pure  orthodoxy.  In  London 
and  in  all  the  great  towns  of  England  the  magnificent  chapels  of  the 
Methodists  testify  to  the  vigour  of  their  religious  life ;  while  in  America 
Methodism  is  the  dominant  form  of  religion.  The  system  which  thus 
exercises  so  potent  an  influence  on  the  religious  life  of  the  world  fur- 
nishes proof  of  Macaulay's  assertion  that  John  Wesley  "possessed  a 
genius  for  government  uot  inferior  to  that  of  Richelieu,"  for  the  founder 
of  the  Society  laid  down  the  lines  upon  which  it  rests  to  this  day,  and 
upon  which  it  will  continue  to  rest. 

In  the  doctrines  of  the  Methodists  there  is  little  which  is  different 
from  those  of  the  Church  of  England ;  and  even  the  Liturgy  of  the 
Church  is  used  as  the  form  of  worship  in  many  of  the  Methodist  chapels. 


NOTES   FROM   THE   PRESS   OF   ENGLAND.  621 

It  is  scarcely  surprising  that,  under  these  circumstances,  many  eminent 
Churchmen  should  dream  of  reconciliation ;  but  we  think  such  hopes 
are  not  destined  to  be  realised.  Every  year,  in  fact,  renders  it  more 
difficult  for  the  Wesleyans  to  go  back  to  the  Church.  We  do  not  think 
any  advantage  would  be  gained  to  the  cause  of  religion  by  such  a  fusion. 
The  Methodists  have  done  much  to  revivify  the  Church,  and  have  won 
notable  triumphs  in  the  work  of  evangelisation.  If  all  the  clergy  of  the 
Established  Church  would  display  a  fraternal  spirit  towards  the  Wes- 
leyans, recognising  them  as  earnest  workers  in  the  same  field,  the  cause 
of  religion  would  be  advanced The  work  done  by  the  Meth- 
odists is  recognised  by  the  highest  in  the  land.  Not  many  months  ago 
the  Duchess  of  Connaught  opened  a  bazaar  in  aid  of  this  woi-k  in  the 
Army  and  Navy ;  and  the  Duke  himself  has  borne  willing  testimony  to 
the  value  of  the  labours  which  the  Wesleyan  ministers  perform  among 
our  soldiers.  In  many  ways  and  by  various  means  the  cause  of  religion 
may  be  advanced ;  and  the  Methodist  CEcumenical  Conference  will  in- 
dicate how  all  the  Christian  Churches  may  labour  in  the  interests  of  hu- 
manity. 

The  Echo:  A  century  and  a-half  ago  England  was  just  beginning  to  feel 
the  influence  of  that  great  Evangelical  revival  which  has  proved  to  be 
the  most  powerful  religious  movement  since  the  Reformation.  The  cen- 
tral figure  was  John  Wesley.  As  a  preacher  he  was  surpassed  by  White- 
field,  and  there  were  many  men,  both  in  the  Established  Church  and 
outside  of  it,  who  largely  aided  in  the  work  ;  but  Wesley  had  the  powers 
of  a  successful  organizer  and  administrator,  and,  driven  by  the  Bishops 
and  Clergy  into  a  kind  of  semi-nonconformity,  he  became  the  unwilling 
founder  of  a  Church  whose  adherents  are  now  counted  by  millions,  and 
are  to  be  found  in  every  quarter  of  the  globe.  This  week  the  Ecumeni- 
cal Conference  of  the  various  Methodist  Churches  commences  its  sit- 
tings—a body  of  four  hundred  delegates,  who  are  said  to  represent  some 
millions  of  Church  communicants  and  a  far  larger  number  of  people 
more  or  less  closely  attached  to  Methodism.  One  of  the  most  practical 
questions  to  be  considered  is  the  best  mode  of  avoiding  waste  and  rival- 
ries— a  matter  of  infinite  importance  to  other  religious  bodies  besides 
Methodists,  but  of  special  interest  to  Methodists  in  this  country,  who 
are  split  up  into  half-a-dozen  organisations  which  hitherto  have  for  the 
most  part  pursued  their  labours  apart  without  considering,  when  a  fresh 
station  is  occupied,  whether  the  ground  has  not  been  sufficiently  cov- 
ered already  by  some  other  Methodist  body Considering 

that  the  latest  Methodist  secession  has  receded  so 'far  into  the  past  a  pan- 
Methodist  Conference  need  not  be  wondered  at,  especially  when  we 
consider  the  progress  of  the  old  Wesleyan  body  in  a  liberal  direction. 
The  days  are  passed  when  Wesleyanism  could  be  counted  as  a  power- 
ful political  Conservative  force.  Of  late  years,  with  one  or  two  solitary 
exceptions,  like  that  of  Mr.  Richard  Haworth,  of  Manchester,  the  lead- 
ing men  of  the  Wesleyan  laity  have  been  staunch  political  Liberals.  To 
the  outside  world  the  names  of  the  M'Arthurs,  and  of  the  Iloldens,  of 
\Vad<ly,  and  Shepherd  Allen,  and  Howard,  and  Lycett,  have  been  suffi- 
ciently prominent,  but  these  are  only  representatives  of  a  host  of  ob- 
scurer men.  Not  a  few  of  these  are  as  pronounced  in  their  hostility  to 
Church  establishments  as  the  foremost  lay  representatives  of  the  older 
nonconformity.  The  Home  Reunion  Society  may  continue  to  dream  its 
dreams  of  the  absorption  of  Wesleyans  into  the  Anglican  Church,  but  it 
is  evident  to  every  onlooker  that  the  bias  of  the  old  Wesleyan  bodj'  is 
towards  Methodist  reunion ;  and  that,  if  this  is  accomplished,  the  hope 
of  absorption  into  the  Anglican  Church  is  farther  off  than  ever.  The 
independent  attitude  of  leading  We.sleyans  towards  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land is  pronounced  enough  already,  but  amalgamated  Methodism  would 
place  conservative  Methodists  in  an  absolutely  hopeless  minority. 


622  NOTES   FROM   THE   PRESS   OF   ENGLAND. 

Daily  Telegraph :  The  idea  of  a  Wesleyan  OEcumenical  Council  orig- 
inated in  that  natural  source  of  vast  designs,  the  United  States,  where 
Methodism  in  various  forms  has  deep  root  and  flourishes  exceedingly. 
....  The  Pan-Wesleyan  Conference  will,  in  the  strictest  sense, 
justify  its  designation,  since  every  sect  ahle  to  trace  its  origin  to  Meth- 
odism, though  it  may  have  discarded  the  name,  finds  the  door  open. 
.  .  .  .  When  it  is  remembered  that  the  history  of  these  bodies  rep- 
resents a  good  deal  of  painful  disruption  as  well  as  friction  arising  out 
of  diflerences  which,  though  slight,  partisan  feeling  is  apt  to  magnify, 
and  when  it  is  stated  that  the  preliminary  arrangements  have  been  made 
in  the  most  complete  harmony,  we  are  bound  to  recognise  the  existence 
and  influence  of  a  spirit  often  sadly  wanting  as  between  sect  and  sect, 

yet  absolutely  essential  to  the  securing  of  their  common  end 

In  the  words  of  the  (Ecumenical  Committee,  the  Conference  meets  "  not 
for  consolidation  but  for  co-operation."  It  would  be  well  if  this  defini- 
tion of  Methodist  purpose  found  acceptance  outside  the  ranks  of  John 
"Wesley's  followers,  and  thus  worked  to  make  the  denominations  now 
fighting  each  for  its  own  hand  show  a  united  front  against  the  common. 

foe To  a  large  number  of  English  citizens  the  occasion  is 

one  of  absorbing  interest,  as  presenting  a  magnificent  demonstration  of 
the  hold  which  their  Church  has  obtained  upon  the  world.  Philan- 
thropists will  see  in  it  evidence  of  great  resources  devoted  to  the  best 
interests  of  mankind;  and  even  those  who  regard  the  Council  as  no 
more  than  an  incident  of  history  will  underscore  it  as  one  of  the 
largest  and  most  important  representative  gatherings  in  the  annals  of 
Protestantism. 

TJie  Chris^dan  World:  We  may  hope  that  such  interchanges  and  col- 
lision of  opinion  will  strike  out  some  new  and  fertile  lines  of  operation 
which  will  be  fruitful  of  good  not  only  to  Methodism,  but  to  Christianity 
at  large.  It  is  too  soon  to  estimate  all  the  advantages  of  this  noticeable 
Pan-Methodist  gathering.  But,  as  the  official  letter  of  the  American 
Churches  in  one  of  their  first  communications  suggested,  it  will  tend  to 
harmonise  and  unify  the  different  Methodist  organisations,  to  break 
down  caste  and  local  prejudices,  and  to  bind  together  in  closest  fellow- 
ship a  people  essentially  one  in  doctrine,  spirit,  and  purpose.  It  will 
be  a  grand  demonstration  of  Christian  unity,  and  of  the  beneficial  power 
of  those  Evangelical  and  Protestant  principles  upon  which  the  practical 
creed  and  operations  of  most  of  the  great  Churches  of  English-speaking 
populations  are  based.  It  will  help  to  find  room  for  more  friendly  co- 
operation of  the  Churches  at  home ;  it  will  help  to  smooth  down  national 
jealousies  and  prejudice  in  other  countries,  notably  in  England  and 
America — the  two  great  centres  of  IMethodism ;  it  will  widen  sympathies 
with  respect  to  the  great  work  of  the  mission-field,  and  serve  to  teach 
how  to  avoid  friction  and  waste  in  planting  agencies  and  extending 
Christianity  in  heathen  lands.  Both  at  home  and  abroad  a  bad  im- 
pression is  being  made  by  the  multiplied  rivalries  of  Methodist  chapels 
and  ministers,  crowded  together  in  one  centre,  instead  of  being  wisely 
spread  over  neighbourhoods  where  they  are  more  needed.  We  may 
hope,  too,  that  not  only  will  greater  attention  be  drawn  to  Methodism, 
and,  through  the  greater  knowledge  diffused,  more  justice  be  done  to  it 
by  the  Press  both  here  and  in  other  lands,  but  that  the  ministers  and 
members  of  that  Church  will  henceforth  take  a  wider  outlook  upon  the 
world,  have  a  wider  sympathy  with  its  literature,  its  politics,  and  its 
mental  struggles,  enter  into  a  more  catholic  union. with  other  Churches, 
and,  whilst  not  less  earnest  and  corporate  in  its  action,  be  more  univer- 
sal in  its  aims,  and  more  comprehensive  in  relation  to  the  true  spirit  of 
Christianity  and  the  actual  needs  of  the  world. 

The  Western  Morning  Netvs:  At  ten  o'clock  yesterday  morning,  Sep- 
tember 7th,  the  Methodist  Chapel  in  City-road,  London,  was  filled  from 


NOTES   FROM   THE   PRESS   OF   ENGLAND.  623 

end  to  end  by  the  delegates  to  the  OEcumenical  Conference  of  IMethod- 

ism,  assembled  from  every  quarter  of   the  world Just  as 

City-road  Chapel  has  been  for  more  than  a  century  the  centre  of  Meth- 
odism in  name,  yesterday  the  idea  expressed  in  the  words  was  for  the 
first  time  fully  realised.  The  intellectual  and  spiritual  leaders  of  the 
many  millions  of  people  whose  religious  life  is  moulded  on  the  lines  laid 
down  by  John  Wesley  were  gathered  in  the  church  which  the  founder 
of  the  Methodist  Connexion  designed.  The  spirit  which  is  likely  to 
animate  the  Conference,  and  the  renewal  of  old  ties  likely  to  result, 
were  illustrated  in  the  introductory  proceedings,  which  were  character- 
ized by  warmth. 

77)6  Liverpool  Mail:  The  Lord  IMayor  of  London,  who  has  been  a 
generous  benefactor  to  the  cause  of  Wesleyanism  both  in  England 
and  Ireland,  is  to  be  congratulated  upon  the  happy  coincidence  which 
brings  the  Methodist  CEkiumenical  Conference  within  the  period  of  his 
municipal  reign.  The  reception,  on  AVednesday  evening,  September 
7th,  of  nine  hundred  of  the  leading  members  of  the  Wesleyan  commu- 
nity at  the  Mansion  House,  when  the  state  apartments  were  l^rilliantly 
lighted  and  decorated  for  the  occasion,  must  liave  suggested  to  many  of 
the  guests  a  pleasant  recollection  of  a  once  famous  work  by  that  eminent 
Nonconformist  divine  Dr.  Binney — "  How  to  Make  the  Best  of  Both 
Worlds." 

The  Cliristian  Life  (A  Unitarian  organ):  We  have  reason  for  belie\'ing 
that  the  only  questions  for  serious  discussions,  at  the  great  Methodist 
Council  now  held  in  London,  will  be  confined  to  the  quickening  of  the  re- 
ligious life  of  mankind.  This  is  the  professed  object  of  those  who  are  at 
the  head  of  the  movement  called  IMethodism.  No  sect  can  claim  to-day 
the  same  amount  of  success  that  has  crowned,  for  one  hundred  and  forty 
years,  this  Church.  It  is  a  joy  to  us  to  add  that  it  is  eminently  religious, 
and  so  deserves  the  admiration  of  every  well-wisher  of  our  race.  We 
are  not  in  this  article  to  be  the  critics  of  the  theological  errors  or  defects 
of  the  ^lethodist  Church ;  we  wish  to  lay  before  our  readers  a  few  facts 
which  show  the  strength  and  grandeur  of  this  denomination  of  Chris- 
tians. It  was  a  happy  idea  that  its  representatives  should  meet  in  Lon- 
don where  Wesley  organised  his  plans ;  and  it  is  fortunate  that  the  chief 
magistrate  of  the  great  metropolis  is  at  this  time  an  honoured  member 

of  the  Wesleyan  body One  of  our  ministers  informs  us,  in 

a  letter,  that  in  the  United  States  the  Methodists  are  the  only  body  that 
keep  in  check  the  daring  assumption  and  arrogance  of  the  Roman  Cath- 
olic Church.  They  overmatch  in  industry  and  success  the  whole  hier- 
archy of  Rome,  with  all  its  Irish  auxiliaries ;  and  all  wise  men  bless 
God  for  Wesleyanism  in  America.  Of  the  theological  value  of  this 
movement  during  the  past  and  present  century  we  shall  hereafter  speak. 
Of  its  moral  value  we  would  now  observe  that  every  city,  town,  and 
village  of  the  United  Kingdom  has  felt  a  saving  influence  in  the  exer- 
tions of  INIethodists.  If  we  were  asked  to  name  the  one  chief  instrxi- 
mont  in  the  hands  of  Providence  which  has  contributed  most  of  late  to 
the  moral  elevation  of  our  people,  we  would  not  hesitate  for  a  moment 
to  say,  '  IMethodism.'  The  great  awakening  of  our  country  to  the  im- 
portance of  a  righteous,  sober,  and  godly  life  took  place  last  century 
through  the  labours  of  John  Wesley.  ^len  of  all  Churches  have  again 
and  again  acknowledged  this.  He  has  left  a  legacy  in  the  institution  he 
founded  of  far-reaching  holy  influence.  When  he  began  his  labours, 
even  the  Sunday,  north  and  south,  was  a  carnival  of  profligacy,  sensu- 
ality, and  crime.  In  town  and  village  rampant  villany,  wickedness, 
and  wretchedness  were  everywhere.  The  Methodist  preacher  went  to 
these  places,  at  first  to  be  insulted  and  mobbed,  but  soon  to  awaken 
and  change  the  life  of  the  vilest  inhabitants.     Chapels,  schools,  libraries, 


624  NOTES    FEOM    THE    PRESS    OF    ENGLAND. 

and  benevolent  societies  sprang  into  being  wherever  the  preachers  went. 
The  working  men's  houses  were  refurnished,  and  quietness  and  cieanh- 
ness  soon  reigned  instead  of  disorder  and  dirt.  We  have  heard  old  in- 
habitants of  some  Enghsh  villages  tell  how  soon  hymns  took  the  place 
of  lewd  songs,  and  sacred  music  the  place  of  brawls,  among  the  colliers 
of  the  North.  Millions  of  families  have  been  blest  by  sobriety,  purity, 
and  piety,  with  better  life,  and  hope  in  death  through  the  energy  and 
zeal  of  the  lay  preachers  of  this  body.  In  their  desire  to  do  good  they 
have  heeded  not  the  gibes  or  sneers  of  nien,  and  they  have  done  God's 
•will,  restored  many  lost  and  wandering  souls  to  the  true  Shepherd  of  the 
Church.  It  is  a  moral  and  religious  triumph,  we  think,  of  this  day, 
when  we  hear  of  the  success  of  Methodism ;  and  we  hope  out  of  the 
Council  now  assembled  a  new  zeal  and  enterprise  to  bless  mankind  will 
spring. 

The  Rock  (Church  of  England  paper) :  The  Methodist  Ecumenical 
Conference,  which  for  some  weeks  has  been  exciting  as  lively  an  inter- 
est in  circles  outside  Wesleyan  boundaries  as  among  'the  people  called 
Methodists,'  is  now  in  session  at  the  City-road  Chai^el.  The  building 
has  been  the  scene  of  many  memorable  gatherings,  but  perhaps  of  none 
more  remarkable  than  that  which  was  seen  there  on  Wednesday  last. 
There  were  as.sembled  ministers  and  laymen  from  difTerent  parts  of  the 
world,  the  majority  of  whom  had  left  their  churches  and  their  homes  in 
order  to  confer  with  each  other  for  several  days  on  topics  of  interest  to 
their  beloved  Church.  No  one  can  fail  to  admire  and  to  honour  the 
simplicity  and  the  purity  of  motive  which  has  brought  these  men  from 
afar,  and,  with  Lord  IVIayor  M'Arthur,  thousands  who  do  not  exactly  see 
eye  to  eye  with  them  on  all  points,  both  of  doctrine  and  Church  policy, 
W"ill  be  disposed  to  bid  them  a  hearty  welcome.  Some  of  their  bishops 
have  already  made  a  good  impression  by  their  sermons  in  London  on 
Sunday  last,  and  the  names  of  those  announced  to  take  part  in  this  Ecu- 
menical Conference  will  serve  to  remind  many  of  men  of  no  slight  repu- 
tation as  authors  and  preachers. 

The  Kentish.  Mercury :  A  religious  convocation  of  a  peculiarly  interest- 
ing character  is  at  this  time  being  held  in  London — the  Methodist  (Ecu- 
menical Conference,  the  first  gathering  of  the  kind  that  this  great  body 

has  ever  held There  is  no  doubt  that  Methodism  is  one  of 

the  great  spiritual  forces  of  the  present  day  that,  perhaps,  next  to  the 
Church  of  England,  is  affecting  most  powerfully  the  religious  interests  of 
the  Protestant  world ;  and  while  it  is  impossible  not  to  regard  with  sym- 
pathy and  respect  the  zeal  and  earnestness  of  this  great  Christian  organi- 
sation, we  cannot  help  regret  that  at  the  time  of  the  appearance  of  Wes- 
ley the  rulers  of  the  Church  of  England  refused  to  sanction  or  recognise 
his  labours,  and  thus  alienated  an  element  which,  if  it  had  been  assimi- 
lated, would  have  proved  a  source  of  incalculable  strength  to  the  Estab- 
lishment  Let  us  be  willing  to  learn  lessons,  not  only  from 

Wesleyanism  and  the  more  respectable  forms  of  Nonconformity,  but 
even  from  the  Salvation  Army  itself,  in  devising  methods  to  endear  our 
grand  and  pure  old  Church  to  the  hearts  of  the  common  people  to  whom 
Christ  preached  the  Gospel,  and  to  whom  His  people  are  especially  com- 
missioned to  go,  and  to  increase  her  efficiency  as  in  every  sense  the 
Church  of  the  nation. 

The  Daily  News :  It  is  impossible  to  overlook  the  historic  interest  of 
the  proceedings  of  the  Methodist  Conference  now  sitting  in  London. 
Nearly  a  century  and  a  half  ago,  when  political  corruption  was  rivalled 
by  the  corruption  of  the  clergy,  and  when  private  and  public  morality 
were  alike  rare,  a  few  young  Oxford  students  joined  together  in  a  strenu- 
ous effort  against  the  religious  indifference  of  the  day.    The  leaders  of 


NOTES  FROM  THE  PRESS  OF  ENGLAND.       625 

these  young  men,  whose  regularity  of  life  and  of  religious  observance 
won  them  the  title  of  '  Methodists,'  were  Whitefield  and  the  brothers 
Charles  and  John  Wesley.  Whitefield's  wonderful  preaching,  which 
stirred  all  England  and  won  the  admiration  of  Horace  Wali)ole,  who 
generally  knew  how  to  admire  real  talent  when  he  saw  it,  did  much  for 
the  new  movement.  The  sweetness  and  beauty  of  the  hymns  of  Charles 
Wesley  did  much  for  it.  But,  as  has  been  truly  said,  John  Wesley  was 
the  movement  itself.  To  his  eloquence,  but  still  more  to  his  life-long 
perseverance  and  untiring  devotion,  the  organisation  and  earlier  tri- 
umphs of  Methodism  are  due.  According  to  one  of  the  speakers  at  the 
Conference  yesterday,  Methodism  now  numbers  some  four  millions  and 
a-hah  of  followers  in  England,  and  over  twenty-three  millions  in  differ- 
ent parts  of  the  world,  being  particularly  strong  in  America.  Yet  in 
1738,  when  Whitefield  and  the  two  Wesleys  first  came  from  Oxford  to 
London,  they  and  their  few  Oxford  friends  were  the  only  Methodists. 
It  would  be  difficult  to  overrate  the  debt  whicli  civilisation  owes  to  a 
movement  which  came  at  a  terrible  period  of  religious  decay,  and  stirred 
the  pulses  of  national  life  and  duty. 

Tlie  Manchester  Examiner  and  Times :  The  Methodist  Ecumenical  Coun- 
cil is  displaying  a  great  deal  of  freshness  and  vigour  in  its  discussion  of 
social  topics.  The  debate  on  intemperance,  and  more  especially  on  the 
Sunday  liquor  traffic  as  a  hindrance  to  religious  work,  focussing  as  it  did 
the  experience  of  men  from  all  parts  of  the  world,  both  from  countries 
where  the  puljlic-houses  are  closed  and  others  where  they  are  opened 
on  Sunday,  was  particularly  interesting  and  valuable.  The  fullest  re- 
port obtainable  ought  to  be  reprinted  and  widely  distributed  by  some 
one  or  other  of  the  temperance  societies. 

The  Sunday-School  Chronicle :  The  (Ecumenical  Council  of  Methodists, 
now  holding  its  sittings  at  the  Wesleyan  Chapel,  City-road,  is  attracting 
a  good  deal  of  attention,  not  only  of  the  religious  but  of  the  secular 
press.  Whatever  the  topic,  whoever  the  speaker,  there  is  but  one  opin- 
ion, that  Methodism  is  all-sufficient  for  every  condition  of  society,  and 
for  the  requirements  of  everjf  age.  A  more  united  or  harmonious  gath- 
ering never  assembled ;  and  the  good  feeling  and  brotherly  love  that 
seem  to  prevail  may  well  be  emulated  by  other  bodies  when  they  thus 
meet  in  council.  We  have  not  space  to  report  one  tithe  of  the  good 
things  said ;  we  might  till  our  columns  with  extracts  from  the  papers 
read  and  speeches  made,  which,  though  uttered  in  the  interest  of  Meth- 
odism, have  an  application  for  all  Christian  workers. 

The  Birmingham  Daily  Post :  It  requires  no  stretch  of  candour  to  say 
that  the  Conference  embodies  a  lofty  idea,  expressed  in  terms  obviously 
not  less  sincere  than  dignified.  We  find  amongst  the  subjects  of  dis- 
cussion such  practical  topics  as  education,  the  means  of  evangelistic 
work,  the  provision  of  an  itinerant  ministry,  training-schools  and  Sun- 
day-schools, missionary  eflforts,  and  others  of  a  kindred  kind— the  inten- 
tion being  so  to  treat  them  as  to  use  to  the  fullest  extent  the  force  of 
the  Methodist  organisations,  and  to  avoid  waste  of  power  and  rivalry  of 
effort.  To  such  objects,  and  to  the  assembly  which  has  met  to  promote 
them,  a  hearty  welcome  will  be  given  by  all  earnest-minded  people  in 
this  country 

The  Christian  Union:  The  greatest  religious  reformation  of  modern 
times  is  unquestionably  that  wrought  by  the  Methodist  denomination. 
A  century  and  a-half  ago  religious  fervour  in  England,  and  we  might 
almost  say  religion  itself,  had  well-nigh  died  out.  If  we  wish  to  know 
what  Wesleyanism  has  done  for  England — we  might  say  for  the  world — 
the  Methodist  Oecumenical  Conference  now  being  held  in  London  will 
answer  that  it  has  wrought  the  greatest  of  all  religious  reformations, 

T  T 


626  NOTES    FROM    THE    PRESS    OF    ENGLAND. 

and  has  won  millions  of  souls  to  the  Kingdom  of  Christ.  Indeed,  never 
in  the  history  of  the  world  were  such  a  union  of  Christian  ministers  and 
laymen  from  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  ever  held  for  the  same 
puri)ose  and  in  the  same  unanimity  of  spirit.  A  remarkahle  feat-ure-of 
the  Conference  is  that  it  has  been  the  daily  topic  of  Christian  people 
of  all  denominations,  and  its  proceedings  have  been  recorded  day  by 
day  in  every  journal  in  the  United  Kingdom  and  in  America.  The 
Conference  will  be  of  untold  good  not  only  to  the  Wesleyans  them- 
selves, but  to  all  Christians  of  all  denominations 

The  Weekly  Dispatch,  (owned  and  edited  by  Mr.  Ashton  W.  Dilke, 
M.P.  for  Newcastle),  [The  Methodist  Recorder  says:  "The  testimony, 
coming  from  such  a  quarter,  is  remarkable.]  :  The  Methodist  CEcumeni- 
cal  Conference  that  is  now  being  held  in  London  is  quite  as  interesting 
in  its  way  as  was  the  Pan-Anglican  Synod  o^  a  few  years  ago,  or  as  are 
such  profane  assemblies  as  those  of  the  British  Association  or  Social 
Science  Congress.  Methodism  is  the  one  great  and  successful  religious 
revival  that  Protestantism  can  boast  of,  and  in  its  strength  we  see  the 
strongest  element  of  Christianity,  apart  from  that  which  keeps  the 
Papacy  alive.  Protestantism  would  probably  have  been  a  dead  thing  in 
England  long  before  now  had  not  John  Wesley  arisen  to  give  it  new  life 
a  century  and  a  half  ago,  and  the  Wesleyans  now  hold  a  far  more  logi- 
cal position  in  England  than  do  their  Evangelical  friends  or  rivals  in  the 
State  Church.  More  than  that,  if  the  Evangelicals  were  as  honest  in 
their  i-eligion  as  are  the  Wesleyans,  they  would  come  out  of  the  State 
Church  and  ally  themselves  openly  Avith  Wesley's  disciples.  Low 
Churchmen  are  not  very  likely  to  learn  the  lesson  of  independence  and 
honesty  offered  to  them  by  such  apostles  of  purity  and  simplicity  in 
religious  forms  as  Bishop  Simpson  and  Dr.  Osborn,  but  outsiders  who 
are  neither  Wesleyans  nor  Low  Churchmen  may  profit  by  such  dis- 
courses and  yet  more  by  the  evidence  now  forced  upon  them  as  to  the 
numerical  strength  and  the  spiritual  vigour  of  the  Methodist  organisation. 

The  Nonconformist  and  Independent :  The  great  (Ecumenical  Conference 
of  Methodism,  which,  is  now  being  held  in  the  metropolis,  is  altogether 
unique  in  character,  and  is,  on  many  accounts,  one  of  the  most  remark- 
able ecclesiastical  assemblies  ever  held.  It  cannot  boast  a  long  and 
illustrious  descent ;  it  does  not  parade  an  ecclesiastical  pedigree  in  proof 
of  the  apostolical  succession  of  its  ministers;  it  has  no  legislative  author- 
ity over  the  wide-spread  communities  it  represents ;  and  if  the  value  of 
its  deliberations  were  to  be  tested  solely  l)y  the  additions  made  to  the 
statutes  of  Methodism,  it  must  be  pronounced  practically  useless.  Yet, 
looking  at  the  history  of  which  it  is  the  impressive  symbol,  at  the  spir- 
itual force  which  hes  behind  it,  and  of  which  its  agencies  are  the  expres- 
sion, and  at  the  vital  sympathy  between  the  various  sections  of  which 
it  is  composed,  which  has  been  so  manifest  in  its  deliberations,  it  is  not 
too  much  to  say  that  England  has  seldom  witnessed  a  spectacle  more 

su£igestive There  is  every  variety  of  Methodists — Methodists 

who  have  bishops,  and  Methodists  who  have  minimised,  as  far  as  possi- 
ble, the  distinction  between  the  ministry  and  the  laity ;  Methodists  who 
attach  some  value  to  ecclesiastical  dignity  and  order,  and  Methodists 
who  would  give  greater  play  to  enthusiasm  and  excitement ;  Methodists 
who  have  a  soupcon  of  Conservatism,  and  Methodists  who  are_  full  of 
democratic  ideas  and  impulses.  But  there  were  few,  if  any,  jarring  and 
discordant  notes  among  them,  and  the  spiritual  unity  was  so  real  and 
strong  that  it  overbore  all  trivial  differences. 

The  Christian :  On  Friday  afternoon  the  work  of  women  in  the  Church 
was  the  theme,  and  while  American  delegates  claimed  for  their  sisters 
who  could  preach,  and  who  felt  called  to  do  so,  the  fullest  privilege 


NOTES   FEOM   THE   PEESS   OF   ENGLAND.  627 

therein,  the  leading  British  brethren  were  quite  conservative  on  this 
point,  and  raised  the  oft-repeated  cry  that  a  woman  should  not  be  man- 
nish, or  a  man  womanish.  Wlien  did  the  Gospel  come  to  have  a  dis- 
tinction of  sex,  or  the  preaching  of  it  become  "  mannish"  any  more  than 
"  womanish  "  ?  Are  the  customs  of  uninspired  assemblies  to  be  quoted  as 
law  for  the  regulation  of  the  work  of  the  great  Master  in  bringing  the 
world  to  himself?  It  is  a  singular  spectacle  to  find  the  avowed  followers 
of  AVesley,  who  made  such  good  use  of  the  talents  of  women,  now,  in 
their  greatness  and  prominence,  falling  so  far  behind  their  Nonconform- 
ist brethren  in  this  respect.  The  same  paper  says:  The  marvellous 
favour  of  God  shown  to  Mr.  Wesley  and  his  spiritual  children,  who  in 
four  generations  have  come  to  be  numbered  by  eight  millions,  is  reason 
for  devout  thanksgiving,  not  only  on  the  part  of  Methodists,  but  on  the 
part  of  all  good  Christians.     Let  us  rejoice  and  be  glad  together. 

TJie  Daily  Neivs :  The  Methodist  Oecumenical  Conference  has  well  de- 
served its  name.  The  gathering  of  delegates  has  been  in  the  widest 
sense  representative.  Not  only  have  ministers  and  laymen  come  from 
all  the  principal  countries  in  the  world,  but  the}^  have  also  come  from 
such  less  familiar  places  as  Yokohama,  Foochow,  Liberia,  and  Naini  Tal. 
Dark  and  tawny-skinned  delegates  have  been  present  in  considerable 
numbers,  and  have  taken  an  active  part  in  the  proceedings.  The  i\Ieth- 
odist  story  is  only  one  further  illustration  of  the  truth  that  enthusiasm 
is  one  of  the  conquering  forces  of  the  world.  IMen  who  believe  in  their 
mission  and  in  themselves  command  success.  The  storj^  of  the  early 
days  of  Wesleyan  Methodism  will  never  lose  its  beauty  and  interest. 
If  callous  indifference  to  religion  at  one  end  of  the  social  scale,  combined 
with  the  apathy  of  ignorance  at  the  other,  could  fit  a  nation  for  a 
spiritual  revival,  England  was  ready  for  such  an  event  in  the  times  of 
the  Duke  of  Grafton  and  Lord  Chesterfield.     It  began  as  a  middle-class 

movement But  powerful,  almost  irresistible,  as  were  the 

forces  thus  working  for  Methodism,  they  would  never  have  settled  down 
from  the  fiery  zeal  of  the  first  revival  into  the  calmer  but  more  potent 
shape  of  a  great  religious  organisation,  had  it  not  been  for  the  wisdom, 
the  moderation,  and  the  foresight  of  John  Wesley.  He  was  a  great 
preacher,  but  he  was  greatest  of  all  as  an  administrator  and  organiser. 
It  was  his  organising  power  which  fixed  the  enthusiasm  of  a  single 
generation  into  a  permanent  agency  for  good The  past  pros- 
perity of  the  Wesleyan  Churches  was  due  to  the  single-hearted  zeal  Avith 
which  all  the  branches  of  ^Methodism  have  worked  for  the  common 
cause.  The  teaching  of  the  Methodist  leaders  has  always  specially  com- 
mended itself  to  the  great  masses  of  the  people. 

The  Manchester  Courier :  To  minds  that  can  grasp  only  visible  results, 
it  may  seem  that  the  Conference  has  passed  away  "  Like  the  baseless 
fabric  of  vision,"  leaving  "not  a  rank  behind."  To  minds  more  open 
to  the  unseen  and  invisible  the  matter  will  present  itself  in  a  very  dif- 
ferent way.  Even  if  we  ask  for  something  palpable  as  an  evidence  that 
the  Conference  had  done  something  we  can  be  gratified.  The  iniblic 
mind  of  England  is  waking  up  to  the  enormity  of  the  opium  traffic.  On 
no  party  principle  the  Conference  composed  of  all  political  parties  has 
condemned  the  unholy  trade.  Earnest  men  and  women  are  toiling  day 
and  night  for  the  repeal  of  legislation  permitting  and  regulating  sex- 
ual vice.  They  will  be  encouraged  in  their  painful  task  by  the 
knowledge  that  the  Confeiipnce  imanimously  gave  its  testimony  against 
such  legislation.  The  Sabbath  question  is  keenly  contested"  both  in 
England  and  in  America.  The  Conference,  consisting  no  doubt  in  part 
of  the  rank  and  file  of  the  Methodist  ministry,  but  j)artly  also  of  its 
ablest  scholars,  most  ripe  theologians,  most  accomplished  professors,  has 
shown  its  unmistakable  adherence  to  the  stricter  Sabbath  doctrine.     The 


628       NOTES  FROM  THE  PRESS  OF  ENGLAND. 

views  of  Paley,  Hessey,  Plumptre,  Macleod,  found  not  a  single  exponent 
in  the  400  men  that  formed  the  Conference.  The  cause  of  temperance 
has  received  an  impetus,  total  abstinence  and  entire  prohibition  cannot 
be,  we  think,  the  creed  of  all  the  Conference ;  but  so  far  as  the  public 
expression  of  sentiment  was  concerned  not  a  word  was  uttered  in  the 
Conference  against  the  principle  of  abstinence  or  the  policy  of  prohibi- 
tion. The  Conference  has  been  an  undoubted  and  a  great  success.  If 
organic  union  has  not  been  effected  this  was  never  contemplated,  and 
the  scars  of  old  wounds  have  been  effaced  more  completely  than  the 
most  sanguine  projectors  of  the  Conference  could  have  hoped.  What  is 
Methodism  but  a  spirit  ?  Doubtless  it  is  associated  with  a  doctrine,  but 
Methodism  is  the  embodiment  in  organised  form  of  the  social  and  aggres- 
sive spirit  of  Christianity,  and  this  spirit  has  been  intensified  by  the 
Conference.  To  all  who  have  attended  it  the  Conference  must  form  one 
of  their  brightest,  sweetest  memories  in  the  davs  to  come. 

Tlie  Eastern  Morning  News:  "What  the  Church  of  England  has  lost  in 
Dean  Stanley  has  not  been  more  painfully  illustrated  than  in  the  ab- 
sence of  any  greeting  from  the  Anglican  body  to  the  Oecumenical  Methodist 
Conference.  Here  is  the  body  which,  of  all  others,  is  nearest  the 
Church  of  England.  Its  founder  was  a  Churchman.  To  a  large  extent 
it  uses  the  services  of  the  Church.  Its  members  are  almost  as  much  at 
home  within  the  parish  church  as  within  their  own  meeting  places.  Its 
contribution  to  the  religious  life  of  the  nation  is  acknowledged  almost 
universally.  The  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  has  just  formally  adopted 
its  most  particular  method  of  working  by  laymen.  Dr.  Pusey  not  so 
long  ago  sought  to  restore  it  to  formal  union  with  the  Church.  Its 
antagonism  to  the  Calvinistic  tenets  of  the  Presbj'terians  and  to  the 
Congregational  doctrines  of  the  Independents  is  far  greater  than  to  any- 
thing in  Anglicanism  proper.  Only  lately  two  of  our  Northern  Bishops 
gave  greetings  to  the  "We.sleyan  Conference.  But  there  was  no  voice 
representing  the  Church  of  England  to  say  one  word  of  welcome  to  the 
men  of  all  hues  and  many  nationalities  now  gathered  together  in  London, 
when  the  deputations  from  other  bodies  were  received  on  Thursday 
night.  The  Pan-Presbyterian  Council  of  Philadelphia  had  a  kind  word 
for  the  CT^cumenical  Conference.  The  Presbyterians  of  England,  by  the 
voice  of  Dr.  Morrison,  proclaimed  their  belief  that  the  Methodists  were 
doing  Divine  work.  The  Congregationalists  were  there.  Several  Bap- 
tist Ministers  spoke  of  unity.  Even  the  Moravians  came  forward  to  bid 
the  Methodists  God  speed.  But  no  member  of  the  Church  of  England 
was  present ;  no  voice  was  raised  to  say  that  the  Church  out  of  which 
Methodism  sprang,  looked  kindly  on  her  daughter.  It  is  a  thousand 
pities — we  had  almost  written  a  thousand  shames ;  and  the  thrilling 
voice  of  the  great  man  so  lately  laid  to  rest  in  Westminster  Abbey 
seems  to  rise  in  protest  against  it.  For  the  sake  of  the  Conference,  for 
the  sake  of  the  Methodists,  but  most  of  all  for  the  sake  of  the  Church  of 
England,  it  is  a  lasting  regret  that  no  kindly  message  has  gone  from 
Lambeth,  Fulham,  or  St.  Paul's  to  the  "occasional  conformists"  who 
have  for  the  week  been  meeting  in  London. 

Tlic  Manchester  Guardian:  The  Vatican  Council  evidently  touched  the 
imagination  of  Christendom.  .  .  .  In  this  country  the  oecumenic  idea  at 
once  struck  home.  Since  the  Vatican  Council  we  have  seen  Pan-Anglican 
and  Pan-Presbyterian  Conferences,  and  now  Methodism  is  engaged  in  a 
similar  demonstration.  Methodism  is  one  o^  the  great  religious  forces 
of  the  world.  It  is  found  at  work  wherever  the  English  language  i^ 
spoken,  and  in  many  of  "the  dark  places  of  the  earth,"  too,  its  mission- 
aries are  doing  zealous  service.  Of  unity  in  the  Roman  sense  it  can  not 
boast.  It  is  made  up  of  a  number  of  separate  bodies — the  parent  Wes- 
leyan  society,  the  Primitive  Methodists,  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 


NOTES  FROM  THE  PEESS  OF  ENGLAND.       62& 

«     ■ 

of  the  United  States,  and  so  on.  But  there  is  a  couinion  ground  on 
wliich  tliey  can  all  meet,  and  the  present  Conference  is  designed  to  make 
that  fact  clear.  Altogether  the  meeting  is  a  remarkable  one,  and  the 
Methodists  anticipate  imiiortant  results  from  its  deliberations. 

The  same  paj^er  said :  Tlie  Americans  seem  to  be  more  and  more  at 
liome  with  their  brethren  of  the  Western  world,  and  the  longer  they 
stay  the  better  the  English  like  them.  Either  the  American  Churches 
must  have  sent  all  their  best  men,  or  the  prejudices  whicli  some  people 
have  with  regard  to  Americans  are  without  any  foundation.  The  meet- 
ing together  of  so  many  leading  "  Britishers  "  with  the  representatives 
of  the  United  States  will  be  of  considerable  service  in  promoting  amity 
between  the  two  nations.  The  talk  increases  about  another  (Ecumenical 
Conference. 

The  Christian  World^s  "Special  Correspondent:"  The  proceedings  of 
the  Me/hodist  (Ecumenical  Conference  have  been  sustained  with  un- 
flagging "iipirit  during  the  week,  and  have  excited  great  interest  and 
drawn  together  large  audiences,  in  addition  to  the  actual  members  of 
the  assembly.  .  .  .  The  quality  of  the  speaking,  lias,  of  course, 
varied  considerably;  but  the  average  has  been  high,  and  the  Ameri- 
can delegates  have  certainly  shown  no  disposition  to  hide  their  light 
uiul^r  a  bushel,  so  far  as  contributions  to  the  oratory  are  concerned.  The 
tendency  of  the  discussions  has  perhaps  been  occasionally  rather  more 
in  the  direction  of  eulogy  and  jubilation,  as  distinguished  from  criticism 
of  Methodist  operations,  than  was  quite  desirable,  and  there  has  been 
scarcely  a  trace  of  that  despondent  pessimism  which  is  so  much  in  vogue 
in  some  ecclesiastical  assemblies. 

The  Manchester  Examiner :  To-day  the  Methodist  (Ecumenical  Council 
closes  its  session  in  London.  For  twelve  days  delegates  from  every 
Wesleyan  body  in  the  world  sat  in  the  Metropolitan  Cathedral  of 
Methodism — the  City-road  Chapel.  It  is  only  just  praise  to  say  that 
they  have  done  a  good  stroke  of  business,  and  that  their  assembly  merits 
the  name  of  "  (Ecumenical "  at  least  as  well  as  many  other  bodies  which 
have  arrogated  to  themselves  the  exclusive  use  of  the  word.  So  far  as 
the  matters  discussed  have  any  general  bearing  they  are  now  open  to 
criticism.  Daily  reports  have  been  issued  to  the  world ;  and  the  penalty 
of  this  wide  publicity — if  penalty  it  be — is  liability  to  free  comment. 
We  do  not  apprehend  that  Wesleyans  have  any  desire  to  shirk  observa- 
tion. They  have  never  yet  been  accused  of  hiding  their  light  under  a 
bushel.  To  say  nothing  of  the  (Ecumenical  Council,  which  must  be 
deemed  an  excej^tional  phenomenon,  the  ordinary  sittings  of  the  Wes- 
leyan Conference  in  England  absorb  as  large  a  share  of  public  attention 
as  those  of  any  religious  body.  Wesleyanism  is  a  plant  of  vigorous 
growth.  Transplanted  to  a  foreign  soil  it  adapts  itself  to  new  conditions, 
and  takes  on  new  characters  without  losing  its  specific  identity'.  The 
strength  of  Wesleyanism  is  seen  in  the  fact  that  it  has  survived  the 
shock  which  would  have  destroyed  a  weaker  system.  The  glory  of 
Wesleyanism  is  seen  in  the  fact  that  there  is  no  longer  a  scliism.  The 
separate  function  and  mission  of  each  of  these  bodies  is  acknowledged  by 
all  the  others,  and  the  various  Methodist  sections  now  take  friendly  coun- 
sel with  each  other  for  the  promotion  of  the  common  good.  They  have 
abandoned  the  impossible  drean\  of  a  uniform  Christianity,  or  even  of 
a  uniform  Methodism.  They  are  content  to  be  united,  without  being 
uniform.  Of  all  considerable  bodies  of  Christians,  the  Wesleyans  have 
probably  departed  least  from  their  original  standards.  The  wave  of 
"  f reethinking  " — a  word  which  we  are  compelled  to  use  for  want  of  a 
better — which  has  passed  over  other  religious  sects,  has  almost  left 
them  untouched.    For  good  or  for  evil,  the  fact  must  be  recognised. 


INDEX 


OF  SUBJECTS  AND  SPEAKERS   UPON   THEM. 


:o:- 


^cuMEXicAii  Conference  Addbess,  582. 
Bands  of  Hope,  Resolxtiion  on,  361. 

Christian  Unity,  651. 

Abercrombie,  Rev.  R.,  596. 

AUison,  Dr.  D.,  588. 

AnJrews,  Rev.  Dr.  M.  S.,  597. 

Arthur,  Kev.  W.,  578. 

Buckley,  Rev.  Dr.,  596. 

Cocker,  Rev.  Dr.,  561. 

Dickerson,  Bisliop,  679. 

George,  Rev.  Dr.,  555. 

Gregory,  Rev.  B.,  594. 

Myers,  Rev.  J.,  564. 

Shorter,  Professor  J.  P.,  574, 

Tiffanv,  Rev.  Dr.,  663. 

Tucker,  Hon.  .1.  W.,  579. 
Closing  Eserci.'^es,  600. 

Osboni,  Rev.  Dr.,  600. 

Simpson,  Bishop,  601. 

Devotional  meeting,  600. 

Education,  301. 

Andrews,  Rev.  Dr.  C.  G.,  317,  342. 

Arthur,  Rev.  WilUam,  327. 

Badgeley,  Rev.  E.  J.,  345. 

Bennett,  Rev.  Dr.,  316. 

Cocker,  Rev.  Dr.,  344. 

Crooks,  Rev.  Dr.,  34(1. 

Dickerson.  Bisliop,  3:i6» 

Dingley,  Mr.  J.,  314. 

Dymond,  Rev.  J.,  351. 

Holhday,  Rev.  A.,  343. 

Holsey,  Bisliop,  315. 

John,  Rev.  I.  G.,  325. 

Martin,  Rev.  Dr.,  326. 

Mood,  Rev.  Dr.,  310. 

Giver,  Rev.  G.  W.,  B.A.,  322. 

Osborn,  Mr.  T.  G.,  M.A.,  304, 

Payne,  Rev.  Dr.,  354. 

Pope,  Rev.  Dr.,  329. 

Rigg.  Rev.  Dr.,  316. 

Suape,  Mr.  T.,  328. 

Stone,  Rev.  Dr.,  356. 

Sutherland,  Rev.  Dr.,  357. 

W'enn,  Rev.  J.,  355. 

Wheeler,  Rev.  Dr.,  313. 

Winfield,  Rev.  A.  R.,  329. 

Wood,  Rev.  J.,  344. 
Evangelical  Agencies  op  Methodism,  98. 

Allen,  Mr.  W.  S.,  M.P.,  114. 

Antliff,  Rev.  Dr.,  99. 

AutUff,  Rev.  J.  C,  M.A.,  136. 

Arthur,  Rev.  William,  108, 163. 

Banyoun,  Rev.  J.  0.,  109. 

Bourue,  Rev.  F.  W.,  126. 


Evangelical  Agencies  of  Methodism,  9S. 

Eowden,  Rev.  George,  107. 

Bussey,  General  Cyrus,  137. 

Charlton,  Mr.  Alderman,  137. 

De  Pauw,  Mr.  W.  C.  151. 

Enibry,  Rev.  J.  C,  153. 

Fenwick,  Rev.  R.,  138. 

Ferguson,  Rev.  J.,  151. 

Frost,  Hon.  G.  AV.,  139. 

Jenkins,  Rev.  E.  E..  154. 

Kincaid,  Rev.  W.  H.,  M.A.,  117. 

Lumby,  Mr.  E.,  121. 

McCullagh,  Rev.  T.,  138. 

McDonald,  Kev.  J.  W.,  150. 

McFerriu,  Rev.  Dr.,  103,  154. 

Marshall,  Rev.  Dr.,  153. 

Newman,  Rev.  Dr.,  139. 

Payne,  Rev.  Dr.,  132. 

Peck,  Bishop  J.,  109,  154. 

Rigg,  Rev.  Dr.,  138. 

Snape,  Mr.  T..  121. 

Stacey,  Rev.  Dr.,  146. 

Todd.  Rev.  Dr.,  105. 

Travis,  Rev.  J.,  120. 

Waddy,Mr.  S.  D.,  119. 

Warren,  Rev.  Dr.,  108. 

Watsford,  Rev.  J..  120. 

Wenn,  Rev.  J.,  107. 

White.  Hon.  J.  W.  F.,  110. 

Winfield,  Kev.  Dr.,  106. 

Withington,  Rev.  J.  S..  109. 
Evangelistic  Work  in  France,  Kesolu- 
TioN  on,  301. 

Gibson,  Rev.  W.,  301. 

Lelievre,  Rev.  M.,  303. 

Reid,  Rev.  Dr.,  302. 

FOREIGN  Missions,  466. 
Arthur,  Rev.  W.,  495. 
Atkinson,  Mr.  H.  J.,  549. 
Baldwin,  Rev.  Dr.,  519. 
Banks,  Rev.  J.  S.,  513. 
Barratt,  Rev.  J.  C,  494. 
Boone,  Hon.  A.  R.,  610. 
Brown,  Bishop  J.  M..  546. 
Brownfield,  Mr.  W.  E.,  547. 
Buckley,  Rev.  Dr.,  482,  547. 
Calvert,  Rev.  J.,  481,  510. 
Chambers,  Mr.  G.,  533. 
Clark,  Rev.  Dr.,  509. 
Dewart,  Rev.  E.  H..  493. 
Fletcher.  Mr.  P.  P.,  544. 
Frost,  Hon.  G.  W.,  543. 
George,  Rev.  Dr.,  492. 
Gibson,  Rev.  W.,  532. 
Hill,  Rev.  D.,  522. 
Humphrey,  Rev.  J.  L.,  480. 
.Teukins,  Rev.  E.  E.,  477,  497. 
Johnson,  Rev.  J.  H.,  532. 


INDEX. 


631 


FoHEiGN  Missions,  458. 
Kilner.  Rev.  J.,  605. 
King,  Mr.  S.  a.,  513. 
Lelievre,  Rev.  M.,  534. 
Liebh.art,  Rev.  Dr.,  521. 
M'Kechiiie,  Rev.  C.  C,  535. 
Maclay,  Rev.  Dr.,  490,  521. 
Miller,  Rev.  Dr.,  539. 
Moorman,  Hon.  T.  S.,  512. 
Pavne,  Rev.  Dr.  C.  H.,  545, 
Peck.  Bi?!iop,  495,  496. 
PiRKott,  Rev.  H.  J.,  5L'8. 
Potter,  Rev.  W.  H.,  499. 
Price,  Rev.  J.  C.  511. 
Eeid,  Rev.  Dr.,  472,  496. 
Eigg.  Rev.  Dr.,  483. 
Sulzberger,  Rev.  Dr.,  622. 
Vernon,  Rev.  Dr.,  517. 
Waugh,  Rev.  Dr.,  520. 

Home  Missions,  410. 

Bainbriilge,  ^[r.  T.  H.,  423. 
Bond,  Rev.  J.,  451. 
Bowden.  Rev.  G.,  421. 
Burkhearl,  Rev.  Dr.,  449. 
Clark,  Jlr.  AV..  463. 
Fuller,  Rev.  Dr.,  421. 
Garrett,  Rev.  C,  434. 
Gilmore,  Rev.  H.,  419. 
Green,  Rev.  R.,  445.  • 
Hoeart,  Rev.  J.,  4fiii. 
Hood,  Bishop  .T.  A\' ,  433. 
Kellv,  Rev.  C.  H.,  464. 
Kendall,  Rev.  C,  461. 
Kynett,  Rev.  Dr.,  435. 
Lawrence,  Mr.  T.,  452. 
M-Tyeire.  Bishop  H.  X.,  438* 
Macdonald,  Mr.  J.,  413. 
McElroy,  Rev.  Dr.,  430. 
Mood,  Rev.  Dr.,  448. 
Morton,  Rev.  D.,  463. 
Pope,  Rev.  Dr.  H.,  423. 
Eeid.  Rev.  A.,  449. 
Eigg.  Rev.  Dr.,  461. 
Shaw  Mr.  C,  436. 
Simpson,  Bishop,  462. 
Southerland,  Rev.  Dr.,  440. 
Stephenson,  Rev.  Dr..  452. 
Todd,  Eev.  Dr.,  457. 
Travis,  Rev.  J..  437. 
Wood,  Eev.  T.  B.,  450. 

International   Peace,  Resolution  on, 

362. 
Reid,  Rev.  A.,  .363. 
Snapc,  Mr.  T.,  362. 

Lord's  Day  and  Temperance  The,  189. 
Allen,  Mr.  S.,  M.P..  240. 
Arthur,  Rev.  William,  203. 
Atkinson,  Mr.  H.  J.,  214.  ■ 
Baker,  Rev.  J.,  M.A.,  189. 
Barratt,  Rev.  J.  C,  204. 
Beckworth.  Mr.  William,  237. 
Charlto'.  Mr.  Aldermai  ,  216. 
Cooke,  Kev.  Dr.,  205. 
Edwards,  Rev.  W.  S.,  2_'8. 
iariev,  Eev.  J.  McH.,  231. 
Garrett,  Rev.  C,  215,  •>20. 
Griffith,  Rev.  W.,  206.. 
Hill,  Eev.  D.,  245. 
Hoc-u-t,  Eev.  J.,  20''. 
Horton,  Hon.  O.  J    ,  243. 
Hughes,  Eev.  H.     .,  217. 
Kirsop,  Eev.  J.,  i  11. 
Kynett,  Eev.  Dr  .  213. 
Lark.  Eov.  W.  1  .,  2.39. 
McDonald,  Mr.  J.  W.,  244. 
McKechnie.  Re  •.  C.  C,  204. 
McTyeire,  Bishop  H.  N.,  209. 


Lord's  Day  and  Tkmpkrance,  Tue.  189. 
Magruder,  Mr.  T.  J..  3-.'6. 
Newman.  Eev.  Dr.,  2o:J. 
Pavne,  Bishop  D.  A.,  208. 
Payne,  Rev.  Dr.  C.  H..  240. 
Peck,  Rev.  E.  W.  S.,  224, 
Perks,  Mr.  R.  W..  241. 
Price,  Rev.  .1.  C,  219. 
Simpson,  Bi.^hop  M..  207. 
Sutherland,  Rev.  Dr.,  243. 
Sw.intoii,  Mr.  J.  H..  244. 
Townsend,  Rev.  J.  M.,  229. 
Tucker,  Hon.  J.  W..  217. 
Waddy,  Mr.  S.  D.,  241. 
Walden,  Rev.  Dr.,  2:il.  ^ 

Watson,  Mr.  T.,  J.P..  230. 
Wheeler,  Rev.  A.,  230. 
Winfield,  Eev.  A.  E.,  216. 
Wood,  Rev.  J.,  227. 

Methodism  :  Its  History  and  Resultb,  4L 

Allison,  Dr.,  93. 

Arthur,  Rev.  W.,  69. 

Atkinson,  Mr.  H.  J.,  53. 

Barratt,  Rev.  J.  C,  96. 

Barton,  Eev.  S.  S.,  89. 

Brown,  Bishop  J.  M.,  5^ 

Buckley,  Rev.  Dr.,  63. 

Clark,  Rev.  Dr.,  52. 

Cooke,  Rev.  Dr.,  43. 

Crook,  Rev.  Dr.,  65. 

Dale,  Mr.  E.,  82. 

DePanw,  Mr.  W.  C,  96. 

Edwards,  Eev.  Dr.,  54. 

Farley,  Rev.  J.  McH.,  83. 

Gardiner,  Rev.  Dr.,  52. 

Hoeart,  Rev.  J.,  92. 

Holsey,  Bishop  L.  H.,  78. 

Kynett,  Eev.  Dr.,  53. 

M'Kechnie.  Rev.  C.  C,  53. 

Marshall,  Rev.  Dr.,  81. 

Ninde,  Rev.  Dr.,  50. 

Osborn,  Eev.  M.  C,  62. 

Payne,  Rev.  Dr.,  65. 

Price,  Rev.  J.  C,  81. 

Eeid,  Eev.  Dr.,  68,  94. 

Rigg,  Rev.  Dr.,  66. 

Statistical  Statement,  6L 

Williams,  Mr.  L.,  95. 

Wilson,  Rev.  Dr.,  82. 

Wood,  Bishop,  64. 

Wood,  Rev.  J.,  M.A.,  67,  93. 
Methodism  and  the  Youno,  188. 

Bennett,  Rev.  Dr.,  173. 

Clark,  Mr.  A.,  185. 

Edge,  Mr.  J.,  184. 

Farley,  Rev.  J.  McH.,  161 

Geden,  Rev.  J.  D.,  171. 

Kelly,  Rev.  C.  H.,  183. 

Macdonald,  Mr.  J.,  184. 

McFerrin,  Rev.  Dr.,  187. 

Martin,  Rev.  Dr.,  171. 

Pope,  Rev.  Dr.,  172. 

Price,  Eev.  J.  C,  186. 

Reid,  Rev.  A.,  170. 

Robinson.  Rev.  J.  H.,  195, 

Simpson,  Bishop  M.,  173. 

Smith,  Mr.  G.  J.,  J.P.,  130. 

Thompson,  Rev.  Dr.,  1 74. 

"«;ood,  Rev.  J.,  M.A.,  isa 

Opening  Exerci.ses,  1. 

Dougla.s,  Eev.  Dr.,  35. 

JIcTyeire,  Bishop  H.  N.,  28. 

Osborn,  Rev.  Dr.,  1,  21. 

Simpson,  Bishop  M.,  1. 

Warren,  Bishop  H.  W.,  31. 
Opium  Trakkic,  Resolution  on,  4«§. 

Arthur,  Rev.  W.,  469. 

Baldwin,  Rev.  8.  L.,  467. 


632 


INDEX. 


Optom  Traffic,  Resolution  on,  466. 
Utigp.  Mr.  J.,  471. 
Gardiner,  Rev.  Dr.,  470. 
Gilmore.  Rev.  IT.,  470. 
Jenkins.  Rev.  E.  E..  467,  47L 
Lewis.  Hev.  J.  W.,  468. 
Peck,  Bisliop,  469. 
Slater.  Rev.  J.,  471. 
Soutlierland,  Rev.  Dr.,  470. 
Travis,  Rev.  J.,  471. 
"Wenu,  Rev.  J.,  468. 

POSSIBLE  I'F.RTLS  OF  METHODISM,  247. 

Abercniiiiliie,  Rev.  R.,  260. 

ADtliff.  Rev.  Dr..  299. 

Arthur.  I!ev.  William.  299. 

Atkinson,  Mr.  H.  J.,  2S6. 

Bowdeu.  Rev.  G.,  289. 

Buckley,  Rev.  Dr.,  287. 

Cheesemau,  Rev.  R.  S.,  293. 

Chew,  Rev.  R..  288. 

Crooks.  Rev.  Dr.,  275. 

CuiTV,  Rev.  D.,  262. 

Gift'en.  Rev.  C.  M.,  283. 

Gilmore,  Rev.  H.,  276,  297. 

Guttridee,  Rev.  J..  252. 

Hulnie,  Rev.  S.,  262. 

M'Kav,  Rev.  Dr.,  278. 

Marshall.  Rev.  Dr.,  297. 

Newman,  Rev.  Dr.,  261. 

Peck,  Bishop  .1.  T.,  290. 

Rigg.  Rev.  Dr.,  289,  298. 

Ryckman,  Rev.  Dr.,  257. 

Thompson,  Bishop  J.  P.,  290. 

Todd,  Rev.  Dr.,  277. 

Watkinson,  Rev.  W.  L.,  271. 
President    Garfield,    Resolution    on 
Death  of,  551. 

Douglas,  Rev.  G.,  552. 

Jenkins.  Rev.  E.  E.,  551. 

McAulay,  Rev.  A.,  553. 

McFerrin,  Rev.  Dr.,  552. 

Newman.  Rev.  Dr..  553. 

Tiffany,  Rev.  Dr.,  552. 
President  Garfield,  in  Memoriam,  580. 
Publication    Committee    Resolutions, 
358. 

Second  CEcumenical  Conference,  Reso- 
lutions ON,  598. 
Sunday  Closing.  Resolution  ok,  250. 

Gardiner,  Rev.  Dr.,  249. 

Jenkins.  Rev.  E.  E..  250. 

Peck,  Bishop  J.  T.,  250. 

Eeid.  Rev. -Dr.,  249,251, 

Slater,  Rev.  J.,  248. 


Sunday  Closing,  Resolution  on,  250. 
Travis,  Rev.  J.,  247. 
Williams,  Mr.  Lewis,  249. 

Training-schools   in  Foreign   Mission- 
Fields,  Resolution  on,  599. 

United  Brethren,  Reply  to,  599. 
United  States,  President  op,  40. 

Fisk,  Gen.  C.  B.,  40. 

Rigg,  Rev.  Dr.,  40. 

Waddv.  Mr.  S.  D.,  40. 

Withington,  Rev.  J.  S.,  40. 
Use  op  the  Press  for  the  Advance- 
ment op  Christianity,  S60. 

Abercrombie,  Rev.  R.,  377. 

Allison,  Dr.  D.,  4U8. 

Autliff,  Rev.  J.  C,  371. 

Buckley,  Rev.  Dr.,  400. 

Crooks,  Rev.  Dr.,  405. 

Fisk,  Gen.  C.  B.,  4ci4. 

Fry,  Rev.  Dr.,  39u. 

George,  Rev.  Dr.,  392. 

Gibson,  Rev.  O.,  389. 

Gilmore,  Rev.  H.,  376. 

Holland,  Rev.  H.  W.,  387. 

Jenkins,  Rev.  E.  E.,  337. 

Macdonald,  Mr.  J.,  404. 

JlcFerrin,  Rev.  Dr.,  375,  407. 

Marsliall,  Rev.  Dj.,  378. 

Newman,  Rev.  Dr.,  374. 

Osborn.  Rev.  Dr.,  393,  407. 

Peck,  Bisliop,  407. 

Pisgott,  Rev  H.  J.,  407. 

Rigg,  Rev.  Dr.,  40,5,  409. 

Shaw,  Mr.  C,  391. 

Simpson,  Bishop,  406. 

Thompson,  Bishop  J.  P.,  391. 

Vernon,  Rev.  Dr.,  406. 

Waddy,  Mr.  S.  D.,  409. 

W'alden,  Rev.  Dr.,  406,  407. 

Wenn.  Rev.  J.,  375. 

Withington,  Rev.  J.  S.,  304. 

Votes  op  Thanks,  604. 

Waste    in    Foreign    Missions,    Report 

on,  587.  • 
"Women's  Missionary  Societies,  360. 
Arthur,  Rev.  W.,  361. 
Atkinson,  Mr.  H.  J.,  J.P.,  360. 
Reid,  Rev.  Dr.,  361. 
Women's    Philanthropic    Work,  Reso- 
lution ON,  466. 
Women's  Temperance  Work,  Resolution 
ON,  362. 


Fraternal,  Meeting,  605. 


Chown.Rev.  J.  P.,  611. 
Dowson,  Rev.  H.,  610. 
Dunlop,  Rfv.  J.,  012. 
Gardner,  Rev.  James,  filG. 
Garrett,  Rev.  Chaa.,  605. 
Kennedy,  Rev.  Dr.,  612. 


Latrobe,  Bisliop,  G09. 
Matheson,  Hugh,  606. 
Morrison,  Rev.  Dr.,  607. 
Osborn,  Rev.  Geo.,  615. 
Reid,  Rev.  W.  B.,  616. 
Simpson,  Bishop  M.,  614. 


1 

DATE  DUE 

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CAYLORO 

PRINTCOINU.S.A. 

"^%'    'Ji.A^.    -  ^^^ 


'»i 


BX8207 .E19 1881 

Proceedings  of  the  Oecumenical  Methodist 

Princeton  Theological  Seminary-Speer  Library 


1    1012  00164  2695 


